Just…happy.

It’s the first of May. The first day of a new month.

I was checking various things online, and I happened to see that someone bought a paperback copy of one of my books and another person bought it in ebook form.

I found myself smiling. Yes, it’s nice to sell things, but what makes writing so enjoyable for me – what keeps me writing – is the fact that someone, somewhere, is reading what I wrote and (I hope) enjoying it. The fact that someone thought a story of mine, that I ‘made up out of my own head’, was interesting enough to spend money on it, make place on their shelf for it, is really warming.

Jackson Browne has a song, Roadies, that expresses it (for me):

but when that last guitar’s been packed away,
you know that I still want to play.
So just make sure you got it all set to go
before you come for my piano

But the band’s on the bus,
and they’re waiting to go.
We gotta drive all night
And do the show in Chicago… or Detroit.
I don’t know, we do so many shows in a row.
And these towns all look the same.
we just pass the time in the hotel rooms
and wander around backstage.
Till those lights come up, and we hear that crowd,
and we remember why we came.

People stay just a little bit longer
We want to play — just a little bit longer
Now the promoter don’t mind
And the union don’t mind
If we take a little time
And we leave it all behind and sing
One more song
Oh won’t you stay just a little bit longer
Please, please, please say you will
Say you will

…I hope those folks enjoy their books/kindles. I wrote it for them.