When I was 15, I lived in Costa Rica for a month. I didn’t speak Spanish well, or much at all, so I spent my days in an exhausting state of presence — otherwise known as culture shock. Books let my brain relax, and one of my most poignant memories is staying up late to finish Lord of the Flies. My room was still unfamiliar and didn’t yet smell like home, and there were crickets sounding outside as I read the last passage. Closing the book, I felt overcome. I set it on my chest and felt the weight of it while I breathed.
I chase that feeling when I read. The one that makes me want to find the author, pour them a drink, and leave them to bask in the glow of their efforts. Damn.
On Go Mighty, I’ve come across a few of you who want to write thank you notes to your favorite authors. I recently mentioned it to my friend Nathan Bransford. He’s a first-order bibliophile — a children’s book author, a former literary agent, and he hosts a blog for writers at NathanBransford.com.
“Bransford!” I said. “We should do this.” And he agreed. So we both added “Write thank you notes to authors” to our Life Lists, and today we’re launching our #ThankAWriter Project on Go Mighty. Please join us in writing and delivering hand-written thank you notes to our favorite authors.
Here’s all you have to do:
1) If you don’t already have one, make a quick profile on Go Mighty.
2) Create a life list goal of thanking authors. (Here’s mine.)
3) Every time you write a thank you note, post a photo or the text on Go Mighty with the tag #ThankAWriter.
We’re doing one note a a week for five weeks, so join in. Say thank you to the strangers who have changed the way you think, and shaped who you’ve become.
My first thank you note is to an author who changed the way I think about mortality, you can read it on Go Mighty. I’ll feature some of my favorite letters here on Mighty Girl, so please do this with us! Who gets your first note?
Mighty Girl 