Dear Harlan Coben,
You won’t remember this, but I wrote you back in 2001. I’d just read a bunch of Myron Bolitar books – loved them so much I even tried to pull off ‘articulate’ when picking up the phone… I couldn’t.
Anyway, in between chatting with my friends on MSN Messenger, I found your website, which had your email address on it.
Naturally, I wrote to you to share how much I was enjoying your books, and told you that one day, I too would be a writer, and that we might even meet at some event or other.
The best thing about this story is that you replied! I mean, I think/hope you did… it was short, kind, and very encouraging – and it’s stayed with me ever since.
The worst thing about it, is that I couldn’t frame your email! While chatting on abovementioned MSN Messenger, my computer caught the ‘big stupid jerk’ worm – see evidence below.
Our printer was in my dad’s bedroom and he picked up everything that came out of it. He got really mad at me about the worm, which changed all the window titles, headers and footers to ‘you’re a big stupid jerk’; I lied and told him I’d fixed it, so could never print again. It meant that your email was lost with my old hotmail account – but I cherish the memory.
Twenty-three years later, I continue to read all your books, and I am publishing one of my own at last. It’s a young adult romance with a hint of mystery; but my next one is more of a thriller (for adults) and I still hope one day we’ll get to meet at some event or other.
Thank you for your kindness,
Jen
PS – I have added a picture of ‘The Final Detail’ at the top, which my dad still has a copy of (as modelled here on his Welsh quilt) because this was on my homepage after saving a draft of this post.
PPS – I was never able to fix/remove the worm… I kept feeling like a big stupid jerk until I could afford a new laptop.
