Smiles, Flukes, Special Birthdays from Readers

On my Facebook author page, for years I do a regular feature, Mailbag Tuesday, where I share comments and messages from readers. Sometimes the readers are talking about my books and writing. Sometimes they are responding to a question I’ve asked on FB or in my newsletters. Sometimes I get messages from readers out of the blue. However they come, I enjoy reading those comments and I very much appreciate hearing from all of you, my reading friends. We may not have met face to face, but we can meet here on the wide world of the internet.

Anyway, I was looking through some old files and found a few comments I thought you might enjoy reading as much as I did. This first one must have come in after I wrote my Hidden Springs mystery, Murder Is No Accident. An old house in my town was the inspiration for that mystery and the setting. I don’t remember asking for old house stories, but I must have. Whether I did or not, Luan shared one that I think will make you smile the same as it did me when I first received it and now a few years later when I discovered it all over again. Here’s what she sent me.

“Old houses are the best with all their nooks and crannies and no place better to dream up a mystery. For instance, we lived in one for 20 years, and often was visited by the Wooba-Wooba Monster whom our daughter blamed for every strange noise, creaky door, squeaky step, spilled drink, messy room, lost items, and more. Once while peering down the laundry shoot, she noticed an area that was built to hide something and farther down something was shining. She got a hammer and was determined she had located a hidden treasure. After breaking through, she discovered she had broken through the tile in shower. I stared at the hole in shock and started laughing hoping her father would do the same. He simply fixed it. We sort of understood and wished it had been a hidden treasure. The shiny thing was a bottle of shampoo, no treasure, no mystery, but a funny memory that still enters into family conversations when we talk about our beautiful old home, where nothing was under a hundred years old.”

Thanks for sharing, Luan. I love how you came up with the Wooba-Wooba Monster to blame the creaks and squeaks on. You need somebody to blame the strange noises on in an old house. I can imagine my young character, Maggie, who hid out in a tower room in the old house in Murder Is No Accident doing the same. And then the Wooba-Wooba Monster became way too real for her in that story.

This next Mailbag Tuesday came in some time ago from Angie, a young writer.

“I just wanted to write you to say thank you. I found one of your books, Words Spoken True, on a fluke yesterday afternoon; I started reading it yesterday evening, and by eight minutes into this morning I’d finished it. Usually I there’s some element of a book that I don’t like, but I found nothing in yours I did not enjoy and you reminded me of the power in the Lord’s Prayer; for that alone I thank you. That, and Mrs. Wigginham is now officially my second-favorite fictional character of all time — she places a close second only to Mary Poppins.

Thank you, also, for finally giving me something to say when laughing classmates ask why I write. (As it turns out, fifteen-year-olds who list their first hobby as writing aren’t all that common.) You’re absolutely right; writing is like breathing and no matter how hard you try to fight it, it can’t be helped.”

It’s always especially fun to hear from young readers who are writers. I’m wondering if Angie had written her own books by now. For sure, a fluke that has somebody reading one of my stories is good, and it’s always fun to know somebody read my whole book in one sitting. I’d be surprised if Angie isn’t the first to give Mrs. Wigginham such a lofty honor. Mrs. Wigginhame was a minor character in Words Spoken True, but a fun one who helped along the romance between my characters.

Last, I received this message from Cathy in response to my recent newsletter where I asked readers if they had a favorite birthday or birthday gift. I heard from many readers about this or that birthday. Some were surprise birthday parties. More than a few remembered how their mothers or fathers made birthdays special when they were children. Others talked about birthdays shared with loved ones. But I loved what Cathy said about hers.

In response to your birthday question, I do believe my favorite birthday was today when I turned 81. How could it not be when I never expected to live this long?  I am grateful and looking forward to the blessings of each new day, one of which is enjoying your books. 

Of course, it was great knowing Cathy enjoyed my books, but what I liked best was her attitude and how she loved seeing a new year coming her way. Made me think of this quote I put in our church bulletin on my birthday Sunday a couple of weeks ago.

The other day a man asked me what I thought was the best time of life. “Why,” I answered without a thought, “now.” (David Grayson)

It’s easy to think about all those other times of life that may have been best or at least better for this reason or that, but it’s good to embrace our now too as Cathy is doing.

The picture up top is me enjoying the now on a walk with my daughter one beautiful fall day a few years ago.

Are you able to enjoy the “now” in your life as we head into autumn?

Please note: If you are a subscriber and received this twice, I apologize. My website had had some problems and was down on Wednesday. Since it is  unclear whether this post was published as it should have been or not, I’m deleting the one I posted Wednesday and reposting this identical one. If you can let me know if you received the first or the second or both, that would be helpful. I am hoping to get the issues straightened out soon. It all has to do with my newsletter changes.