An Open Letter To Vicki...And Everyone Else Who Supports Us...Thank You!

This afternoon I sat at my desk, trying to slog through the digital paperwork that makes up my "day job." Sometimes it's a gentle breeze--sometimes the gale winds blow. Today was more the latter than the former. On a break I checked out Facebook and came across an open (love) letter to which I was included.

And it made my day.

The author of the post, Vicki, a friend I met through the writing community. She wanted to express some of the observations and feelings she's experienced since entering the strange, confusing, wonderful, dark, heavenly, and frustrating world of a writer.

I thought it only appropriate, I return the favor.

I don't know any writer that doesn't have someone--a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a best friend--to fall back on, to use as a rock when the storm clouds build and the doubts attack. 

The supporters are the silent heroes in the creative process. It's not their names on the front cover (even though many of their names appear many times in the dedications...). At signings no one wants their signatures, or discuss plot points with them, but without them, the books--the art that brings joy to so many--would not exist.

You're there, a pillar of strength, of reason, when we're weak, unreasonable. You're rational when we're anything but. You're the ones who believe in us when we're about to quit and vow to never write another page, another paragraph, sentence, or even word. You've seen us at our worst and at our best, and yet you continue to love us, to support us, to share in that dream that is to bring these stories to life.

The writer's world you described is so accurate, so spot-on, it brought all the feelings to the surface. For those of us who have "day jobs" you reminded us that this journey is not a singular one. No writer is an island. I need to remember that--remember my choices affect others, the readers, the publishers, editors, agents, and the loved ones who want nothing more than to see me succeed, to see my dreams become realities.

As you've found out, loving a writer is so much more than watching thoughts turn into actions that turn into books. It's an experience that's hard to explain, though you did a wonderful job doing just that.

Hopefully, our paths will again cross, and in those hugs and smiles, an unspoken communication is conveyed, a language of thanks for the support you give not only Quincy, but all of us. Thank you for your incredible words. It means the world to us.