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Awesome European Readers

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In this post, I detailed some of the highlights of the road trip my family and I took through Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands in late May-early June. In this post, I’m celebrating some of the awesome European readers that I was honored to meet along the way.

Author Becky Wade

German reader Bettina (pictured above) sent me a lovely, encouraging email a few years back. My novels haven’t been translated into German, but Bettina speaks English so fluently that she reads my books in English. In her email, she said, “If you ever visit Germany, let me know.” I took her up on that! I’m so glad I did. We shared a fabulous dinner with Bettina and her husband, a pastor, and learned a lot about their country, their lives, and their ministries.

Author Becky Wade

Dutch reader Christien followed the progress of our road trip on social media and sent me a message saying, “I think you’ll be driving past the town where I live!” It turns out that, yes. We were! So we pulled off the route for a pit stop at the stately white hotel pictured above, where we sat at an outdoor table with Christien and visited over appetizers. She brought a gift for me as well as a homemade butter cake for our family. [!!]

Dutch butter cake
Her unbelievably delicious butter cake

I’m fortunate that almost all of my novels have been translated into Dutch by a publisher called Uitgeverij de Parel, which offers a wide selection of Christian fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. Prior to the trip, I let my Dutch editor, Danielle, know that I would be in Amsterdam for three nights and would love to meet with readers and/or staff from the publishing house while I was there. She ended up planning a high tea for my visit. It was held on a weekday afternoon in a town about an hour’s drive from Amsterdam, so I figured maybe five people in addition to my daughters and me would attend.

When we showed up, we were met by Danielle with a professional photographer in tow. Then we entered the venue and saw that every seat was filled. I was astonished as were my daughters, who’ve never seen that many readers of their mom’s books in one place.

Becky Wade
The woman standing to my left translated for me. I gave a brief talk about my writing, then answered questions. It was immediately clear that these women were very familiar with my novels and characters.
high tea
The food was AMAZING.
Dutch Publishers
My Dutch publishing team! Els (on the left) carefully translates my novels from English to Dutch. In blue, my publisher. And on the right is my editor (who is also a terrific bookstagrammer), Danielle.
Author Becky Wade
Their community of avid booklovers is close-knit.
My girls
Becky Wade books in Dutch
They had a selection of my books available for purchase, as well as book bags (containing the paperback of one of my novellas) for every attendee. They gave me a box filled with Dutch treats as a gift. [!!]
Becky Wade
Those who wanted signed books wrote their names out on paper so that I could make sure to spell them all correctly. 🙂
A few of the women were readers AND writers, so we had lots in common.

I was blown away by the encouragement, generosity, and support that these European readers showed me. This experience hit home two truths. One, it’s astonishing what God can do with the tasks we dedicate to Him. I wrote my books in quiet and solitude at my house in Dallas, Texas. God took those novels to countries far from my own. Two, the power of story is without borders. I wasn’t raised in the same place with the same language as the readers I met. Yet it was incredibly easy to relate to them and connect with them. They love to read. They’re “my people” and what a joy it was to meet them face to face.

Readers, never underestimate the potential you have to spur authors forward!

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Becky Wade

Author
Becky makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children. She absolutely loves writing funny, heartwarming, and inspirational contemporary Christian romance.
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Comments

  1. Oh, Becky, I loved everything about this post! That looks like a dream trip and so wonderful that your daughters were able to be with you for this event! Danielle has been my editor on my Dutch translations too, and I’d LOVE to get a chance to meet her someday!

  2. Wonderful Post! So happy that you got to meet your readers. It is a real tribute to have your books translated to other languages. Wishing you continued success with foreign readers.

  4. Becky, I enjoyed your fascinating post about readers in Europe. Meeting them in person must have built friendships and memories to last a lifetime–for them, and for you.

  6. It was a wonderful afternoon! Thank you for taking the time to meet us and to tell us about your books and writing life. And also thanks for all the books you’ve signed.💛

  7. As a European reader myself your post touched my heart. For us it is a special treat when you come overseas and we have a chance to get to know the authors behind these great books a little bit. Writers conferences or book signings are quite rare here. But to hear that these encounters and words from your readers encouraged you so much melted my heart.
    So authors, never underestimate what God is doing with your gift of storytelling 😉 Keep your books coming, we love them and perhaps we will meet next time 😃

  8. What an absolutely amazing experience! I mean for you and your publishers and readers!
    This was fun to see! Thank you!

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