A couple of months ago, I went to my local post office to mail my Pro app off to the Romance Writers of America. They know me fairly well at the post office, because I’m in there a lot mailing off books, so I’ve have developed a sort of cordial, funny relationship with two post office clerks, one is female and the other male. They know me, what I want and I’m not a pain in the rear to deal with.
Anyway, that one Saturday, I got the male postal clerk. He immediately spotted the mailing address to RWA and asked me if I wrote those ‘love stories.’ I said yes, I did. Then he asked me if I was published? Again, I said yes. Of course, the next question was ‘under your real name or another?’ Ha ha…um…under another name. And no, I wasn’t going to tell him. I’m not sure how he’d reacted if I’d said I write erotic romance. We then had a brief conversation where I told him that he’d be surprised how many romance writers are out there and that I was headed that weekend to a writing conference. At the time, I felt I had ‘come out of the closet’ so to speak.
Well, since that time, anytime I run into him at the post office, he has to ask me questions about my writing. Such as, how was the writing conversation. Were the books I was mailing ‘my’ books? I had a friend tell me that isn’t none of him business and I should tell him so, but I’m one of those people who hate to tell someone to buzz off. I try to avoid him as much as I can, but since he works on Saturdays and I go to the post office a lot on that day, well…um…hard to avoid him. I guess one thing I have noticed is that if he is busy, he won’t ask. When he does ask, it’s usually when the post office lobby is sparse. I jokingly call him my fan.
Coming out of the closet is a big thing for a lot of writers. It’s one thing to tell family and close friends, but what about casual acquaintances? I’ve yet to have a book signing, but if and when I do, then I’ll need to make a decision about whether I want to approach bookstores about book signings.
When that happens, I wonder if I should send an invitation to my post office worker fan?
Anyway, that one Saturday, I got the male postal clerk. He immediately spotted the mailing address to RWA and asked me if I wrote those ‘love stories.’ I said yes, I did. Then he asked me if I was published? Again, I said yes. Of course, the next question was ‘under your real name or another?’ Ha ha…um…under another name. And no, I wasn’t going to tell him. I’m not sure how he’d reacted if I’d said I write erotic romance. We then had a brief conversation where I told him that he’d be surprised how many romance writers are out there and that I was headed that weekend to a writing conference. At the time, I felt I had ‘come out of the closet’ so to speak.
Well, since that time, anytime I run into him at the post office, he has to ask me questions about my writing. Such as, how was the writing conversation. Were the books I was mailing ‘my’ books? I had a friend tell me that isn’t none of him business and I should tell him so, but I’m one of those people who hate to tell someone to buzz off. I try to avoid him as much as I can, but since he works on Saturdays and I go to the post office a lot on that day, well…um…hard to avoid him. I guess one thing I have noticed is that if he is busy, he won’t ask. When he does ask, it’s usually when the post office lobby is sparse. I jokingly call him my fan.
Coming out of the closet is a big thing for a lot of writers. It’s one thing to tell family and close friends, but what about casual acquaintances? I’ve yet to have a book signing, but if and when I do, then I’ll need to make a decision about whether I want to approach bookstores about book signings.
When that happens, I wonder if I should send an invitation to my post office worker fan?
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