denise

Thanks, Jenny! And yes, we really don't know how and when and who our stories will affect. What especially touches me is the knowledge that there are many others whose responses I will never know ....

I love this story, James! I'm so glad you and the reader helped one another. 🙂

Those experiences mean so much! Just as you say: beyond what we can know. I'm sure you reached many others who didn't happen to write a letter ... I feel the same way!

Your comments are a gift to me, Marie! And yes, you remind us of another aspect—how we can learn something new, even through fiction. I've been so touched by readers who have told me: "I didn''t know anything about art and I was afraid that it would be boring or too intellectual to hold my interest, but I learned so much about Georgia O'Keeffe, and that was a huge part of why I loved the book!" The chance to learn something we didn't already know is another gift we can bestow 🙂

I feel that way too, Ellen. What's helped me to accept my own self-promotion (a necessity), in the face of so much suffering throughout our world, is to remember that stories have always been a source of healing, growth, and renewal. We need them as much now as we have at other times of peril, suffering, and sorrow ...