Mariia Manko asked Tracey Garvis Graves:

Tracey, when did you realize yourself as a writer? After writing first book, publishing , success or …? You know this feeling inside «I am truly a writer»

Tracey Garvis Graves Hi, Mariia!

I can answer this question easily because I still remember it like it was yesterday. About a month after self-publishing On the Island, I received my first email from a reader in another country. She had read the book and then written to let me know how much she loved it. I remember reading the email on a Saturday morning and feeling completely blown away that someone in another country had heard about the book from a friend. Then she'd bought it, read it, loved it, and was writing to tell me. I had had a disastrous path to publication as I'd been rejected by every agent I'd queried and had self-published the book in the hope that maybe there would be a reader or two out there who might find the book and enjoy it. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would reach a reader halfway around the world. That's when I realized that word-of-mouth recommendations were starting to happen for On the Island, and those recommendations would later go on to put the book on bestseller lists.

I've been writing ever since.

Readers, please don't ever underestimate the power of how your kind words can affect an author and give them the motivation to keep writing. Writing and publishing On the Island has truly been the most joyous experience of my life and I'm thankful that it gave me the ability to become a full-time writer.

All my best,

Tracey

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