Writer's Digest: no beeps, blips or bleatings

I know that, for a lot of people, reading is now an electronic experience. They get their news from the web; they read books on their e-reader; they even read magazine articles online.

I'm pushing 50 and I don't think I will ever fully abandon my devotion to reading the old-fashioned way: ink on paper, with pages to turn and textures to enjoy.

Even as I stand at my computer, writing this blog entry, I have a book open on the desk in front of me. I doubt I will ever change, at least not completely.

So I still feel a distinct rush when I get home from work at the end of the day and find the latest edition of Writer's Digest waiting for me, among the bills and adverts that come with the daily mail.

I like the way it looks. I like the way it feels in my hands. I like the fact that it is a little bundle dedicated entirely to the craft of writing. There will be no pop-ups, no annoying video adverts sneaking into its margins, no distracting beeps, blips or bleatings.

I even like the way the paper starts to curl after I've flipped through it a couple of times.

And I like "flipping through" it too. You can't flip through an online magazine. At best, you have to "click through", don't you?

Not my cup of tea.

Now, I have to admit, this edition of Writer's Digest doesn't seem to have as much of interest to me as the last one. I doubt I'll read every page of it with the same keeness and avidity that marked my enjoyment three months ago.

But I will still enjoy it, as much for its physicality as for its contents.

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.