The Readers' Crown & the Life of a Story

Woot! Woot! So I just found out that A TALE OF TWO DJINNS won the 2013 Readers Crown for Best Paranormal Romance. Oh yeah, happy dancing over the moon here :)

What I'm stoked about is this is a reader-judged contest and 6 readers who didn't even know I exist read Shay and Maya's story and loved it enough to help it win (I haven't seen the scores yet...dying to!).  While I respect and appreciate all opinions, when it comes to stories readers rule. Why? Because stories are written not for the editors, agents etc., but for the readers.

A story is born as a spark of an idea in the author's imagination. It comes into form when the author actually sits down and puts it into word. It grows with every word written, every chapter added, through cycles of edits and revisions. (Lol, yes parenting a story is almost as hard as parenting human kids)

However, it doesn't truly exist until the moment a reader picks up the story and reads it, connects with it. That connection is the breath of life. And as longs as a story keeps getting read by different readers it thrives and stays alive. This fact was brought home to me as I watched librarians at my favorite library removing books from the shelves because they hadn't been checked out in a long, long time. And it saddened me. When a story is forgotten, not read by new eyes, it dies.

So yes, readers rule and I'm so glad six wonderful readers read and connected with my story. Thank you from the depths of my heart.