Fan Mail By Snailmail

The picture makes it look like I get regular fan mail.  I do not. I have gotten precisely three.  When you write for the adult market, the only people who feel compelled to comment in writing are the ones who are complaining.  There was the anonymous “fan” who send me racist comments about the fact that I as a White Canadian married a Black African and said that since I had done this “terrible thing,” I had no right to call myself Adventist.  That was my first fan mail ever.  It kind of shook me.

Then I got my second piece of fan mail: a letter from a gentleman who had not read my work, but had seen an ad for it.  Upon seeing the ad, he felt compelled to write to me and correct me for mistakes he imagined I must have made.  Like I said, frustrating.

However, I just got the sweetest little note from two girls who read my Hyacinth book.  They called me “Mrs. Ntihemuka” and said “we relly like it very much.”  I melted!  What a great surprise to receive a note in my mailbox from kids who liked my book!

For the record, I have heard from other people who enjoyed my books for grownups, just not with a postage stamp.  I love to hear from people who connected with my characters, because those characters are a large part of me.  And who doesn’t like a pat on the back now and again?  But more than that, I feel like I connected with my reader, and that’s a great feeling!

But THIS week, I’m tickled pink from a note from two little girls.   They liked me!  They “relly” liked me!

PS.  Kid spelling mistakes are just too endearing.