Why I Love Fan Mail by Cathy Marie Buchanan

My Very Favourite Fan Mail

Most writers will tell you that hearing from readers makes their day. As I reread all the lovely notes and letters I’ve received, I realized just how much my readers’ kind words have stayed with me over the year since The Day the Falls Stood Still launched.

The story was inspired my William “Red” Hill, a riverman with an uncanny ability to predict the often erratic behavior of the Niagara River and Falls. The scrap of paper on which the first of the below notes was written was pressed into my hand by his 94-year old daughter, Edith, at a reading I gave in Niagara Falls. I include it here, along with others, each of which has touched me in some way.

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“I have just read your novel about the falls and my dad and others. I congratulate you for a wonderful novel. It sure brought memories back. Also, I lived on May Avenue for 30 years and attended Loretto for a short while. As they say, “It’s a small world.” Thank you for your interest in my family and a really great novel.” –Edith Adeline Hill-Powell, born 1915

Note – Loretto is the convent school where The Day the Falls Stood Still opens in 1915, and May Avenue is the street where my riverman makes a home with his wife.

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“Congratulations on your skill in combining the history of Niagara with such a beautiful love story. I was so caught up in the story, in the lives of Bess and Tom, and feel richer for having read it. You leave me wishing for your next book right now!”–Charlotte

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“Thank you for writing The Day the Falls Stood Still. It was with a great deal of appreciation that I read your book. It evoked for me not only my own childhood around Niagara Falls but gave me a unique look into what life must have been like for my grandmother, who must have been near the same age as your narrator, Bess.

I am homesick for Niagara and collect Niagara postcards, guidebooks, old letters and ephemera. My most favorite is this little slip of paper, no wider than one and a half inches, which has somehow survived for 180 years. It is a certificate given to those who have dared walk on a rocky ledge running behind the falls.

Thanks for the wonderful trip in time.” –Jean

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“The Day the Falls Stood Still is one of the best books I have ever read, tears and all. At 88, I have read many books and you are in my top ten! I am looking forward to your next venture. Health and happiness to you.” –Marie

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“I am reading your book, The Day the Falls Stood Still, and have to say, I am having a hard time putting it down! It's been a long time since a book has captivated me like this one has!

This week my husband, two kids, and I went to Niagara Falls to see the sights. As we were walking along the Falls I was thinking about your book: the history, the stories about Fergus and Tom, all of it. I have seen the Falls many times before, but now, they have so much more meaning to me.

Believe it or not, as we were driving around the city we came across Loretto Academy, and I literally shouted out, ‘Oh my God, this is the convent school from the book I am reading! Stop the car!’ My daughter and I climbed out, and I just stared at the building. It was so cool to see the former academy and the windows overlooking the Falls, as described in your book.

Thank you for writing such a gem. Please keep writing; I will be waiting for your next book with baited breath.” –Christine

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“I just had to write to tell you that your book touched me on too many levels to count. I’m sure by now you’ve heard a great deal of praise about your flawless prose, compelling story, and that your setting is a memorable character in itself. I’ve seen several readers remark that you transported them to another time and made them forget the real world for awhile. For me, though, it was your theme about faith in those things that you can’t see that moved me most of all.”–Kim

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“I just finished The Day The Falls Stood Still. It is a beautiful, moving story. The flap contains no mention of the grief thread interwoven into the story so it took me a bit by surprise. My oldest son was killed in an accident a few years ago, and after a long period of being unable to read, I have slowly begun reading again in the last six months. Your portrayal of the suddenness of death and the loss of faith that can happen in its wake, and then the coming to terms and moving forward was spot on. I was moved to tears. Thank you for a lovely, compassionate and hopeful story. I wish you all the best and am looking forward to reading your next novel.”–Michelle

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“I very much enjoyed your book, and your adept mixing of fact and fiction. I thought Tom was a terrific character, what we would call a conservationist today. I thought his fears about so-called progress and the impact of the tunnels and canals diverting water away from the falls for hydroelectricity made the book feel really relevant. Interesting, that all these years later, we are still struggling with how to meet our demands for electricity and decisions about the sacrifices to the natural world we are prepared to live with. Well done.” –Jeff

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Go ahead. Make your favourite writer’s day.

Cathy Marie Buchanan is the author of The Day the Falls Stood Still, which was just recently released in paperback. To learn more about her and her book be sure to stop by her website!