Sandy Nathan's YOUR SHELF LIFE

I’m redoing my website, and bopped onto Amazon to check a fact about one of my books. I noticed that it had a new review. I froze. This is a tender moment for an author. I’ve gotten reviews that were so complementary that I practically levitated. And––like any author who’s been published for more than two weeks––I’ve gotten reviews where the reviewer thought that tar and feathering was too good for my book––and me.

I was in pretty good mood. Should I look at the review and chance wrecking it? Yes. No. Yes. No. Well, what the hell.

As I read the review, my eyes filled and I started to tremble. I was so moved. I’ve gotten lots of very good reviews by wonderfully articulate readers, but something about Glenda A. Bixler’s review moved me.

I thought about it. Why was this review so touching? Because Glenda got me. She understood me and what my writing’s about and captured it. I thought about that some more and realized that the connection that Glenda and I shared through The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy was a heart connection. What I want more than anything is that kind of connection from my readers.

I’ve wanted to get to know you. The you you. The you beyond the hype. I’ve finally found a way to introduce myself, the real me. I gave a talk at our local book store, The Book Loft in Solvang, CA the day before Valentine’s Day. I hate Valentine’s Day. The talk was recorded and the link below will magically transport you to YouTube, where I’ll tell you why I hate the famous day of hearts and flowers. I’ll share a lot of other things with you, too. How I write. “Literature through disaster,” is my own personally trademarked term to express how my soul transforms personal wipe-outs into books. It may work for you too.