My Heavens, It Gives me a Buzz

To my lovely subscribers

A week or so ago, I wrote a post about how thrilled I was to have reached 1000 subscribers.

At the same time, I told you that I had lowered the cost of paid subscriptions by 50% for the rest of December, all of which is going to a charity for the homeless. And really helps.

As a result:

Some of you took up the offer and paid for a subscription

– THANK YOU SO MUCH

Some of you said thank you, but they would pay the full amount in January

– THANK YOU EVEN MORE

Some of you were already paying subscribers

– THANK YOU FROM FOREVER

Some of you took off and unsubscribed altogether

– OK, you gotta do what you gotta do

And a lot of you, I suspect, thought well, I will think about it later…it’s not going to Ann directly and do I really care about the homeless?

Well, it isn’t going to me, but – as I say above – my heavens, it gives me a BUZZ.

Just like this acer at the end of my garden. (It was supposed to be a dwarf acer, but someone made a glorious mistake.) It, too gives me a buzz in full bloom.

Each paying subscriber goes deep to my heart. It says that you care enough about my writing to pay something for it. I was a professional writer for years so I don’t need personal confirmation – but it is oh so nice to receive.

Each time someone buys one of my books or pays for a Substack subscription, I just feel good. A pleasure to be alive. Rona Maynard, who has a special way of getting words just right, compared it to an orchid at her door.

I love it. I smile. I want to sing. The world just became a nicer place.

And I then have the added pleasure of doing something worthwhile with the income. And the homeless do need help – more than ever at this time of year. Val McDermid, who inspired me to write that piece, kindly wrote to thank me for using her words and I am sure she would endorse that need because they are a cause close to her heart.

So, do please think again. It’s such a small amount.

No, you absolutely don’t have to. You will get posts from the same head-standing granny whatever you decide to do. And I love the fact that you read my words at all.

But I have done my best to make it easy for you. And I do so hope you will.

Here is the link if you feel the time is right:

https://arichardson.substack.com/f8b65b9b

THANK YOU ALL