In which some people are just beyond cool

Oh, chickens. Out of the blue I received an email from Kristan Higgins--a totally and completely bodacious chick and a superb writer. (On Facebook there's a picture of us hanging out last year at RWA just before she won her second RITA. Success looks VERY good on her!) Anyway, in this email Kristan shared something she had written for a website about my first book. And it was beyond flattering. It was fun and witty--like Kristan herself--and it was incredibly insightful--also like Kristan. She completely nailed what I was trying to do in Silent in the Grave which was awesomeness in itself. It's always very gratifying when another writer understands what you were trying to do. Writers are like conjurors. We're always performing elaborate sleights-of-hand, and sometimes only another writer will appreciate just how difficult it might have been.

I will link to the post when it goes live, but that isn't really the point of this post. Today I just wanted to reflect on how wonderful it is to be kind. It's not fashionable. It's not cool. It's not something that we talk about all that often. But I think we miss it. There was a brief fad for random acts of kindness awhile back, but I think we need more. We need deliberate acts of kindness. I don't think it's that we mean to be unkind really. It's just that kindness takes effort and thought and deliberation. And who has time for that?

We do. No matter how busy, how over-committed, how important we are, we always have thirty seconds to send an email. Or better yet, two minutes to write an actual note! We have time to pass along a book recommendation or a bottle of wine to a friend. We have time to introduce a friend who got laid-off to the contact who is looking for someone with their qualifications. We have time to slip a few dollars into an envelope for a charity we believe in. We have time to write a love note for a lunchbox or to stick on the bathroom mirror. We have time to pick up the phone and say, "Thank you for being there for me." And right now, I have time to say, thank YOU for being here for me. I appreciate y'all more than you know.

(And while we're talking about the insane fabulousness of Kristan Higgins, I'm going to suggest that you run out this minute and get a copy of her brand-spanking-new book My One and Only. It's out this week and it's getting smoking-hot reviews! I picked up my copy yesterday and can't wait to dive in!)