Every so often I get an email from someone who really makes my day, and that happened to me on Saturday. A friend of mine from my University of Texas at Brownsville professor days who now lives in Tennessee has been so kind to read both books and comment on them.
He also sends me regular emails that really motivate me to continue writing. His compliments are extra special because he is an old English major and quite a literary expert. Also, he and his wife are just generally wonderful people.
He recently loaned out Keeping Faith to a friend and wrote and told me on Saturday that she was impressed that it was my first book, and likened the descriptions of Italy to those by John Grisham. I don’t know which book of Grisham’s she is referring to, but I’m going to find out and read it just so I can make my own comparisons.
Another friend who lives in the same town in North Carolina as Nicholas Sparks wrote to me several months back that my book was every bit as good as any of his and she’s quite a fan of his. Now, I know my writing has a ways to go to compete with these guys, but it certainly makes me feel good. So, any time I can get comments like those, I will remain a “writing fool!”