A precious moment of positivity...

Sometimes, you experience moments that make it all worth while.

Last night, for example, while out for a walk with our dog in a local park, my partner and I met up with a well-liked acquaintance who was also out with her pooch.

"Oh, I've been hoping to run into you," she told me, as our puppies sniffed each other. "My daughter was in the sixth-grade class to whom you spoke at F---ton Middle School. She came home so excited."

That little tidbit was pleasant enough, a nice pat on the ego.

But she went on. "Not only did she really enjoy your presentation, she was also delighted because she won a copy of one of your books."

Whenever I speak to a school group, you see, I bring a set of special bookmarks to give out to the kids, just so that they each have something to take home with them. What I don't tell them until the end, however, is that I have attached a sticker to three of the bookmarks and those students who find a sticker win a copy of one of my Abigail Massey books.

So this friend's daughter was one of the lucky ones.

And, better still, she apparently loved the book. "She wants me to buy the other two volumes of stories for her!" our friend told me.

It's hard to explain how great that feels, both to hear that her 11-year-old daughter had enjoyed my presentation to her class and to find out that she had read and really loved the stories I wrote.

I had a warm feeling in my tummy for the rest of the evening.

This kind of thing doesn't happen often enough, at least for writers like me who haven't been fortunate enough to get their work reviewed in newspapers and magazines or on Goodreads etc. I can feel proud of the number of books that sell but I rarely get that kind of direct feedback, that personal pat on the back.

I admit, it sounds a bit egotistical to say that but it really feels good. Writing can be something of a solitary endeavour and it is often hard to know how your work is being received by your readers.

This little encounter was a wonderful shot in the arm for me. One that will help to encourage me in my writing for the next several months at least.