0 Some Q&A Info and a Farmer Calls the Cows In

If you want to follow along with my Q&A this week at David Estes's Goodreads group, or even join in, here's where you need to go. Some explanations of the setup: at the top of that page is the questions people have been asking me, listed in bold. The wonderful Jenny, who is keeping things organized for me, continues to add new questions to that list as people ask them, and she also crosses out questions as I answer them. If you want to add a question, you need to join the group, then add a comment that includes your question. (Click on "post a comment.") Jenny asks that you put your question in bold so that it's easier for her and me to find it, and that you use spoiler tags if there's a spoiler in your question. I answer the questions by adding my own comments, which means that you need to scroll through the comments to find my answers. Yesterday, I answered eleven or twelve questions, which start around message 45. I'm about to head over there now and answer a bunch more, which, by the looks of things, will probably start around message 69 or 70, unless you all go posting questions right away before I get started (which you should feel free to do!). :o)

I think that's everything about that.

[ETA: today's answers do indeed start at message 69.]

Also, I like the way this farmer calls in his cows. (If you can't see the video, go to my Blog Actual.) (Thanks, Jess!)

Detail: Some Q&A Info and a Farmer Calls the Cows In

0 Next week, I'll be answering questions at David Estes's Goodreads group!

So, as many of you have doubtless observed, I keep a fairly quiet online profile… And lately, I've been even quieter than usual, because I'm trapped under a mountain of revision pages. However, next week, I'm bursting out! The lovely folks over at David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! have invited me to their Goodreads group, where I will be answering your questions about my books, my life as a writer, how many umbrellas I own, what the decor theme in my bathroom is (someone please ask me this question), why it's taking me so long to release my next book, what my new year's resolutions are, what kind of bread I'm making, or whatever else you want to know. Within reason. :o)

I believe you need to join the group in order to participate, though anyone can read along. You can join here. And here's where the Q&A will take place. Please join us! I'll stop in at least once a day next Monday through Thursday and answer as many of your questions as I can.

Thank you to David, and a special thanks to Jenny for organizing everything brilliantly!

Detail: Next week, I'll be answering questions at David Estes's Goodreads group!

0 A Thank You to My Readers

Today I received a pile of fan letters in the mail, forwarded from my publisher, and I've just spent some time reading a few of them. This batch came from all over the United States; it came from Canada, Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand… To answer a few questions that come up a lot: Yes, I do receive these letters. Sometimes it takes a while, but they always get to me eventually. No, I do not throw them away. I don't even throw them away after I've read them. I still have every single fan letter I've ever received.

It's impossible to express the amazement with which I read these letters. How touched I am by the sensitivity of my readers, by the things they notice and appreciate. By the clever and succinct questions they ask that make me laugh, and sometimes suddenly see the flaws in my own books (which is a good thing!). By the respect they have for the work I've done, and the courage they have as they write or parent or go to school or do whatever it is they're doing in their own lives. By the love they have for my characters. The love my readers have for my characters means so much to me!

One of the things I love about my job is that I have published only three books, but every reader is different and brings something unique to his or her reading. So every time someone reads one of those books, the combination of book and reader creates a unique book, a book that no one else has read or ever could read. I write three books, but with your help, it becomes hundreds and thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands of books, each one different. We create the books together, which is awesome. Each of us owns our own unique version exclusively, which is a precious thing.

Thank you, readers, for creating my books with me. Thank you for loving them, hating them, getting angry at them, finding solace in them, using them as coasters -- thank you for opening them, so that my characters can live in your minds. You are probably not thinking about this when you're reading -- and really, you shouldn't be, because the author shouldn't matter -- but your reading is an act of generosity that I can never repay.

Detail: A Thank You to My Readers