Two People Read My Book Yesterday

I know it was yesterday because the book is on NetGalley, a review service for professional readers.  (And all these years I’ve been protecting my amateur reading status – just in case.) Yesterday was the first day I gave access to readers. 10 AM. By 5 at night I had two reviews. Meaningful reviews. (Good reviews!)

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And it hit me; That while I had been busy at work writing a press release for a Women’s League fashion show, someone had spent the afternoon watching Olivia fall for Jake. And while I was sneaking a minute to comment on a Facebook meme, someone was living out Olivia’s desperation.

I think nearly all of us have imagined how intoxicating it would be to coerce my family to sit down and listen to me talk for five uninterrupted minutes. But it’s tough to get the kids and hubby to listen, especially to a MOMologue. Not surprising.  I never had much interest in listening to my them myself.

It’s a rare thing in this world to be accorded the privilege of taking center stage. It’s typically reserved for writers like Barbara Kingsolver or performers like Paul McCartney or Beyonce.

So the idea that someone was reading my words for a several hours is heady. My wisps of my imagination, now fully formed on the page and off living their own lives ,is an amazing thing. I’m honored that two people spent the day in my virtual world.

The bad news is that out of this whole world of billions of people, it’s possible that they were the only two reading my book even with all the hard work I’ve put in and my Book Manager’s put in. It’s possible that in this crush of humanity, it was just the two of them. And while I’d like to sit at least several hundred down on my couch and have them listen to me uninterrupted, I realize that may never happen. 

So I will take joy in the fact that I entertained a couple people yesterday. And I will take pride in it, because it is an amazing, fulfilling thing.