Last weekend I was treated like a rock star. I drove across the state to Durham to speak to a dear group of ladies who have been reading my book in their care group. Once I entered the fellowship hall, bedecked in the colors of both the Romanian and Hungarian flags, these wonderful ladies eagerly swarmed me, asking question after question from my book. They claimed they already knew me intimately through my writing and felt like I was their best friend. When the program began, I opened my book for a short reading and they all turned in their well-worn and highlighted copies to follow along!  They continued plying me with questions while we ate lunch. To get a small glimpse of the effort these sweet ladies went to, making me feel loved and welcomed, I thought you’d like to see the fruit salad they made. Notice the title of my book, in the same cursive font, carved into the handle of the watermelon! I loved my morning (much too short) with my new friends in Durham.

I often tell people I work as an administrative assistant by day and moonlight as a writer/speaker. About once a month, I speak somewhere – to a church women’s group, book club, library author’s talk, women’s weekend retreat, fellowship group, even a Sunday morning worship service. Every so often, I write for my local paper, a friend’s blog, or my writer’s guild blog. Nothing very big or far from home, but it’s all I can handle for now as a part-time job on top of my full-time one.

And then my favorite task is responding to website emails from “fans” each week, coming from every continent (except Antarctica, of course). Lately, several book clubs and Bible studies have read my book as a group. Usually they are too far away for me to join them in person, but I’ve talked to them by Skype or answered questions via email. Several readers have been interviewed or put together presentations (using tri-fold posters or power-point, depending on their tech level) for a “book report” of sorts on We Wait You to a group.

All of this attention humbles me and makes me grateful that somehow, God continues to use my meager words to receive glory. (That was my purpose in writing and is my constant prayer.) It’s been nearly six years since We Wait You was published, with zero dollars spent on a publicity campaign which has amounted to word-of-mouth advertising. I’m amazed that it continues to live and has circled the globe.

In fact, I was faced with a very difficult decision in January about the life of my book. Stay tuned and soon (within the next few weeks) I will be ready to reveal that decision to you.