Celebrating Release Week for The Fragrance of Violets

It’s release week for The Fragrance of Violets. Hooray!

I invite you to join me in the celebration here on m blog as I share about what’s behind my dedications. And there’s a giveaway to enter!

A long-time friend texted me to say my dedication in The Fragrance of Violets made her cry. When I say a long-time friend, I am talking more than sixty-five years.

Dedications are obviously special to the author. In this case, I wanted to honor my mother and father for their years of investing in my life. They were avid readers; I guess that’s where I caught the bug. They rallied behind me in my journalist and tech writing years and supported my someday dream of writing fiction.

They’re not here anymore. My mom passed thirty-six years ago, and my dad went home in 2013. It saddens me that they are not able to see the fruit of their labors and see that I have now published six works of fiction in three years.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for your love and support.

But my friend’s remark got me thinking. Do people really read the dedications? I mean other than old friends? I read them, but maybe that’s because I write them, too. And what about all the other front and end matter? Author’s Notes, Acknowledgements?

So what about you? Do you read the dedications or back matter?