My newest novel, DROP OUT goes live tomorrow, yeah!!! But what is almost as rewarding as publishing a new novel is what happened to me the other day. But first, let me tell you a story about Neil at 17 years old. Here I was, a geeky high school student with a crush on one of the school's cheerleaders. Now, I knew she was out of my league from the start, but I was young and bold, and figured what the hey. So I let it be known that I liked her. (back then there were no cell phones, or texting, or IM). So I made due. I told a friend to tell her. Long story short, this girl played with my emotions for a while, kinda flirted with me, and then would ignore me. One day I was so bold as to ask if I could drive her home. She reluctantly, if I recall, said yes. But then after school she had something to do, so I told her I'd wait. And I waited... and waited... Finally, an hour and a half later she meets me at my car. I did drive her home and I did make her laugh once on the drive (if I recall), but then... nothing. She pretty much ignored me the rest of the school year and that was that. But for some reason, that experience stuck with me my whole adult life. That feeling of being toyed with.
Flash forward to yesterday. Through the wonders of Facebook that same girl actually friended me and wrote me a personal message asking how I was. And do you know why? Because one of her friends told her that I had written a bunch of books. So I respond friendly on Facebook, you know, asked her how she is and such. Well, I get this long response about how she loves my books and why didn't I ever tell her in high school how much I love writing and she wishes she would have gotten to know me better. Totally gushing over me. Well, I just wrote her a nice note back cordially thanking her and wishing her the best. Just a friendly little "not interested in ever meeting or seeing you" note. But I have to tell you, there's no greater feeling than knowing a past crush is now jealous of your accomplishments. It's moments like those that makes me LOVE being a writer.
Flash forward to yesterday. Through the wonders of Facebook that same girl actually friended me and wrote me a personal message asking how I was. And do you know why? Because one of her friends told her that I had written a bunch of books. So I respond friendly on Facebook, you know, asked her how she is and such. Well, I get this long response about how she loves my books and why didn't I ever tell her in high school how much I love writing and she wishes she would have gotten to know me better. Totally gushing over me. Well, I just wrote her a nice note back cordially thanking her and wishing her the best. Just a friendly little "not interested in ever meeting or seeing you" note. But I have to tell you, there's no greater feeling than knowing a past crush is now jealous of your accomplishments. It's moments like those that makes me LOVE being a writer.
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