I dreamed about having books out there in the wide-world for people to buy and read a long time before I published Sexton a couple of years ago. In one of those many, many daydreams (okay, more than one, but who's counting?), I wondered how it would feel to hear someone talk about my books when they didn't know I was listening.
Yesterday I found out. It was great!
I loaned a copy of Sexton to a friend of mine at work, and she put it on a table on the other side of the room. The table she put the book on is next to another room, a room I couldn't see in from where I was standing.
A female voice I didn't recognize came from the other room. She said, "Are you reading Sexton?"
My friend looked at me, then back into the room at the person I couldn't see. "Have you heard of it?"
"Yes. I've read all of them!"
My eyebrows shot up. I'll confess I got a little suspicious. I thought I knew all of the people at work who have read my books, but I didn't know the person in the room. I was sure of it. I'm good at recognizing voices, and hers was new to me.
"All of them?" my friend asked.
"It's a series."
"Oh! I didn't know that. They're sci-fi, right?"
"Fantasy. ...Good adventure, and they're funny too."
I walked toward the room. I wanted to see who my unknown fan was. My friend introduced us, and I was delighted. If you're an author and this hasn't happened to you yet, I hope it happens soon. It's terrific to hear someone talk about your work, and then getting to meet them. I suppose it's a different kind of terrific if they hate your work and bash it when you're in earshot, but even that ain't all bad. You might learn something you wouldn't learn otherwise.
Still, I'm glad she likes Sexton Chronicles.
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