Luck and Friends

This last snow has slowed me down this morning so I had to come back and type this after my rounds.

Notice above that when I awoke this morning, TWA was back in the No. 1 spot in Dark Humor on Amazon. Turns out that AAA and KMAG followed TWA into the top 10 as well.

Now there really is no rhyme or reason behind how this works. And it is ephemeral. It lasts an hour or so and then the placements shift again and TWA drops to #2 or 5 and the others slide back into the top 15 or 20. But in those brief moments my books all landed together in magic land. Top 10. And I just happened to spot it. And for that I’m honored and thankful.

It’s luck. Plain and simple.

But that luck occurs because I have been blessed by a lot of wonderful people I consider friends, including you fine, five readers, who have bought my books and posted reviews and told your friends to do the same. I appreciate your loyalty. It means a lot.

Word of mouth. That’s what friends do.

I don’t have big name reviewers in the New York Times or the New Yorker discovering my books and lauding me as the next Hemingway. And that’s fine. I didn’t start publishing until I reached an age that Hem never saw. The “important” critics probably wouldn’t get my humor anyway. My stories don’t suffer from enough angst or consider and discuss important topics that stir the cappaccinos in the coffee shops. Unlike Jimmy Moran, I’m not that clever.

My stories are written just to help the kind of regular people I know and grew up with temporarily escape all the bullshit that is making those more important writers tear their shirts and gnash their teeth. My readers don’t have time to worry about that stuff. They are too busy dealing with putting food on the table and shoes on their kids feet. And when they have a moment, they want to read something simple that will make them chuckle, remind them of their own childhood experiences, the loyalties and loves of youth. The family characters. What went into making those readers who they are now.

And they want to be reminded that there is magic in this world.

In short, I am here to entertain, not impress anyone.

So if you are one of the abovementioned readers who get my humor, and remember a world like the one I once lived in, thank you. I appreciate you helping me get the word out.

And now I have to return to the real world where Amazon rankings do not really matter.

But you fine, five readers get out there and push through the day. Friday is next in line.

Make today a great one.