Emails, emails...
Sometimes, you get useful, work-related emails. Sometimes, spam. Sometimes, friendly gossip or family news. And sometimes, an out-of-the-blue email reminds you of a distant connection you've half-forgotten already. I just received one of those, and it made me smile.
Recently, I wrote an article for a local newspaper about an art show. One of the artists I reviewed in the article decided to send me a 'thank you' email, but... she sent it to someone else.
You see, I have a double namesake in the US. We both have the same first and last names. Not Olga Godim (my pen name for fiction) but Olga Livshin (my legal name). That is the name in my articles byline.
I found the other Olga about 10 years ago, when I googled my name on a whim. We exchanged a few emails and even met once, a few years back, when she and her husband visited Vancouver. She is much younger than I am but she is a writer too, and her first language is also Russian. No family relation though. Talk about coincidences.
The artist I mentioned above obviously found Olga's email address online and sent her a 'thank you' message. Olga guessed it was really meant for me and forwarded the message.
So I received the 'thank you' from the artist and a short message from Olga as well. Two birds by the same name with the same email, right?