Dear Writers of All of the Stories I Read in 2015

Dear Writers of All of the Stories I Read in 2015  (An Open Letter From a Fan.)

Dear You,

I am a HUGE fan. Maybe your biggest fan. No really. (Ok, maybe your Mom ranks slightly higher than me. But only just slightly.)

I’ve seen the way you make magic. Real magic. Not the sleight of hand, illusion, smoke-and-mirrors kind of magic. But the real, live making of something from nothing. A connection – a bond between you and me – two people who have never met, and most likely never will. Now we are now connected through words. They meant something to you when you wrote them, and possibly something entirely different to me when I read them. I may not have even liked them all. But I read them. And so now we are connected through them. Forever. Like it or not. Til death do us part. Amen.

I think of you often. And not just when someone asks me, “What have you read lately?” “Have you read this one?” But of course, at those times, I scroll through your names in my mental rolodex, and like the entries in a “little black [literary] book”, I decide which of you I will share with others, and which I will keep all to myself.

I think of you every time I sit to write. That’s when the ridiculousness of it all hits me in full force. When I find myself wondering “Why do I believe I can do this?” When my belief in the magic wavers, I think of you. I remember that you did it. That you persevered through bad reviews, no reviews, writer’s doubt, and failed document back-ups (No? Just me?)

I think of you when the words flow easily. When the words come together and shape themselves into a forward moving train of thought. I think of you when the words flow slowly, like tar, sticking to each other, and then drying out, ruining any chance of creating  something beautiful.

I think of you most of all when I prepare to send my words out into the world. Just when that seems like a very, very bad idea, I think of you. I remember that you were brave. And that through your bravery, your words reached me. That gives me courage. Even though it’s often short-lived. It lasts just long enough to enthusiastically pound “Send.” All the courage that any writer ever needs.

You know the problem, of course, don’t you? To write well, one must read well. And yet, the more one writes, the harder it is to read. It’s harder still to get lost in the words and the story and the connection without turning every book into a craft lesson. And so I was particularly hard on you this last year. But you rose to the challenge. You outdid yourself in fact.

I can’t wait to see what you have in your arsenal for 2016.

Xo

Amy

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Amy is a reformed corporate litigator, former start-up executive, and award-winning author. Amy’s first novel, Lemongrass Hope (Wyatt-MacKenzie 2014) , was a 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Bronze Winner (Romance) and a National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist.

A favorite with bloggers and book clubs, Lemongrass Hope was named the #1 reviewed book in 2014 by blogger, The Literary Connoisseur, and topped several bloggers’ “Best of” Lists in 2015.

Amy is also the author of the non-fiction book, Lawyer Interrupted (ABA Publishing 2015), and numerous essays and articles that have appeared in online and print journals including: The Huffington Post, ABA Law Practice Today, The Glass Hammer, Divine Caroline, Skirt! Magazine, and more.

Amy is a Tall Poppy Writer and President of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, three kids, and one energetic weimaraner, where she is currently hard at work on her next novel, Secrets of Worry Dolls.

Tags: featured, inspiration, open letter, women writers 2015, women's fiction

Category: On Writing