Happy September, readers! To mix it up this month, I thought it would be fun to look at the national days that fall on Wednesdays. Some are serious, some are random, some are quirky – so let’s discuss!
Today is World Letter Writing Day. There have been incredible letters written in history. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is just one that had a deep impact. Writing a letter seems so much deeper in word and sentiment than an email or a text message, I think. So Wickeds, when was the last time you wrote or received a handwritten letter? Do your characters write letters? If so, to whom?
Edith/Maddie: First I want to congratulate Barb on yet another winning holiday novella publication! I can’t wait to read your contribution to this collection (frankly, yours is always the best of the three). I love writing letters, and have penned them this summer to my great-goddaughter (age 3), to my son’s girlfriend’s Puerto Rican parents, and to a cherished friend on the occasion of her husband’s death. My father and my uncle, brothers-in-law, kept up decades of correspondence that my uncle Richard recently passed back to me. It’s a such treasure.
Barb: I thought I was going to have to say that my last few handwritten letters have been messages of condolence. I have sadly reached the age where I own my own box of gray stationery notes. However, happily, I have remembered my last handwritten letter was to my granddaughter, Viola. I was mailing back a bathing suit she left at our beach rental and included a note marking her first week of school. I’ve been sending her handwritten notes regularly for years, and it’s a special joy these last few years when she’s been able to read them herself.
Sherry: I second, Edith’s congratulations on the release of Halloween Party Murder. I loved Barb’s story. I’ve received and written a lot of thank you letters this summer. It’s always so nice to get something in the mail, but I haven’t written an actual letter for the sake of writing a letter in a very long time! I don’t picture Sarah or Chloe being letter writers except for thank you cards.
Julie: Barb, thirding the congratulations! I am trying to get better about writing notes to people, and it’s working. I send out a couple of short notes a week. That said, my letter writing has moved online to emails. I know that’s not “good” but I find it easier to write long in that form.
Liz: Yes, fourthing the congrats, Barb! I usually send a handwritten note with prizes/giveaways when I send books to people. And I got a lovely handwritten note in the mail just this week from the amazing John Valeri, which made me so happy!
Readers, what about you? Do you send handwritten notes? What’s the last handwritten note you’ve sent out? Leave a comment below!