Mind-reading from a distance: a desirable skill for authors

I hope Editor Extraordinary Juliet Grames will forgive me for stealing off facebook her photo of a certain book on the new fiction shelves at Barnes & Noble.

Writing is a weird business.  That book is sitting on shelves all over the place, and I have no idea who's picking it up to leaf through it.  Then, when some lovely person reads it, I'll never know what they thought of my handiwork.

This is why authors love people who write reviews and send fan mail.  It's not so much the word of mouth, though that's nice too, but it's our chance to see what you thought of something we spent a long time making. And believe me, every one of us is dying of curiosity.