Reader Mail ~ Letter from a Soldier

One of the best parts of being published is receiving reader mail, either by email or through the postal service. This past week, I received a special email from someone who had taken part in the Free Kindle download for Snow Melts in Spring. There has been a lot of blog discussion lately on the effectiveness of offering free downloads as part of a book promotion. While there can be drawbacks, this letter is confirmation for me that it is well worth the effort.

This soldier's letter impressed me so much I wanted to share it with you (with his permission). I hope it touches your heart as much as it did mine.

Ms. Vogts,

Let me begin by saying that I know I'm probably not your normal reader type, though I continue to contend that I'm not the only man that will read a book that brings together elements of things we love. Even if it's called a romance. I digress, I did however want to take a moment to commend you on your new book. I discovered it yesterday and immediately downloaded it to my Kindle. I stayed up way too late last night reading it and will probably do the same again tonight. I am a member of the United States Air Force and am serving in Baghdad, Iraq right now. Being able to download books from Amazon has been a life saver for me.

Reading a book with your attention to the animals and to the landscape helped me feel like I was closer to home. I am by no means the most religious person around, but finding your subtle, warm and endearing references to the world our Lord provides us also helped me feel closer to home and closer to my dear family which I miss terribly. My last 6 months here in Iraq have allowed me a lot of time to read at night and I've burned through a fairly massive quantity of books since being here. Your book (though I haven't finished it yet) is holding a strong place at #1 on my list. I will be recommending this book to my wife in my next email to her and I already look forward to your next work.

Thank you very much for bringing a little bit of home to me and to my heart when I'm so far away. Have a wonderful day.
Very Respectfully,
A Soldier