Those feelings changed when my new social media guru posted something simple on my Facebook Street Team page. “Let us know where you are from.” I scrolled down through the answers, and, oh, my gosh, I’ve only heard from a fraction of my readers, but it really touched my heart to see all the places they are from, which in turn is all the places I have reached with my books. The United Kingdom, Africa, Australia, Poland, and just about every state in my beloved United States. In the past I have also heard from Germany, Taiwan, Russia, France, Italy, Norway and Canada.
Seeing all those replies reminded me that – yes – a LOT of people know I exist, and they care about my books. Most of you have no idea what that means to me and to other writers. Your favorite authors need to hear from you, now more than ever, because of having to be home most of the time and unable to see you and talk to you.
What touched my heart the most is realizing that when I die, my name will go on for a long time through my books. My fervent wish is that through my stories, readers will see how important history is and will make sure their children and grandchildren learn it – if not in school, then through reading the thousands and thousands of books available that tell stories of real history.
One great source of that is books by Allen Eckert. Take a look. FRONTIERSMEN. WILDERNESS EMPIRE. THAT DARK AND BLOODY RIVER. GATEWAY TO EMPIRE. TECUMSEH! Mr. Eckert wrote fabulous true tales of the early history of the USA, told in such an entertaining way that it’s like reading an exciting novel. If you feel your children are not being taught (in school) about the proud history of the brave pioneers who built this country, have them read these books. Patriotism and pride come with learning the truth. Yes, we made a lot of mistakes, and are still making mistakes, but young people today have to understand how this all came about. You cannot teach change and teach how to right the wrongs unless you UNDERSTAND the wrongs, and you can’t understand the wrongs if no one teaches how and why it all happened.
My
books are, of course, fiction – at least the characters are
fictitious. But the surrounding events and locations are real, and
nothing warms my heart more than to receive comments about the
history involved – finding out readers learned something they never
learned in school. My “Blue Hawk” trilogy and my “Savage
Destiny” series are probably packed with the most history of any of
my books.
It makes me happy to think how many years books “by Rosanne Bittner” could be out there long after I am gone, so all these 40 or so years of writing were not in vain. There are moments when I wonder who cares, but then I get your Facebook comments and your e-mails and letters, and your four and five-star reviews on Amazon and hear from you in other ways, and I realize all these thousands and thousands of hours sitting here writing my stories are worth it. Millions of words, thousands of hours of research, a sore back and neck, swollen legs, wearing out numerous computers – it’s all for the stories in my mind and heart that are begging to be written.
Most of my blogs are written “on the spot.” Something hits me all of a sudden, and I have to write about it. Today, it was that Facebook post asking readers to tell me where they are from. I was like – WOW – I really do have a lot of readers “out there.” I am going to remember that post for a long time. It will keep me going back to the computer and help me remember somebody out there wants me to keep writing.
This is the season for Thanksgiving. I give thanks to all of you readers who love my characters and who remind me my writing has a purpose. You guys are the best!
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