As I pull the last remaining bits of useful data off my old Windows box and delete the rest off the hard drive (and toss the last of my floppy disks away!), I'm reminded of a nice conversation I had at the end of a hectic work day.

One of the older guys in the department, a guy whose been at the company forever, and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, just got back from about a month on the road, overseas, to China and Singapore and about every point in between. He dropped by to shake my hand and tell me he'd finished all the stories in my book.

How cool is that? I'm pretty sure he's not a big reader of SF or fantasy, and especially not horror, but he really seemed to have enjoyed all the stories, and he got 'em. He said he read them all on the plane back from China, and how that made his trip so much more enjoyable. He really liked the Wannoshay stories, and he also liked figuring out the secret identity of the narrator of "The Disillusionist." And he even liked the ending of the title story, "Gunning for the Buddha."

I'm always really hesitant to tell people at work that I write fiction, just because I fear the awkward reactions and questions about how soon I'll be quitting the day job to make my millions (no time soon, believe me!). And then there are the people who "have this great idea, but I just need someone to write it for me!" Ouch.

But in the case of this co-worker, I went out on a limb, and it paid off. And I needed that little ego-boost. Very cool.

And then, tonight, to make things even better, Lizzie got Drew going on a good 10-minute gigglefest. And we got it captured on film. That blissed-out giggling of your child is the best sound in the world. Even better than hearing kind words about my fiction... Later!