It is Black History Month. This past year, I had the pleasure of being introduced to some great authors and stories that really hit home and I enjoyed immensely. If you are looking for something to read this month, I recommend these books.
I was introduced to Jesmyn Ward’s work a few years ago when “Salvage the Bones” came out. It was so beautifully written, it was such a breath of fresh air to know there are still writers out there that value well written words and character development. She masterfully tells stories of people from the South, where she immerses you in the unique dialects of the characters, while describing conditions of extreme poverty in America. Her stories are haunting, which means they will stick with you. You will never forget her protagonists, because she makes you feel deeply for them.
Ward is essentially a modern day Great American Writer, telling the stories of the forgotten people of America by giving them life on the pages of her books. She has won many awards for her works.
Three reasons why it is important to read Ward’s works now: 1) to understand the human conditions of those left forgotten in America, the ones who have no voice, 2) you are witnessing brilliance in real time of a living Great American Author, and 3) her works will one day be the classics people will be reading centuries from now.
Jason Reynolds
One of my favorite YA authors right now is Jason Reynolds. When I saw him at the Book Expo, he looked like this super cool dude everyone wants to be friends with. When he spoke about his childhood sitting under the pecan tree, we got a glimpse into the man behind the stories and why they exist.
You see, Reynolds is writing the stories he wished he had when he was growing up. When I read “Miles Morales,” I was blown away by the life lessons he was teaching. While Miles is a story about a superhero, Reynolds teaches that you can be a hero in your own neighborhood. You don’t need super powers to be a hero. [Read the PW review]
Long Way Down moved me with Reynolds’s elegance and power of words. So few words were used, but so many things were being said. It was so well done.
Even if you do not read YA, consider picking up Reynolds’s books. He will blow your mind.
Moonless, Starless Sky
While this book is about extremism in Africa, it is written by a staff writer from the New Yorker. The reporting and writing of this story was done so well, I closed the book when I finished and said, “That’s the way journalism should be.”
Alexis Okeowo is a first generation American that covered the stories of people in Africa fighting extremism. The irony though is that these stories are very reminiscent of what we are seeing in America. In a way, it will inspire you to fight against the extremism that is rising in America today.
I want you to pick up this book because I want to make sure you read Alexis’s work. In this day and age of mediocrity and fake media, it is a breath of fresh air to encounter a journalist that steps up their game and rises above it all. This is journalism at its best.
Stay With Me
Stay With Me is considered to be one of the most important books you need to read this year. While there’s nothing quite American about this book, there is something to be said about a 30 year old that can write such a powerful novel like this.
Ayobami Adebayo is Nigerian. In her debut novel, she brings us into the world of Nigeria and the struggles women and couples go through. In this story, we follow a couple with fertility issues. When Yejide fails to produce a child, her in-laws and the village forces her husband to take a second wife.
The way outsiders can come in and dictate to a couple how their marriage should be shows not only the error in judging, but also the error of not acknowledging that what happens between a married couple is sacred. For Yejide and Akin, they hold a much deeper secret that no one outside of their marriage should know. Letting someone know their secret can destroy their marriage.
I recommend this book because it helps us look outside of ourselves and the American life to see a different world when it comes to marriage and motherhood. A powerful, remarkable book from a fresh, new voice.
For the Kids
Every MLK, Jr. Day, the sales for Brad Meltzer’s book “I Am Martin Luther King, Jr.” skyrockets. His series for children, “Ordinary People Change the World,” is such an amazing take on the lives of the most influential people in human history.
I started off with “I Am Rosa Parks” and it shook my heart and soul. To see her story from the aspect of a child, it made me see just how real these icons are. They are just like you. They are just like me. They are ordinary people that decided one day to make a stand (or stay seated in this case), and it changed the course of history.
There is nothing remarkable about any of these people. There was nothing that made them stand out from anyone else. Then one day, when they were faced with adversity, they made a decision, and made the world into a better place because of that decision.
These books are designed for children to understand that people like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were just like them. They were kids once. They faced hardships and adversity. Then one day, they decided to change the way their story was being told. They decided to make a stand.
Meltzer designed these stories to inspire the next generation of heroes. Get your hands on these books. Every single one of them. Your kids will benefit from them, so will you. It doesn’t matter what your age is, you can learn something from these books. It will touch your soul and inspire you to be greater than you already are.
Jim Henson is an important part of most childhood stories. Everyone remembers how Sesame Street, The Muppets and The Dark Crystal played some part in their story. Jim Henson was the one who gave children a childhood to love, one filled with happiness. Henson wanted to be in television, so he showed up at his local TV station and asked for a job. They said, “No.” On his way out, he saw a flyer for ‘Puppeteers Wanted.’ He took the flyer, went to the library and learned everything he could about puppetry. A few months later, he returned to that same TV station and asked for a job again, this time as a puppeteer. The rest is history. For those who aim to dream big and do something incredible for the world, look no further than to be inspired by the legend.
[Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive compensation.]
Ordinary People Can Change the World. Brad Meltzer tells the story of Helen Keller in a way that helps both children and adults learn how despite the odds working against us, we can become anyone we want to be. Setbacks and challenges only mean we have to work harder at pushing forward to make the world a better place. An incredible story that teaches us that despite the diversity, we can change the world.
[Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive compensation.]
Ordinary People Can Change the World and that is what Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos are setting out to do by choosing 100 of the most influential people in human history to tell their stories. While these books were made for children, every single person should read them because you can learn that each hero wasn’t born a hero. They were just ordinary people like you and me. In Rosa Parks story, we see the world she lived in until one day she decided enough was enough and took a stand (or a seat, in this case). This is the story you share with the world. All of us can be heroes.
[Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive compensation.]
Last week, I stopped into Barnes & Noble where Brad Meltzer introduced his latest book, “I am Jim Henson.”
I do not normally go to children’s author events, but I decided to go to this one. I’m glad I did. I was not prepared for the incredible lesson I was about to learn.
These books appear innocent on the outside. They are stories about important figures in human history. From Martin Luther King, Jr. (a book that is constantly sold out) to Rosa Parks, Helen Keller and Amelia Earhart, these books are designed not just as a history lesson for children, but as an underlying act to encourage children to become someone amazing.
There’s good in all of us. Sure, we’re all different. Some of us have beards, or no hair, or blue fur, or green flippers. But goodness lives within each of us. That’s an idea that should never get old. Believe in the good of the world. Create something new. Share what you love. And find others who believe in those favorite things you dream about. Together…
It starts when we’re kids. That’s when we learn some of the best things in life. Laughing. Sharing. Imagining. Dreaming. Creating. Never stop doing them. And never stop being kind. There’s nothing wrong with being a do-gooder.
Think of your life as a hill that must be climbed. There’s no correct path to get to the top. We all zigzag in our own ways. At some point, you’ll slip, you’ll fall, you’ll tumble back down again. But if you get back up and keep climbing, I promise you…you will reach the top. Don’t let anything hold you back. Our lives are what we make of them. There will always be obstacles. But there will always be ways around them.
In my life, people tried to knock me down. Tried to make me feel less than I was. They teased me for being small. Being black. Being different. Let me be clear: NO ONE should be able to do that. But if they try, you must stand strong. Stand for what’s right. Stand up for yourself (even if it means sitting down). When you do…others will follow. I am Rosa Parks. I’m not a politician, or a president, or an actor, or a famous business owner. I’m just an ordinary person. But I’m also proof that there’s NO SUCH thing as an ordinary person.
These books are not just for children. Adults need to read them, too. We need to be reminded that these people were just ordinary people who did something incredible with their life. Their stories are a reminder that no matter how ordinary we are we can change the world.
That is the point of these books. But there’s also an even bigger message. We are living in a time where our political climate threatens our livelihoods. We see how the bully won the election and it gave rise to white supremacists who threaten people that are not 100% white. [One teacher at the event told me that following the election, every child in her school was on suicide watch.]
Children are scared. Adults are scared. But it is in these very books, we see how being defiant and choosing to do good, choosing to do what is right and overcoming obstacles as they arise, can make us into extraordinary people. We can rise up.
The book that had the biggest effect on me was “I am Rosa Parks.” It made me sad and embarrassed to know how America used to be. Even though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 happened, we are seeing America revert back to darker days. Everything that made America great, we are told is not so great. We are told that equality between human beings is not a great thing. We are told that being a bully is ok. It is accepted to be the bully. America wants the bully to lead us.
We are told that the things we know in our heart are true and good are BAD. What these books tell us is to stand strong. We have to stand up for ourselves. We may be a bunch of ordinary people, but an ordinary person can change the world. That is self evident in these books. WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.
I highly recommend buying these books not just for the kids, but for yourself. We sometimes need to be reminded to believe in ourselves. It is so hard to remain strong each and every day after facing the onslaught of bullying and fear we live in.
These books serve as a reminder that we can follow our dreams. We can overcome obstacles. We can be the change, just like President Obama says we should be.
Read them to remind yourself of who you are and who you can become. Read the books to your children. Let them see that these people were just like them. They were kids too and they grew up to do something wonderful just by being themselves.
EXTRA: Over the last year, two of Meltzer’s children books had an overall 91% increase in sales, which is completely unheard of in the publishing industry. This was in direct correlation to the election. Those two books were “I am Martin Luther King, Jr.” and “I am Rosa Parks.”
The Books
Here are the current children’s books available from Brad Meltzer. He is developing 100 stories about ordinary people who did extraordinary things. This is just the beginning, so start collecting.
To be released later this year:
Disclosure: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work.
For many years now, I’ve struggled with becoming the person I know that I am inside. I’ve spent many years doing the little things to prepare myself for the big things in life. I always felt like I was just biding my time. For what? I did not know.
My Moroccan friend, Driss, told me years ago that everything happening in my life is for a reason. If I were to look outside the situation, my journey would look like a map. There were markers showing one point to another to another. That map was leading me somewhere…my path to my own destiny.
Changes
This past year, I made a lot of major changes and decisions. If I was going to be honest with myself, I hated hockey. I’ve hated it since 2012. The lockout and what the players did on Twitter sealed how I felt. I tried after the lockout to fall back in love with the game again, but ended up hating it even more.
When I initially retired in 2012 from hockey writing, I really didn’t want to have anything more to do with it. When my editor asked me back a year later, I decided to let go of the dream of having a family of my own (which is why I retired) and go back to the career. I broke my own heart and told myself that the dream to have a family is no more.
Perhaps that heartbreak added to the hatred towards the sport and covering it. A few months after returning to hockey, I found out I had a tumor in my parathyroid gland. I spent the next two months preparing for the worst, like my doctor told me to do, making sure all of my affairs were in order for the ‘just in case’ I didn’t survive the surgery.
When I woke up in the recovery room, everything in my life had forever changed. The story of my life prior to that surgery was done. Who I was after the surgery…that was the person I had to discover.
For a lot of people, they have a before and an after in their life. Usually some major traumatic event occurs and the person’s life changes forever. They are no longer that person they were prior to that traumatic moment. They’ve changed.
That was what happened to me post-op. I struggled a lot that first year. I struggled with memories. I had to wait an entire year before all of my memories came back. When they did come back, the emotions attached to them were no longer there.
The sisters of the Meditation Center told me that losing my memories was a good thing. I’ve been carrying a lot of pain in my soul. To no longer have that pain, why would I want to remember it? It should be considered a blessing. God had his reasons for wiping those memories clean.
As a writer, I needed to know what that pain was in order to write about it.
Moving In a New Direction
Last year, knowing I was very unhappy with continuing to be a hockey writer, I asked myself, “What do you love?” The simple answer was books and movies. So I decided to do that. It started with a Film Festival. Next, I attended the Book Expo conference for writers, bloggers, etc. I attended another film festival. I started getting invitations to movie premieres, talks, parties, etc. It was like this world accepted me right from the start and welcomed me in.
My entire world changed.
Hockey season started up again and I just didn’t want to be there. The reason I stayed was because sometimes you just don’t know who you are when you have become a certain identity. People see you and know you as a hockey writer. So what would happen if I were to change that?
I quit in March after the girl that had been helping me cover the Devils revealed that she had to deal with some misogynistic crap and someone tried to kiss her…and these people were members of the press. After I read her account, I realized, you know…that really sickens me that this happened to her.
For years, I’ve had to listen to assholes say shit to me about being there. Old guys would tell me I didn’t know anything about hockey. I could be eating a carrot stick and they would stop and say something nasty about my weight. I’m sure if I was model thin, they’d say I was trying to get a hockey player husband (and yes, I have heard many people accuse me of that over the years).
I was there to be a writer. I was not there looking for a husband. Sure, there were players that had crushes on me, but I was adamant about not being that stereotype that the only reason why women get into sports is because they are trying to get with the player. I rejected every single player that showed an interest because I refused to be the person people wanted to accuse women in sports of.
The misogyny in sports is very real. I just brushed it off and buried myself in my work. But then I realized…wait…this is why I truly hate hockey. These assholes have been saying shit to me for years and I act like it never bothered me, but the truth is that it always did. To know this also happened to the other girl…oh, hell no. I refused to be part of that culture anymore.
I was set to take over the spot at the New York Rangers, the team I wanted to cover since day one. I decided that I didn’t want it anymore because those same jerks were over there, too.
Turning down covering the New York Rangers was a tough decision to make. The Rangers have always been incredible to me. The last time they went to Europe to play a few exhibition games, they invited me along (even though I was the NJ Devils beat reporter). I was the only US based reporter that went along with them and the NHL. The Rangers were also the only team to reach out after I released why I was leaving hockey. I will always love the NY Rangers. They were nothing but good to me.
I did feel like I was letting female hockey fans down. You can try to fight the good fight and represent women in a culture dominated by men, but are you really fighting for anything if you just stand there and let the harassment happen game after game after game? What are you actually accomplishing by saying nothing and remaining?
Leaving hockey was the best thing I could do for myself. I wasn’t passionate about hockey anymore. When you’re not passionate about something anymore, you really shouldn’t be doing it.
A New Beginning
When I quit, people asked me what I was going to do now, thinking that this was the end. No. It was a new beginning for me that had been unfolding for over a year.
When I met fashion designer Malan Breton at the NYCIFF, he told me that he used to be a sports commentator. I was in shock. This man who creates masterpieces was a former sports commentator, model, actor, journalist and so much more. He made me realize that we should do everything we dream of doing. One day, as we’re going along our path, we’ll finally find our true calling.
Looking at my map of life and comparing it to his, I could see that our lives were quite similar. We tried on so many hats, just looking for the right fit that would define us. He helped me open up my eyes to see that this was only the beginning of my journey.
After I quit hockey, authors started contacting me to review their books, willing to do interviews. Before that, I had to seek them out. I had to talk to publishers, meet with the authors, just to get the interviews. I don’t have to do that anymore. They are contacting me directly now.
I got more and more invites to movie premieres, special engagements (like the 25th anniversary of “Silence of the Lambs” with the cast and crew in attendance), invitations to fashion events, art events, etc. I kept getting free stuff from vendors in hopes that I would review them.
Leaving hockey opened up that world completely for me. People were always conflicted about approaching me about their stuff because I was doing hockey, which is not what they were doing. After leaving hockey, they felt more comfortable approaching me. Trust me when I say, leaving hockey was the best thing I ever did for myself. It was a wall that was preventing me from accessing the world that was more like me.
All of this leads to my present
That person I’ve been afraid to let out, well she is currently out. As in, I stopped ‘preparing’ myself to be a novelist. This last year, I met a lot of publishers from various publishing houses. At year end, two had approached me to ask if I had a novel to turn into them. I didn’t.
For some reason, I had this fear of becoming that person I wanted to be (like most people). I was always preparing, writing for other sites and my own blogs. I was writing what I thought people wanted, not what I wanted. What I truly wanted was to take these book ideas inside my head and actually commit to writing the entire story down.
It is time for me to switch to writing books.
Last year, Kim Thùy told me that I should be the one writing books, not her. She loved my writing. That said a lot to me because I think her work is a complete masterpiece and beautifully done. When someone whose work I love tells me this, you would think I should follow through, right?
It takes a dream arriving at the right moment to make me realize now is the time. A couple of weeks ago, I had this dream that was so intense, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The story it told was just so incredible. The elements in the story were so intense with emotion, I realized I had to write this story.
I sat down and started writing down my notes in a notebook, transcribing the dream. 18 pages later and on my third gel pen, I had only told the beginning of the story. I hadn’t even reached the part where the bad guy is introduced.
As I wrote down my notes, my playlist would start playing songs that related to exactly what I was writing in that very moment. It happened again and again and again. You know what that is? That’s the universe telling you that you are on your path. You are doing exactly what you should be doing. You are on your way to your destiny.
As I got lost in this dream, I started to see that map of my life Driss was telling me about. What happened in this dream included a person I’ve been dreaming a lot about these past three years. I never understood why. Each time I had an intense dream that pertained to the story of my life (i.e. the dreams I remembered), this person was in it. I had no clue why he was in it, but he was in it. I just thought he represented someone else, because the story is similar to the story between me and another person.
When I stepped away from writing down my notes for the day, I started thinking about how weird everything was falling into place. Then I realized the main character in this book…his presence in my life goes back to the late-1990s. He’s the reason why I got into hockey. He’s the reason why I wanted to see the New York Rangers play. I was like…this is so bizarre. Then I looked at that map of my life with this new element and had to smack myself in the head. I was reading the map all wrong. I’d been reading it wrong for years.
I was biding my time and I had no idea why. Well, everything is now understood. I now understand the map of my life. I was becoming the person I was meant to become…a novelist. By starting the work on the book, making myself live in each and every single moment I am discussing, telling myself that ‘you must write for yourself,’ my whole universe has shifted in the most incredible way.
When I got the invitation to see David Duchovny, I didn’t RSVP. But then they emailed me again and I finally relented. I’m glad I did. He wasn’t there to talk about acting. He was there to talk about writing. He inspired me to become the narrator of my story and not let anyone else tell my story. I have to remind myself to write for myself. I look at these words before I write:
This is my writing mantra. It helps me to understand that when I tell this story, I have to do this my way. I have to fully be present.
Come as You Are
COME AS YOU ARE. That is what I tell myself. That is what it means to be present in the process of writing. You are giving a piece of yourself, so you need to be brutally honest with yourself as you write.
“Come as You Are” is also a very spiritual song for me. When I was struggling with meditation, this song came on and I realized this was God’s way of saying just come as you are. Sometimes I strive to be the person I used to be and get frustrated that I’m not her anymore. That frustration was making it so difficult for me to meditate. “Come as You Are” made me realize that God already knows my struggle and doesn’t care. I should just show up and be present with him, no matter what state I’m in. I’ll get to where I need to be eventually.
I’ve come to realize that the dream I had a couple of years ago about walking away from someone I loved dearly and watching his heart break was a foreshadowing of my future. God was telling him to let me be. I’d come around when I was ready. There was something I was going through and I had to go through it alone.
My struggles with meditation are about those inner struggles that redefined me after the surgery. The heartaches I was carrying in my soul needed to be dealt with and the surgery triggered that need to wipe the slate clean before it is too late. Letting go of the frustration helped me to understand that I’ve changed. I have to accept that I’m not going to be that perfect soul anymore. I am broken.
Writing for Yourself
‘Write for yourself and no one else’ is about making sure that I’m the only person involved in this writing process. In this day and age of trying to do quick, mass sells in the marketplace, we oftentimes get so involved with trying to figure out what other people want to read, we lose our own authenticity. We lose sight of writing something brilliant…something that will withstand the test of time.
The reason why Anne Rice became so popular was because in 1976, she wrote a book that had never been done before. She wrote the classic “Interview With the Vampire.” She is and continues to be one of the most prolific writers because she is very much a part of each of her stories.
Her stories involve something that happened in her life at that very moment. The struggles she’s going through, the pain as she works through each loss, sickness, etc., her books are a reflection of how she was living at that time. As a result of being true to her very being, she is one of the most celebrated bestselling authors of our time. Every book she has written has been at the top of the bestsellers list.
These days, I oftentimes see her ask what people want. That’s the problem with social media. People get wound up in trying to figure out what their audience wants instead of just doing what they want to do. We all get messed up in wanting to be accepted by others, so we try to give people what they want instead of just creating what we want to create and sharing it with the world.
This novel I’m working on is about my life post-op. It’s about a man who has lost his wife he loved dearly, and then gets her back for a moment. It’s about a woman running away from the abuse, because she is dying. It’s about death and how he takes pity on her and gives her a second chance. He gives her borrowed time. It’s about helping people learn to let go of the person they love more than life itself.
I think, in a way, this book is for someone. It’s to help him let go. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched someone’s heart break because they know you no longer love them. I watched that happen and there was nothing I could do about it. Those memories of how I felt about him did not return after the surgery. They never did.
I think this book is my way of saying “I’m sorry I hurt you.” The true elements to what happened in the real story are hidden in this story in such a way that it is supposed to help him let me go.
This is not the first book I wanted to write, but something tells me that it is needed now, not later. The other two can wait.
Diving into this novel, I realized that a screenplay I’ve been going over in my head (I’m up to season 4 in my head, need to get to a season 7) is starting to become more realistic to me. Last summer, I headed into HBO Studios for a seminar they were hosting. I literally had no idea how any of this TV business stuff worked, especially for writers.
I had accepted the invitation to attend the screenwriter’s seminar, because I actually wanted to start writing for Hannibal. Imagine my surprise when it was the NBC Executive in charge of Hannibal that was giving the seminar. Synchronistic?
I got from that seminar that Hannibal was about to be canceled. It didn’t surprise me after seeing the first 3 episodes (it got too artsy, I couldn’t hear or see anything…it was driving me nuts). But the thing is, there is hope for Hannibal’s return in a few years, but not to NBC. That means they’ll need writers in the future.
Also synchronistic was getting the invitation to attend the 25th Anniversary of “Silence of the Lambs.” Jodie Foster spoke about why she wanted to do this film and it totally changed the way I viewed the movie. I ended up sitting behind Howard Shore, the composer for the film. I almost fan girled right there in my seat. He’s written the music for almost every major film. Most recently he wrote the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit trilogies. I’ve been listening to his works since I was a kid and now he’s sitting directly in front of me to watch “Silence of the Lambs?” I swear to you, my universe is very synchronistic.
My connection with the film industry over this last year has landed a lot of crazy opportunities. The whole point in these opportunities is to learn, because this is a whole new territory to me beyond just watching a film. I’m learning about the ins and outs to the film industry, especially as a writer. I’ve met directors, actors and screenwriters this past year. The funny thing is we are inspiring each other to do great things. That’s what is so amazing about living your dream. You surround yourself with people that are living their dreams, too. They become your support group. You help each other reach each other’s dreams by supporting each other in our own endeavors. A lot of times it’s just adding whatever your talent is to the mix and being a soundboard of support.
There is something to that energy of creative types getting together. We feed off of each other’s energy.
In Closing
When I decided to write my novel and complete it when the publishing houses make their rounds at year end, I started down a whole new path to realizing I was making my dream come true. When you’re on your path in life, you start to see things magically falling into place, as if to confirm to you that you are on the right path.
It’s like the birds are singing just for you. That is what it means to be living your dream that was designed for no one else in this world, but you.
The opportunities that have arisen over this last year for me was all part of the universe opening the doors for me to see that following movies and books was the direction I was always supposed to follow. Getting my name out there and writing about hockey for a few years was what helped me get my foot in the door when I began meeting with publishers last year. I kept telling myself that writing about hockey was helping me to become a better writer so that one day, when I was ready to sell the novel, it would make me legitimate and not some no name writer no one has ever heard of.
No one is interested in what I wrote for hockey, but knowing I was a member of the credentialed media, it legitimizes the fact that I am a writer. That means that the publishing houses and their agents are willing to talk to me. I’ve seen people with novels in hand going from one publisher to the next to be rejected because they didn’t know who they were.
If a publishing house is going to take a gamble on you, they need to like you right from the start. If you’re a no name who hasn’t put yourself out there to legitimize yourself as a writer, you’ll receive a lot of slammed doors in your face.
One thing I’ve realized as I’ve met writers over the years, they know when they are in the presence of another writer. They can just tell.
When I met Brad Meltzer last year, he looked at me and asked if he knew me. I responded that I didn’t think so. He replied that he knows me from somewhere but can’t put his finger on it. I just shrugged my shoulders. I had a feeling that maybe he was right. Maybe we did know each other somehow, but couldn’t put our finger on it.
I met Kim Thùy. She signed her book and then gave me her personal email to do an interview for this site. I was so surprised she was willing to do that for me. Our correspondence with each other during the interview surprised me. What I learned from her is to try and learn to write with fewer words. There’s always a way to say what you mean in more eloquent ways.
When I met Amy Tan when I first moved to NYC, I asked her about her rock band and if they would be playing anytime soon. She looked at me and said that when I finish my first novel to bring it by and they would help me make it better. I was like…WHAT? “They” being Amy Tan, Stephen King and Scott Turow. Those three are in a rock band together with a few other major American authors (like Dave Barry, Mitch Albom, etc.).
The irony in this is that I wasn’t even a writer yet. At that point in my life, it was just some far off dream. It was the person I wanted to be when I grew up, but I was nowhere close to making that dream come true.
She looked at me like she knew for sure I was a writer and re-emphasized that they would help me make my work better and give me helpful insight to get my work published for the masses. This meant a lot to me because Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors. The fact that she could see right into my very soul and see that I was a writer, that meant something incredible at the time. She was the person that awakened that sleeping writer within. I became a writer after that moment.
Now, it’s time to become the novelist. I don’t want to write other people’s stories all of the time (sometimes, but not all of the time). I need to write my own story, because truthfully, the things that have happened in my life that have helped define me are the stories I want to share.
This site was always about sharing the stories of people making their dreams come true in an effort to inspire others to live their own dreams. I just haven’t been sharing mine with everyone. Now, I am.