I’m about an hour into the signing event here at the Morrow Arts Center, and already, it’s been one of those rare, heart-full moments that remind me exactly why I do this.

A teenage boy stopped by my table earlier. He told me he loves to write—that he dreams of being an author one day. His whole face lit up when he talked about writing, and what authors he loves. Then he said he’d never met an author before, and in that instant, I could feel how much this moment meant to him.

Honestly, it meant just as much to me.

It completely made my week.

It’s easy, sometimes, to get tangled up in the business side of this life—the schedules, the travel, the endless logistics. But moments like this? They pull me back to why I started writing in the first place. To connect. To inspire. To remind someone (and maybe myself) that stories matter—and that storytellers do, too.

If that young writer ever happens to read this: thank you. You reminded me why every mile of this trip to Morrow, Ohio, was worth it.

I’ll be here at the Morrow Arts Center until 6 PM, selling and signing copies of Marked by Fate and chatting with readers. After that, I’m joining the store’s book club for an evening discussion filled with trivia, a Q&A about both the book and the writing journey behind it—and a special sneak peek at Book Two of The Chronicles of Fate, Shadowed Truths.

If you’re nearby, come say hi. I’d love to meet you, talk books, and maybe even remind you that your own stories matter, too.