I’m in Nashville today promoting Family Tree , but thinking about all the things I’ve heard from readers since I started this tour. One of the most poignant came during the Q&A after my reading and talk last week in Freehold, New Jersey. A woman raised her hand and told how, in preparation for a fiftieth birthday that her friends were throwing for her last year, they sent emails to her favorite authors and entertainers, asking for a personalized birthday note to be part of the celebration. I was the only one who responded.

Later, at the same event, another woman remarked that I was the only writer who had ever answered an email she had sent.

I’m stunned in both cases. I simply can’t imagine someone who writes for a living not being able to shoot off a short note to someone who buys all of his or her books. Especially with email, replying to reader mail is a snap. It takes no time, but it means so much to the reader.

When I was in sixth grade, my father took us to New York City for the first time. During that visit, I saw my first Broadway show. It was “Peter Pan,” starring Mary Martin. I came home and wrote a letter to Mary Martin telling her how much I had loved it and that I wanted to be an actress when I grew up. She sent me a personal letter in reply, encouraging me to work toward that goal. I’ll never forget it. Her letter was typed on pale blue stationary, with her hand-written signature at the bottom in beautiful blue ink. I can’t tell you how I treasured that letter. I never did become an actress (can’t sing or dance if my life depended on it), but the fact of her response, itself, left a lasting impression.

Answering reader mail is a priority of mine. It has been from the start of the career. I’ve built my following one reader and a time, in part thanks to the personal connections readers feel both to my characters and to me. I’ve had readers tell me that they still have a note I sent them six, eight, ten years before. They cherish these notes. In turn, I cherish their appreciation.

At one of the signings I did earlier this week, a reader posed an interesting question. After all the books I’ve written, she asked with a glance at the beautiful spread of Family Tree before her, did I still get a thrill seeing my new book in print? The knee-jerk response would have been to say yes. But I had to stop and think about it. What I finally said was that, no, I didn’t feel the same thrill. The joy I feel now, I told her, doesn’t come from the physical book itself, but from the reader response to the book. This, my friends, is the honest-to-goodness truth. So keep those notes coming in. You all are my reward for a tough day at work.