Wine, Books, and My Ego

This week, despite having the plague, I had a night which falls within the top five experiences of my life, right up there with Auggie nestling up to me for the first time, and that day my grandpa carried me everywhere I wanted to go (clearly, I was a child).

On Tuesday, a book group three towns over invited me to speak to them about my first novel, Smart Mouth. I went because of the free wine. In hindsight, I'm tellin' ya', every novelists should do this at least once. There is no better ego stroke.

Honestly, though, there's more to it than ego. My writing soul was fed. I knew two of the participants, but the rest were friendly and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. I felt like an authority figure - like I a real writer. They asked insightful questions, deep questions, as if they got something out of my words. My words. Wow! People I didn't know actually liked my book! They were treating it how I treat other people's books. They talked about characters as if they were real people, treated their issues like real issues. I mean, I feel that way, but how could I know for sure others feel the same? I can only assume my friends lie to me to assuage my ego, which is fine by me, so the validation rolled over me in a wave. I'm still soaking in it. One woman said she felt like I followed her around and wrote about her life. (For the record, I didn't.) Another woman said she searched the internet for my radio interview and then listened to the whole thing. They asked tons of questions about my current novel; some of them had read excerpts on my blog. They wanted to know about a Smart Mouth sequel!

I enjoyed living my book from their perspective.  I'm honored these women invited me into their home and shared their impressions and questions about my work. And their wine. I can't thank them enough. I write more secure in an audience now, because of them.

And next week, I've been asked to present at the Oregon Coast Literary Award night in Cannon Beach. How did I get here?! Thank you, Universe, for shining this light on me.  I won't take it for granted, I promise.