Warning: sappy emotions incoming.
I'm a little different from many writers. I have put a few things out for sale but I don't try to promote them. I make enough every now and then for a decent bottle of whiskey or rum which makes it taste a bit better. I've kept everything available for free here on SOL though. Why does this matter?
When I was a child I would watch my mother paint. She was very good. Once a local art society put several of her pieces in a museum exhibition. But she rarely did anything with her art other than keeping it around the house. In the age of Instagram, I think she might have posted it but that's all. She did art purely for herself.
As a young man, I didn't understand that. Isn't art created for an audience? What I didn't understand was her audience was her family and a few friends. I never became the writer I wanted to be. In retrospect, I didn't want to write but wanted to be a writer. I'd love to time travel and explain a few things to younger me. Then over a year ago I sat down and realized I was still young enough to try to learn to write but too old to put it off longer. I thought I would do a short warm up work called the Pool Girl.
I'm now working towards the conclusion of the second "book" of it which should end at chapter 53 (assuming a few more don't sneak in). I've learned a lot in working on it. I am a better writer than I was a year ago and still have a lot to learn. And I'm writing because I want to write not because I want to be a writer. It has also brought me closer to my mother who passed many years ago. I think I understand her better now and why she painted.
So, I want to thank everyone who reads, who provides feedback, who says they liked it. Your encouragement is more than ego feeding. Validation also enables exploration and growth. And I encourage you to write to writers even if you don't think their writing is perfect and tell them what you enjoyed about their writing.
So, thank you.