Launching out…
When I started to write my book, ‘Tales from the Top End: The First Three Years’, my only thought was to get the job done, or as Phil had told me numerous times, “Write the book!”
As a creative writer, a million thoughts are constantly rotating through your mind about how you can articulate your thoughts so that others will understand them and share in the experience. In other words, you are focused on getting the words down on paper and then, hopefully, it will all come together in some sort of format that people will enjoy reading and enter into the world you have created.
However, the journey from those million swirling thoughts to a sale-ready book is enormous. The process of writing, editing, re-reading, more editing, formatting, typesetting, book cover design, re-reading for small errors, sending the manuscript out to others for their review, and then finding the best way to actually publish the book without spending a lot of money consumes a lot of time.
Initially I was only thinking about getting the words on paper. But, along the way, it evolved into a personal journey of incubating and birthing my ‘baby’, and exposing my inner musings to others’ ideas, thoughts and critiquing. It was a long, twelve-month journey of stops and starts, navigating my way through a maze of daunting unknowns.
It also meant teaching myself to persevere through the trials of designing and putting together a website and beginning the daunting and disliked process of marketing (which is still a huge learning curve). My dream has nothing to do with becoming an Amazon number one author; who would want that pressure to produce material on a regular basis? My heart is simply to invite people on a journey of discovery, to assure people that if I can do it, anyone can, and to encourage others to explore the possibilities of launching out by faith with their unique God-given gifts into whatever it is that stirs their creativity.
In the beginning of the writing process, the last thing on my mind was a book launch. That’s funny, really. I’m not sure what I thought I would do with the book once I finished writing it. But, with the encouragement of my ever-enthusiastic husband, I did recently gather some of my nearest and dearest together to do just that - launch the book. But it was about so much more than that. As I said that afternoon to my family and friends who had supported me on the NT journey and encouraged me in the book writing process, I felt like I was finally celebrating the 50th birthday I never had! My oldest friend whom I had known since we were next-door neighbour babies together was there, as were three of my gorgeous grandsons, and many others from different parts of my life who were there to support me. I cried with gratitude!
You see, the day I turned 50, I was in my first year of mothering eight teenage girls at the college in the NT, and it was a pretty typical day in our household. Some girls had decided not to bother coming in for dinner, others were mocking and teasing each other and us, others had that sassy teen girl attitude, chaos was reigning in the house, and I was not coping well at all. When the two girls came in very late for dinner and demanded their food, I finally said to Phil, “I’m out of here. I can’t do this today.” I then looked at the girls and said, “I have had enough. It’s my birthday today!” I turned and walked out the door to the tune of a few voices saying, “Happy birthday, Aunty.” I took a LONG walk up and down the deserted road outside the college, telling God once again that He had the wrong person for this job, and when could I go home? Even the noisy white parrots came under fire as I yelled at them to shut up and stop squawking at me! It was a day to remember for all the wrong reasons, and in some ways, I felt robbed of the joy of a life celebration.
The years since then have flown by!
I now hold the memories of the book launch dear, not for the books I sold, but because it brought together those I love. Launching out in new adventures is something we can all find daunting, to the point of not proceeding. It can be anxiety producing, but the rewards are worth it! Go for it, my friends!
Until next time…