My critique partner, Ilima Todd, recently asked me if she could let her fourteen-year-old daughter read my latest manuscript. I said yes and a few days later, Ilima told me how much her daughter loved my story--that it's one of her top five favorite books (and she's a voracious reader). This made me all kinds of happy. I write YA stories, but I've never had someone in my target audience read anything of mine. So to see such a positive reaction was thrilling.
Then to make things even more wonderful, Ilima's daughter (Emma) sketched a drawing of the love interest in the story, Gabriel Stonebrook. She told her mom she'd been a little depressed ever since finishing my manuscript because no boy at her school will ever compare to Gabriel. :-) Happy sigh. Can I just tell you much I love Emma right now?
So without further gushing over Emma, here's how she sees Gabriel:
Look at his suspenders! His lopsided dimples! His sweet, but haunted expression! And my favorite, the hearts around his name. Oh, and I didn't see this until now--very faintly on top it says, "for Kathryn Purdie."
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Thanks, Emma, for making this author's day--week--year. And here's hoping you find your own Gabriel someday (and with any luck his mom isn't trapped in the purgatory of his dreams and he lives in your own time dimension). ;-)
Have any of you authors received fan art? Did you have a similar reaction? Or for you readers, have you ever loved a book so much you made your own fan art for it?
