Dear Letter Writer,
It was wonderful to hear your kind words about my writing. Thank you so
much. I hope you visit my blog again to see this reply, as I was unable to email
you directly. I had disconnected the email on my website because I was getting spammed to death. Perhaps I should reconsider.
The way you described yourself--awkward, anti-social--sounds familiar to me. I think it also
describes the girl I was, many (many) years ago. So you are not alone. I am
glad A Fast and Brutal Wing provided a way for you to really feel who you are,
what you are like. For me, that is what the best kind of reading does—the
story enters me and I enter the story, leaving me "in a sea of thought." If
that happened for you with my work, I am truly satisfied.
I felt very much like Niki myself when I was writing her. The claws felt
very real to me. I felt like Emmet, too, but then I always feel like all my
characters—or at least parts of them. And I miss them terribly when the story is
over.
Your observation is correct--I haven’t published a book since 2007, though
of course I hope to publish again. But life goes up and down for writers just
like it does for everyone else. Your letter has reminded me of exactly what I
love about writing fiction for young adults—creating characters that are
meaningful to at least some of my readers.
Thank you for taking the time to write to me; I am grateful.
Wishing you the very best,
Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
