The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay

"You must feel so proud of yourself, to have written a book and had it published," a reader said last week.  I paused, fork in hand, not sure how to respond.  As the  speaker at an annual library fundraiser, I was surrounded that day by women who love books, avid readers all.  So I was touched by this woman's well-intentioned words. Good books enrich our lives.  To write one is, perhaps, a kind of offering.  But for me, pride is not an emotion that has ever been associated with being an...