Amazing Authors & Their Books

Two questions: How do you define 'friend' and what do you feel when you walk into a book store?

Strange questions with no connection. At first that’s the way they may appear, but these questions do have some connection in this rambling. Webster’s defines friend as “one attached to another by affection or esteem, a favored companion.”

To me, friend can mean many things. When I think of friend, I think of the people I knew from school. I think of people at work and various friends that we make throughout our lifetime. There are those friends that we would go to the extreme for. In addition, there are the friends that we make in blogdom.

I feel I have made many friends in my short time blogging. These are friends I “talk” with daily and/or weekly. I feel bad on the days I don't get to visit all the blogs of my friends. I miss that time to "catching up and sharing." I treasure these friendship.

Now, let’s talk about book stores. I’ve always enjoyed going to book stores. I feel like a kid at Christmas in a toy store. So many books to select from. I could spend all day in a book store browsing shelf after shelf.

I’ve noticed the last couple of times I’ve been in a book store the feeling is different. I’m not sure I can explain it and you’re probably wondering why would you care. But, here goes anyway.

When I walk in now I catch myself smiling as I browse the aisles. I have mixed feelings of admiration and pride. You see, now as I look at the books on the shelf I see the names of authors that are “friends” and see books I know that took months to write and revise.  

The admiration comes from knowing the hard work and long hours authors put into their work. The admiration is for those authors sharing a little of themselves with the readers through their work. The admiration also comes from knowing these authors are “normal” people who worry about day to day life the same as the reader who loves their work. (They’re not catered to and pampered while lying on the beach of their Villa.) J

The pride is knowing these authors as “friends.” The pride is being able to “chat” with these authors through e-mails, blogs, Twitter and Facebook. The pride comes from hosting these authors for guest posts on this humble blog. The richest pride, however, is in seeing my friends’ books on these bookshelves and knowing they have accomplished a goal they have set for themselves. They have realized a dream they had.

So now that I have rambled about friends and book stores, do you enjoy browsing in book stores? Care to share what you feel when you walk in and see all the wonderful books lined up?

I leave you today with a message I read yesterday on a sign outside a church. “If you say your can, you can. If you say you can’t, you can’t.” I think it says a lot. Which way are you leaning today? Are you having a can or can’t day?