As authors we spend years alone with our stories, shaping them, crafting them and delving deep into their hearts. We know them better than anyone, having struggled to put our messy thoughts in order and to understand our character’s complicated emotions and motivations.

But then the story is published and it no longer belongs strictly to us. Now it belongs to the reader who owns it in a different way. Readers bring their own pasts to stories. They read through the lenses of their experiences, and interpret our passages in their own unique ways.

Readers bring their hopes for what a story will be, and they may or may not forgive the author if the story doesn’t live up to those expectations. Or readers may view a character’s actions in a completely different light from how an author intends, because the people in that reader’s life, behaved that way.

No book is universally loved. Not even Harry Potter or The Fault in Our Stars. As a bookseller, I’m aware of how personal and individual the choice of a book is, and I try to keep that in mind as I read reviews of my own book.

I’m thrilled when my readers are caught up in my story. When they tell me they were up until 2 AM, or they blew off work to read it, or they can’t stop thinking about it. I’m especially happy when they wonder if the world I created could one day become real.

A lot of authors are shaken when they read a review that isn't glowing. When I read one that is less than stellar, I am aware of how the reader is expressing his or her desire for the story to be more similar to something else they loved. Or that they wanted to spend more time exploring another aspect of the story. Or they didn't connect the characters. Or they disagreed with my interpretation of how the world would be. And all of that is OK.

While I wish that every reader could enjoy my book, I know that is impossible. I have to be satisfied that I tried hard and did the best I could possibly do. Thank you, readers, for taking a chance on my story, and welcome.