As all writers know, most of an author’s day is spent obsessively checking your Amazon ratings, with little bits of writing thrown in here and there when the Internet is down.

All right, I kid. A little. Most writers I know do check their Amazon ratings from time to time because it’s one of the few ways they can see how their book is doing. The problem is that when you see a spike in sales, you often have no idea what’s caused it. Did you get a good review somewhere? Did a popular blogger link to your work? Did you make the Bad Sex in Literature Award again? It’s all a bit of a guessing game. Most of publishing is….

Sometimes you can trace the direct cause and effect, though. Yesterday my first Cross book, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, got a very kind mention on the CBC show The Next Chapter, hosted by Shelagh Rogers. (The bit begins around the 41 minute mark.) Robert Wiersema, a fine writer and one of Canada’s most thoughtful reviewers, compared The Mona Lisa Sacrifice to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Now, it’s a huge honour to be mentioned on The Next Chapter at all. And to be compared to Gaiman? Well, that left me feeling humbled and beyond honoured.

I remember travelling to Toronto years ago to see Gaiman give a reading, back when I was still a struggling writer. It was a magical experience for me, partially because of his wonderful stories and charming performance. He’s a charmer, that Gaiman. But I also saw how much he loved what he was doing, and how he was doing it on his own terms. Gaiman became an inspiration for me in that moment. I wanted to be a writer who made people love stories again, just like Gaiman. I never thought I’d be compared to him in casual conversation, let alone on a national radio show.

I don’t really have words for what the CBC thing meant. It was one of those moments when you’re feeling exhausted and discouraged and thinking about throwing in the towel at this writing game and then someone’s kind comment reminds you why you’re doing this and drives you back to the computer.

But back to that cause and effect. I was a kids’ fun park most of the day, playing subterranean mini-golf with my son — yes, apparently subterranean mini-golf is a thing — so I didn’t have my usual time to obsessively browse Amazon. Damn kids adding to my quality of life! Late at night, after everyone was in bed, I finally got around to checking Amazon to see if the CBC thing had connected me with any new readers. I was totally blown away by what I saw. The Mona Lisa Sacrifice managed to hit the No. 1 and No. 3 spots in Amazon.ca’s Historical Fantasy bestsellers (for paperback and Kindle versions) and No. 3  and No. 5 in Amazon’s Contemporary Fantasy bestsellers — bookending Gaiman’s American Gods at No. 4! It even hit No. 3 and No. 5 on the Canadian Literature bestsellers.

I was a bit shocked by this. I’ve made joking posts in the past about trying to hit the No. 1 spot in an Amazon category — any Amazon category — but I never really expected to manage that. It turns out getting compared to Neil Gaiman can really help your sales! Who knew?

Sales rankings are just numbers, though. They rise and fall — usually, like the numbers in my bank account, they keep on falling. What those rankings really mean is that some people are now reading The Mona Lisa Sacrifice who hadn’t heard of it before yesterday. So thanks, Robert Wiersema, for the shout-out! Thanks, Shelagh Rogers and The Next Chapter, for hosting such an incredible book party! Thanks, Neil Gaiman, for being you! And thanks most of all to everyone who’s ever taken the time to read any of my books! You’re the reason I sit down at my computer and write every day. When I’m not checking my Amazon rankings, of course….

(The thing that makes this better is I interviewed Gaiman once for The Province newspaper where I work and he was one of the nicest and most charming writers I ever met. Good karma all around.)