Wednesday, August 23, 2006

patience

Ah, I was so excited in my last post because I thought I had finished "Year of the Rat." But nothing like a good night's sleep and a day to ponder to realize my overstatement. Because upon rereading, I realized a major flaw and started gutting the poor thing. It'll be worth it, I know, but sometimes the "writer's journey" is frustrating; and--I don't care what other people say--quite unsatisfactory when you're on it.

But as I was grouching about revisions, in my inbox came this really sweet and strangely apropos e-mail (name withheld but exact typos & spelling included):

I love the novel "year of the dog"! I think it might have been one of the best books i have ever read this year! I am only 11 years old. I am chinese and part american(kind of like what's in your book). I was born in 1994 which is the year of the dog. I was wondering... If you can ever just ever maybe write back. Cause I love your books so much!!! Year of the dog is a story kind of like my life. I have not yet found some one just like me untill i read your book. I relized that sometimes when you want something you will just have to be patient no matter how bad you want it.

Thank you for your time
-----------
(as know'n as your #1 fan)


If she can be patient, I suppose I can too.

4 comments:

Renee said...

Hiya from Shen's Books. I am very excited to have found your blog!

That is the sweetest email ever. It does make all those revisions and slogging through the process worth it, doesn't it?

irideout said...

Wow, talk about a rewarding career. :)

alvinaling said...

I love seeing fanmail. I actually don't get to see a lot of it as an editor unless my authors forward them on--but when I do see it, it's so heartening and rewarding and a reminder of why we're in this business in the first place.

R said...

awww...sweet! :)