♛ Dear anonyme,

You are absolutely not a ‘nobody.’ Haven’t you noticed how I address my readers at almost every opportunity? “So until we meet again, I am thinking of you always; I love you; I wish you were here… in my arms.” My actual published words. I adore you. Silly fangirls, serious fangirls, silly fanboys, serious fanboys, agenderfans, even the ruthless critics, all! 

These “Vampire Chronicles” are my life, laid out as honestly as possible for you. Perhaps in my search for goodness, I’ve already found it in sharing my stories. With you.

Do me a small favor, Anon: please give yourself some of the love you give to me. For the courage it took to write your message, and too many other reasons to list here, you deserve it.

I’ve explained this to another person like you… I’m an actor, as you know already, but beneath the performance must lie real substance, real experience, in order to engage with you, the audience. What good is the best performance from one of the greatest actors (ME) if there is no audience? You’re needed, every last one of you. Actors feed off their audience’s reaction, though the lines may be the same, it’s never the same show twice. Even when you read my books a second, third, fourth time around, you bring different life experiences of your own, and though the plot points are the same, your reaction to it is not. 

What are my books but stories? And what are stories? Experiences in someone’s navigation of life, “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles/ And by opposing end them…”

I have always wanted you to experience my journey, be my captive audience, and learn from my example, whether I was being “good” or “bad” (or somewhere in between). Perhaps you can learn to take arms against your sea of troubles the way I’ve done, or suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as I’ve suffered… more than one lifetime’s worth of both.

I know these stories have had an impact on you, on many. Have I saved lives? Like yours? I hope so. Killing evildoers is one way to save lives, writing is quite possibly another way. My autobiography had been intended for Louis, to give him everything I wouldn’t give him before that point. To save his life, if he was at all thinking he might end it. The fact that the novel touched so many lives in such a positive way made me want to share more. And more!