Sherrilyn Kenyon wrote a post a couple of days ago that has just stuck with me. And stuck and stuck and stuck. I can’t get it out of my head.
Please take the time to go read her post, “Laughter through tears.” It’s longer than her normal posts, and it’s profound, heartbreaking, and uplifting all at the same time. The reading of it goes very quickly. It proves to me that you never truly know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes – or read a blog post. It’s posts like hers that makes me grateful for the Internet – we’re able get glimpses into each other’s lives. It makes the world a bit smaller and a lot more profound.
Here’s a snippet:
I received an email earlier today that struck me vividly. It was a question from a fan asking me what it was like to live my life. To have good family and everything I have ever wanted and it made me want to cry on so many levels that it drove me here to the keyboard. She asked me how I was able to see my characters so vividly and the answer is simple. I’ve been there.
I know what it’s like to live and love with fear, to be mocked with cruelty and to have to try and find shelter through the most vicious of storms. If there is one scene in all the books I relate to most, it’s the one of Zarek walking barefoot through the blizzard, seeking comfort. Of him standing outside, looking inside the cheerful house and wishing with all his heart that he was one of the happy, warm people inside.
If my life was perfect, I wouldn’t have gotten up today with only three hours of sleep to work. I would sleep until noon and have my hubby wake me with roses and my children would be perfectly healthy and happy. My oldest son wouldn’t be autistic. My middle son wouldn’t have health problems and my baby wouldn’t be ADHD. My oldest sister wouldn’t have Cerebral Palsy. My older brother and my mother would still be alive and when something good happened to me, I wouldn’t feel the fear that has made a permanent hole in my heart.
You see, I am Acheron. And I know that the strongest steel is truly forged out of the flames of hell. The kindest thing I can say about my childhood is that I survived it. I know what it’s like to be so poor that you have to swallow air so that you can fool your stomach into thinking it’s got something in it. I was that child who went to school in boy hand-me-downs, who stared at the pretty dresses the other girls wore and wished I had one too.
Go here to read the rest. Have some tissues handy. And be ready to hug someone when you’re done.
Thank you so much for bringing this to us. She’s one of my favorite writers. Reading that extraordinarily brave post made my heart swell…I wanted to stand up and applaud.
Val
Wow, that’s powerful. Thanks for letting us know about, Gwen.
I will always remember the end of the book signing at RWA. Some authors had left early – notes were left on their tables with some books about where they ‘needed’ to be. And I am sure they did, only the event is planned forever in advance so those authors that do stay…
Dorchester had books put in the Goodie Room. Regardless of that fact, many of those authors stayed and greeted their fans sans books. They didn’t want to disappoint the readers and have them be show up to no books and no author.
Lisa Kleypas ran out of books – fast (WAY too fast) and still stuck around.
JR Ward was there after running out of books and ’til just about the end of the event. (MANY people brought their own books or there is NO way she would have come close to having near enough books.)
We had to return to the room for a camera, if I remember correctly… room was just about empty… and packing up was Kenyon (this was well after the signing was over – a good 20 mins or so). She was finishing up with her last reader (her line had been huge all night). As we walked up and asked about the now way too famous swan hat, I really expected a ‘look,’ a ‘good god girls can you not tell time’ look.
I am still floored by how kind she was. How much she seems to not want to miss a single person who traveled to see her. There was a kindness that seemed to radiate from her and, honestly, you wanted to hug her. You wanted to sit down and talk to her. Get to know her.
You could tell she had stories to tell and, more importantly, she wanted to hear yours. She did all that with just a ‘Hey darlin.’ Just by being her.
There are certain authors that make me very proud to say I read romance. I think they have such grace and bring more respect to the genre than anything else ever could.
They Are Women. They Are Smart Women.
One word- POWERFUL.
We automatically think that people, especially well known authors, actors, singers, etc.. live in a perfect world with no worries or problems.. But they have problems just like everyone else and even more so. I have a tear in my eye. Thanks for this.
I wish there were more swan hats in the world.
Kenyon’s love of costume and giant swan hats baffle me – but I’ve always admired the way she is with her fans. They love her and she adores them. You get the impression that she not only loves her success but is very, very grateful for it…..
I had gone over to read the post when it was first discussed here at TGTBTU. Have been a fan of her Dark Hunter series for some time now. Her frank discussion of her life was incredibly moving. I have great respect for her resilience.
In support of, and solidarity with, Sherrilyn, I’m proud to say:
I am Acheron.
I went to a Kenyon signing (romance authors rarely show up on Long Island it seems). She seemed very nice and enthusiastic and happy to be there. I had to leave early, sadly, but I would’ve liked to meet her.
Wow, she’s one amazing woman to keep things in perspective, to treat others with kindness, and to rise above the hardships life has dealt her. She rocks. Thanks Gwen.
Next time anyone disses the swan hat, I’m on them like a hive of killer bees.
What an amazing woman.