Fan mail

[darkemeralds]

A few days ago I got fan mail from a (not-incidentally gay, male) friend:

I finished Restraint last night near two in the morning then fell asleep awash with emotions. Principal among them was a sense of satisfaction a reader feels when a story has not just worked but has transported them. Upon the conclusion of your wonderful novel, I arrived at a place quite distinct from where I departed. Please know that it wasn’t simply a pleasurable excursion but a transformative one.

The ride concluded, I also felt a palpable sense of longing yearning for more of John and Tristan’s story and hunger for more of your writing. When you have the pre-orders available for [your work in progress], I would like to be the first in line. Your prose is rich, exact, elegant and seemingly effortless though by now I know well that effortless is more often an effect than an accurate description of how it arrives so miraculously on the page. In fact, as the story took its final turn in Book Four, I purposely slowed my pace, savoring the experience washing over me, not unlike the sensation that John and Tristan each had in cherishing the limited time they had left together. Quite an achievement considering this reader had never partaken in the genre of romance queer, historical or otherwise.




I just wanted to share that. It's only a small portion of a long and thoughtful actual letter on paper.

I don't write for a broad, general audience (whatever that is). I'm aware that M/M stories are largely by and for women, and I'm fine with that. But I'm also aware of certain appropriation or fetishization problems with the genre, so it meant quite a lot to me to hear from a gay male friend that a) he'd trusted me enough to give my novel his time and attention, and b) he found it satisfying enough to write me a fan letter.

Maybe I'll keep writing.

Comments

[nanila]

What a wonderfully uplifting letter. It sounds well worth treasuring and using for inspiration at appropriate intervals!

[dine]

that is a very wonderful letter - much-deserved but how excellent to see in writing that your work is well regarded

[tabaqui]

What a delightful letter. :D
It's one of the very *best* things, as a write, to be told that you have actually *touched* someone's emotions, made them think, made them cry or rage or laugh aloud.

I think...you should keep writing. :D

And - I have a question about your pro-writing, would you prefer that I ask it in a private email?

[sasha_feather]

How wonderful!!

[ljgeoff]

Oh, wow! How wonderful.

I loved Restraint and still think of the characters from time to time.

I'm working on something, only 5k or so at this point. Do you recommend editing when the manuscript is completed, or in progress?

[nwhepcat]

Wow, that's a lovely bit of feedback—congratulations!

[twasadark]

What a lovely response! Everything an author could dream of. And Restraint is worthy of it as well.