There are certain books we come across in life that impact us more than others. I'm a reader so I'm constantly reading and buying books and I have come across books that made me think, "Holy sh*t." I can tell you for certain that I never thought that a book I bought off the shelf of a general store in the middle of Nebraska would be one of those books, but "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven impacted me and made me think "Holy sh*t."
"All The Bright Places" is easily the most heartbreakingly beautiful book I have ever read. It's a love story, but it's so much more than that. It's a story about heartbreak, loss, grief, coping, finding yourself, depression... I can't even possibly begin to describe it.
Now, I had the amazing opportunity to meet Jennifer Niven last week and it was hands-down the most incredible experience of my life. Not going to lie, I was borderline crying while I was walking back to my car after talking to her.
I purposely had everyone else at the signing go in front of me so that I was able to talk to her. I mean, I'm a writer and she's one of my role models in the writing world. How often do you get to see your role model? I took complete advantage of the opportunity.
I walked up and started talking to Jennifer and she wasn't passive about talking to me. She wanted to have a conversation with me and I told her that I was a writer and that I had just finished my own novel and she was excited for me. Then when I told her what I thought about "All The Bright Places" the guy running the event said, "One day you'll be sitting here and someone will be saying that to you." Then Jennifer said, "No, I'll be the one saying it." Needless to say, I was in shock. I cannot tell you how much that meant to me.
Then we kept talking and I told her about my newest project which is a collection of poetry and she read the poem that they whole book is named after and I'll never forget the look on her face when she finished reading. Jennifer looked at me and said, "D, that was beautiful. You're a writer. No doubt about it. You're a writer." I can't explain how happy it made me to hear one of my favorite authors tell me that I was a writer. It was truly an incredible experience.
So thank you Jennifer, for having faith in me as a writer even thought you just met me.
