four leaf_clover_Wallpaper_emk16From time to time, Cecilia and I revisit our journey to becoming writers and to independent publishing. We talk about the things we are good at and the things we need to improve on. We talk about the turns in the road that got us here and, at doing that, we thank the people who pushed us forward.

During the course of our lives, we come across many people who, through face to face interaction, become friends. As writers, we come across readers who become friends, too. Not because of any face-to-face interaction, but because of the amazing support and confidence in a writer's words given from the distance.

We are lucky to have many of those in our lives. We are lucky to have had friends who would told us over and over that Countermeasure had merit, that is was a great story and that we should tell it the way we wanted to tell it. We are lucky to have had friends who guided us toward independent publishing and who helped us jump into it passionately, giving us the resources we have today. We are lucky to have friends who send us touching letters that choke us up and make us keep writing what we do, the way we do.

Case in point, yesterday we received a letter from Victoria Iankova from Bulgaria. It gave us that warm feeling we all crave for at a time when we are struggling with get things done and worried about To Russia With Love's release. Her letter recharged our batteries and made us determined to deliver an even better story next time around. Here are a few of her candid words:

All in all, the characters and the story as a whole are so well created that they seem real. They give you the feeling that if you visit the places from the book you will actually meet them in real life. Few authors can achieve that in a first book. In my opition, you did it.
 

Thank you, Victoria, for being a part of our circle of friends, our little Countermeasure family, and for giving us the encouragement to continue.

We thank all our amazing friends for the enormous confidence they had in us even when we doubted ourselves (when we still do) and we thank you for your continuing support in this crazy amazing journey ahead of us. We hope to welcome many more friends to the Countermeasure family in the future. And again, we'll be grateful for each and every new face, each and every new word of support.

Sláinte!