It’s a thrill to launch a new book into the world. As people gathered at Fact and Fiction prior to my debut reading of Nanny on the Run, I spotted a young boy standing near the back. After chatting with him for a few moments, he asked, “Are you the author?”

“I am,” I said.

The reverence in his voice reminded me of a conversation I had with a long-time friend. Both of us are nurses and avid readers. We both write, too, though my friend hasn’t yet shared her work. We’d asked each other, “Do you think you would’ve considered writing as a career if you would’ve met any authors when you were growing up?”

“I don’t know,” was our echoed reply.

I do know this. I’ve loved my mother’s nursing stories ever since I was a little girl. I’ve loved to read, too. And having become both a nurse and an author, I feel very fortunate. Very, even though I avoid adverbs whenever possible.

Following the Q & A at my Shakespeare & Company reading, a gentleman said, “You didn’t say anything about your nursing.”

So I obliged. While I was sharing a bit about my nursing career, the rest of the audience remained in their seats to listen. A couple who had wandered into the store during the Q & A stopped and took notice as I began my nurse talk.

I learned afterward that the woman was a nurse. Better yet, she wants to become a nursing instructor.

Nearly two weeks have passed since my second book reading. There are more on the horizon.  Last night at a barbeque, I chatted with friends and acquaintances and with people whom I’d never met. More than one said, “You published a novel?”

That question will never get old.