Who Do You Write For?

Who do you write for?

I’m not talking about agents or publishers or mass audiences. Who is that person whose life you hope to touch with your stories?

This woman sitting next to me in this picture is Anne.  

I didn’t know it when I scribed the script or penned those chapters.

But now I know…
Anne is who I write for.

I know Anne from my college days in Chicago. We weren’t super close back then, but Facebook has a way of keeping us in touch with people we maybe didn’t pay very close attention to in our former days. 

Anne got back on my radar this spring when she posted one morning that her husband was killed suddenly in a truck accident. I read the post while I was in Florence vacationing and I couldn’t get Anne and her pain out of my head. I wrote her my condolences but then kept tracking her as the days and months went by. We had little exchanges and before I knew it she was talking about my book, God Bless The Broken Road. I told her I hoped she could find some comfort in Amber’s story because Amber experienced the same kind of pain of having someone she loved ripped away far, far too soon.

Then Anne surprised me and said she was coming to my book signing in Michigan. She and her mother drove an hour north in the sweltering summer humidity to be a part of our small town book event.

Despite the fact that Anne is terminally ill and can’t walk and is still grieving the loss of her husband. She sat across from me cheerful, positive, and hopeful. She said she was “healing” along with Amber and wished me blessings on the book and movie. 

I hope Anne knows how much she is loved. I hope she feels it deeply every day. I hope she feels it as she soaks in Amber’s story. I hope she carries it with her after she puts the novel down.

Anne is who I write for.

Who do you write for?