That picture is a screenshot from my email account. It’s a notification from Archive of Our Own that I got kudos on one of my old fanfiction stories. Between Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction.net, I get a half-dozen or so of these every week. Normally they just filter into separate folder and I don’t pay them much attention. After all, I haven’t written any fanfic in years, and I only ever wrote for the one show (Once Upon A Time). I should probably log into my accounts – if I can even remember the passwords – and stop the email notifications, but every once in a while, it’s nice to open that folder and give it a glance.

I started out writing fanfic nearly 15 years ago, and I was a new writer, just starting out, throwing my stories into the void and wondering if they’d stick. I’ll never forget my first story – I posted the first few chapters, then logged back in to see hundreds (!) of great reviews. Those reviews gave me courage, the stories that followed it gave me much-needed practice, and eventually I grew the balls to publish an original novel. My fanfic readers embraced it, and here I am, twenty-five novels and thirteen novellas under two pen names later, still wondering if I’m actually any good at this. Every time I see a fanfic notification, it reminds me of how far I’ve come, and that even after all these years, people are still reading and enjoying my work. Some days, I really need that. So thanks, if you’ve ever given me a kudo or written a review. That’s the stuff that feeds the soul and I am deeply grateful.