Yesterday I attended a “Christmas Coffee with Authors” hosted by our local library. Five members of my writers group (me included), spoke in front of about 40 people (far more than any of us anticipated!). We each introduced ourselves, described our most recent published book as well as read a chapter.

I decided to “wing it” instead of writing a small speech prior to reading my chosen chapter out of my book “Catching Idle Butterflies.” I did stumble a bit, and I didn’t say what I wanted to say. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. Next time I’ll for sure write a little speech and memorize it, because as successful as this event was, we may do it again next year.

Which means I’ll have to publish another book…

Another surprise is I sold three copies of my book, and two people have expressed interest in joining our writers group. The best part, though, was having conversations with the attendees and how much they enjoyed what I read. They all said it was not only funny, but relatable. Some even shared their own similar stories.

Which is a compliment every writer seeks: to be understood, inspire emotion and thought, and that the reader relates to what we write.