Why Appreciate an Artist Week is kinda (sorta (definitely)) cool

In case you've been living under a rock and aren't reading the Internet's #1 most popular Canadian/Australian teen book blog about all things nerdy (which in that case what are you doing with your life?), about two years ago I started a thing called Appreciate an Artist Week. Basically you appreciate an artist during that week. (Raise of hands, who saw that one coming?) (I may possibly be the only person who's ever actually taken part in this international holiday week thingy, but I choose to remain optimistic.)


In the past, I've written to Owl City (one of my favourite musicians/bands/music person thingy) and Patrick Ness, one of my new favourite authors. I've never expected anything in return, of course. The whole point of this exercise is to take a moment to thank the people who have improved my life through their art. Art has majorly influenced my life for the better and I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to the people who I've never properly thanked. (Hence Appreciate an Artist Week.) 

A few weeks ago, I got a letter in the mail. It was from London, which I thought was strange because I don't know anyone in London, but hey. Mail's cool. It had my name on it, right? I tore into it, read through the letter then jumped around the house, laughing hysterically. It was a personalised letter and signature from Patrick Ness, thanking me for my letter. 

Can we just pause and appreciate the awesomeness of this for a second? 

I didn't put a return stamp on it. I didn't ask for a signature or a letter in return. He took time out of his day to buy a stamp and write a letter and put my address on it and pop it in the mail when I didn't even ask for it. Dude. That is amazing. Because I took the time to say thanks, he took the time to say thanks back. It made my month, and to this day it is safely tucked into the front pages of my copy of A Monster Calls, a scanned copy sitting on my hard drive. That is something I'm going to treasure for the rest of my life. (Sorry, I can't post a picture of it for privacy reasons.)

So the moral of the story here is to say thanks every once and a while. You might not get a reply, but they'll probably read it. They'll listen. And it's going to feel pretty good for them too. 

Have you ever written fan mail? Have you ever gotten a reply? Have you read anything by Patrick Ness? (If the answer is no, then go forth and read something immediately.) 

Comments

  1. That's awesome! It makes me want to go out and finally read a Patrick Ness book! Although I've never sent a fan letter, I'm always thrilled when I tweet at an author and they respond in some way. It's so important to appreciate the artists who have made an impact on us. Great post!

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  2. Thank you so much for your comment. I really needed that kind of checkup :)

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