There’s a scene in the book I have out for beta reading where the main characters have an exchange in a garden. It doesn’t sound like much when I talk about it, but it’s an image still vivid in my mind’s eye. The two of them sitting on the grass under the catalpa trees, white flowers falling on the wind.
It’s an image burned into my memory from seeing it before, a single, fleeting moment of time you remember forever because it felt like magic. Something breathtakingly beautiful in the way the leaves rustle, the flowers glowing in the sun. Naturally, you can imagine my delight when one of my readers sent me a message about that scene. Not just a message, though, but a picture to go with it. A snapshot of her precious daughter wearing a catalpa flower in her hair. And for me as an author, that moment was magic, too.
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| Photo by Michelle Lachman |
This case was extra special, too, since this particular reader went out of her way to take pictures of her beautiful tree for me when I asked to see it.
There’s something incredible about knowing the words you put to paper represent things people can connect to real life. When everyday moments can remind someone of something they’ve read, an image they recall from a book. It’s absolutely touching, and it’s the sort of thing that makes all the effort that goes into writing a book completely worthwhile.
I’m blessed to receive these gifts from those who read my work. Sometimes from friends, sometimes from complete strangers who send me a message from out of the blue, sharing thoughts or experiences they relate to my stories. And for me, it definitely makes me feel like my time writing was well spent. These are moments to treasure. I only hope there will be many, many more.
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| Photos by Michelle Lachman |