I've been helping regional writers find a publishing platform for their stories for over 20 years, but last week something happened that I never would have expected in a million years. I'm not going to give you any revealing details because knowing the authors, they probably wanted me to revel in the magical moment, let it go, and move on to the next moment fate had in store for me. This was just so special and so precious that I had to record it for posterity.
I do most of my editing/writing/publishing at a local Starbucks and last Friday when I walked in, there was a package waiting for me with my name on it! I sat down in my usual spot in front of a wall of windows looking west with a panoramic view, set up my laptop, popped open my Refresher, and opened the package. There were three greeting cards each signed by a different person.
The people who signed the cards were characters in the story I was working on!! It was a fiction tale full of magic and mystery, much of which I'd come to believe might actually be possible! For a moment I was transported into a Twilight Zone where fiction invaded the real world, the characters came to life, reached out and touched me with their affectionate words of gratitude.
I do most of my editing/writing/publishing at a local Starbucks and last Friday when I walked in, there was a package waiting for me with my name on it! I sat down in my usual spot in front of a wall of windows looking west with a panoramic view, set up my laptop, popped open my Refresher, and opened the package. There were three greeting cards each signed by a different person.
The people who signed the cards were characters in the story I was working on!! It was a fiction tale full of magic and mystery, much of which I'd come to believe might actually be possible! For a moment I was transported into a Twilight Zone where fiction invaded the real world, the characters came to life, reached out and touched me with their affectionate words of gratitude.
Seeing their signatures left me in a daze for minutes wondering if indeed they had truly become a living presence in the flesh-and-blood world I inhabited. I let myself come back to earth, but I didn't want to as I took a long sip from my Blueberry Refresher, shaking my head.
At that moment I knew what I was doing, all the hours editing, writing, producing books, had nothing to do with money or fame, but rather it was all about relationships and supporting each other in the creative community.
I'd very much like to tell you who those characters were, and who the authors of that book are, but I'm afraid if I do I'll break the magical spell that delivered a special package with my name on it to my favorite cafe in the literary Twilight Zone.
