I received one of the nicest comments about Amy's story yesterday. One of my friends from high school (he and I took Miss Henre's Advanced Placement Literature and Composition class together at Norfolk Senior High. One of the hardest classes I've ever taken, but easily one of the best and most life changing) Caleb said that after reading my blog, he found himself thinking about Amy later in the day as if he had had a conversation with her. This made me so happy as I strive to create a voice and a character who is their own, real person.
     I've felt this way about several characters I've met while reading. These are characters I find myself thinking of every once in a while even years after I have read the books. Oscar from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Max from The Maximum Ride series are two that I think of most often. A good story is great. I love a dense plot that keeps me entertained, but my most loved stories of all time are most often those where I feel a connection to characters whose voices are so strong that I feel like I know them and I am living their story with them.
     Not saying that I think I am in the ranks of Jonathan Safran Foer and James Patterson, but thank you, Caleb, for one of the greatest compliments I've ever received!