Comedian Kevin Meaney used to do, and for all I know still does, a big finale to his act where he belts out the Eva Tanguay standard I Don't Care peppered with interruptions where he morphs into his mother, à la Tony Perkins in Psycho, and continually hectors the audience: "Don't encourage him!"

Although some of us may not like to admit it, writers need encouragement. Since I began writing novels sixteen years ago I have occasionally found myself no more than a day or so away from chucking the whole endeavor. Most recently, when an unforeseen and damnable chain of events caused Maria and me to miss the February 21st Noir at the Bar in St. Louis, I once again took a wrong turn both literally and figuratively down that road to despair.

Thank God, this morning upon my return from yet another stunning legal victory I booted up the computer and discovered Elizabeth A. White's review of my novel DEVIL'S TOLL under the Christmas tree. The analogy may be seasonally inapt but nevertheless valid: as I read her review I was instantly transformed into a kid on a Norman Rockwell Christmas morning, from my tousled Alfalfa hair right down to the non-skid feet of my pajamas.

Prodigal in her praise, Ms. White "gets" the novel in its essence, a fact I find highly rewarding in and of itself. Given her wealth of encouragement, how can I abandon the writing avocation I've come to love? Thank you, Ms. White. You have no idea how much your encouragement means to me.

http://www.elizabethawhite.com/2012/02/24/devils-toll-by-malachi-stone/