Wow

You throw a story out into the universe and it gets published and you're pleased with it, and then you kind of go on to the next thing. Sometimes you hear back that someone liked it. And then, very rarely (for me, anyway) you get something like this, a comment by Adam-Troy Castro on Facebook:

Our recent discussion of FRANKENSTEIN led me to blind-reference a story that blew me away, many years ago, though I didn't know the story's name or author. It involved a version of the Frankenstein story where, after initially recoiling from his creation in horror, a wholly different researcher takes responsibility for what he has done, treats his artificial being with love, gives him a name, allows him to call him Dad, defends him from the cruelty of others, comforts him, and finally, proudly stands by when the "monster" marries a non-judgmental woman. I asked around to see if anybody could identify the story, which I have long used to illustrate the true nature of Dr. Frankenstein's sin -- and was delighted to find out that it was written by somebody I know. Here's the cover for "Willie" by Madeleine Robins.

That this is exactly what I wanted the story to say is wonderful. But that it stuck with someone this long is deeply, deeply gratifying.