Seven years ago, when we were living in Amman, Jordan, I read Frank Gardner's memoir, Blood and Sand. The book deals with his journalism career in general, but centers on a 2004 incident in which he was shot six times by terrorists in Saudi Arabia while reporting there. His cameraman was killed; Gardner survived with major injuries.
When I finished the book, I did something I have done several times since, but never before then: I wrote an email to the author telling him how much I appreciated his book. This was in the old days when authors weren't as accessible as they are now with blogs, fb, and Twitter. In fact, as I recall, I couldn't even find a direct contact address for him, so I wrote the email to his publisher or agent. In any case, I never heard back from him, but I didn't expect to - I mostly hoped he had received and read a note of thanks from a reader.
Guess who I met today?
He's in town for the Sharjah International Book Festival, and he stopped by AUS to give an hour-long talk/interview/Q&A. Jeremy and I both wanted to go, but he graciously (SO GRACIOUSLY, love you, sweetie!) deferred to me. So while Jeremy was doing the school run and managing the kids, I got to sit and listen to Frank Gardner talk about his career.
Afterward, as you can see, I totally fangirled and got a photo with him after telling him how much my husband and I loved his book. In other words, I got to tell him in person what I wrote in that email seven years ago. It was awesome. Today was a good day!
When I finished the book, I did something I have done several times since, but never before then: I wrote an email to the author telling him how much I appreciated his book. This was in the old days when authors weren't as accessible as they are now with blogs, fb, and Twitter. In fact, as I recall, I couldn't even find a direct contact address for him, so I wrote the email to his publisher or agent. In any case, I never heard back from him, but I didn't expect to - I mostly hoped he had received and read a note of thanks from a reader.
Guess who I met today?
He's in town for the Sharjah International Book Festival, and he stopped by AUS to give an hour-long talk/interview/Q&A. Jeremy and I both wanted to go, but he graciously (SO GRACIOUSLY, love you, sweetie!) deferred to me. So while Jeremy was doing the school run and managing the kids, I got to sit and listen to Frank Gardner talk about his career.
Afterward, as you can see, I totally fangirled and got a photo with him after telling him how much my husband and I loved his book. In other words, I got to tell him in person what I wrote in that email seven years ago. It was awesome. Today was a good day!