I was delighted to find out in April that paperbacks of my urban fantasy novels are available for lending at two libraries in my county.
It’s a dream come true for this indie author. Not only are there two more avenues for readers to find my books, but I personally love libraries.
My father was an avid reader. When I was in primary school in Singapore (elementary school in the United States), my father would bring me to the public library with him every month. He’d leave me in the children’s section while he browsed the books in the adult section. I loved exploring the stacks and finding new books to read.
It was in that same library that I discovered Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. That library was where I devoured the myths and legends of Greece, Rome, Norway and the United Kingdom. That library was where I found books by Enid Blyton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Susan Cooper, Diana Wynne Jones, George MacDonald, Madeleine L’Engle, C.S. Lewis, L.M. Montgomery, Frances Hodgson Burnett and other children’s authors.
I will always
treasure those memories of going to the library with my father.
I still love libraries today. No matter where I go, which new city I visit or choose to live in, the library is one place in which I always feel like I belong. And I do, because a library is basically a community of book lovers.
I am thrilled to think that one day, a reader may stumble upon my books in a library somewhere. I like to think that my father—who died long before I started publishing my stories—would be proud.
