Nancy Hartney

A Gift in the Mail

A Note of Praise and Friendship

Free-lance writer, former journalist, and candidate in 2012 for the Arkansas House of Representatives, Maylon Rice is a modern-day town crier for Washington County and surrounding communities. He has worn many hats over the course of his career in journalism.

Maylon Rice, former journalist and free-lance writer

Yesterday he gifted me with a handwritten note praising my most recent endeavor.

What a delightful read was “The Blue Bottle Tree.” Your cast of characters — Susan Pea, Letta, Janie, Major — all the others were so southern and so very vivid in my reading pleasure. I quickly read the book and have already recommended to those I know will enjoy it. Keep writing. I’ll keep reading!

Unsolicited comments from community readers, sent via the postal service, such as this encourage authors and readers. Within his praise is the encouragement to read. Reading for story and cultural enrichment.

Reading indirectly enhances our relationships by boosting empathy, a crucial element for meaningful interactions. Contrary to the solitary bookworm stereotype, research shows that reading literary fiction improves our ability to understand others’ emotions and thoughts, enhances social skills, and fosters better connections with people from diverse backgrounds.

Reading fiction can significantly enhance empathy by allowing readers to experience the world through the eyes of various characters. This effect is especially noticeable when reading romance novels online, when you can mentally escape from the real world directly into a romantic story. A study revealed that just one week of fiction reading led to notable self-reported improvements in empathic abilities. Importantly, the deeper readers felt immersed in the fictional world, the greater their empathic development.

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Published by Nancy Hartney

Nancy Hartney's second novel, The Blue Bottle Tree, is in process. A Southern gothic tale of two women, written along color lines, concludes with a twist. She will blog about the novel over the next year preparatory to publication. Her debut novel arrived on bookshelves and online February 2021. 'If You Walk Long Enough' is a tale of a soldier's return from the Vietnam War to his South Carolina tobacco farm, a place that is no longer home, the people strangers. Her previous two short story collections set in the South—'Washed in the Water: Tales from the South' and 'If the Creek Don’t Rise: Tales from the South' continue to be available in bookstores and public libraries. In addition to fiction, Nancy writes poetry, historical pieces, and magazine articles. She often serves as writing contest judge, workshop leader, and presents author readings at libraries and book clubs. A member of Oklahoma Writers Federation, Ozarks Writers League (MO), Tallahassee Writers Association (FL), Ozark Creative Writers (AR), and two local prose critique groups and one poetry critique, her books are available in print, e-format, and audio. She is developing a pod cast for her blog posts.

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