As those of you on the Facebook page know, I spent Thursday in my home town of Kingaroy, Queensland.
| | 10:30am Wednesday the first launch began for 'The Rise', my first published novel. We had a great turn out for a small town especially considering this was my first novel.
It was great being able to share my story with everyone and catch up with people I have not seen in years.
|
| Before I walked into the Library a man walked out and introduced himself to me, we was from ABC. A few minutes later I had a radio interview lines up about my book and my career for ABC.
It was an interesting thing to happen but I guess that's how it all starts. After all, as a writer it's all about getting your name out there.
Next Friday I'll be doing the interview and I look forward to the exposure. | |
| | After the launch finished I got a chance to talk to people and answer more questions about my writing life and my books. I found it great to be talking to people interested in either reading and writing and getting their take on the life of a creative person. |
| Once everyone had left and all the books were gone we packed up and went to lunch.
After lunch I headed up to St Mary's where I went to high school as they had asked me to come talk to the students about my book and career as a former student. | |
Seeing all the new buildings and changes did make me feel old, but it was great to see the progress.
At 2pm I had my first talk with the year 8 class. I found them to be very interested and they seemed to have great questions. At 2:30pm the classes changed over and I then talked to year 9 and 12.
All in all it was a big day especially with travelling but was a great experience and was a great day being able to talk about my work with some great people. I look forward to the next launch and all the events in the future.
To check out photos from the event go here
As some of you may know I'm not someone who usually just takes a photo of something and posts it. I like to be original and creative.
Today a big box of 'The Rise' books turned up ready for the launch in Kingaroy and Hervey Bay this month. I wish to share what I posted after they arrived. Click the image for the full size.
I do agree that in the second last image I may look a little crazy, but hey, that's me I guess.
I was very happy to see how the final copy of 'The Rise' turned out. My publisher told me about them but there is nothing like holding it for yourself.
Overall I love how they turned out and am looking forward to seeing others holding their copies. Next step, finishing book two and three in the series while also writing my film scripts. Busy days but well worth it.
- Josh
Persecution... That thing that makes people not do what they believe in, for fear of what people may think or say. There are many kinds of persecution. Some of the most known forms are related to religion, gender and race.
The dictionary defines persecution as "the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group."
No matter the subject, persecution creates fear in people. As I am a creative person I want to talk about persecution of individuals in every day life.
I was going to start blogging on writing but decided that there is no point helping people learn to write when those same people may not have the courage to do what they want, for fear that people might tell them they can't do it and will never make it. I am not just talking about writing, this can be for anything. You may want to be an astronaut, but everyone around you is saying that it's impossible and you can't do it.
How many times in history have people said to someone, "you can't do this or that?".
How many times have people told you "you can't or that's impossible?".
The problem is, most people who are treated like that don't reach their goals for a few main reasons.
1... Fear that they will fail.
2... Fear that people will keep saying those things until it becomes true.
3... Lack of support.
The hardest thing to remember is that it's your life and those people, probably don't even know anything about what you want to do.
If you wanted to be a concert pianist and people who've never touched a key in their life tell you it's impossible, why would you listen to them?
Obviously no matter what you do there will be people telling you can't for two main reasons I think.
1... They just honestly don't think it's possible.
2... They are just putting their failures, lack of goals and insecurities onto you.
Most important question for you is, are those people worth listening to? Short answer No. Long answer Noooooo.
Let me put it this way.
People who listen to those people rarely succeed in what they want to do. People who ignore those people and only keep the supportive people around them and push towards their dreams without giving up often succeed.
Now for some examples:
Thomas Edison. You may know him as the guy who invented the light bulb and phonograph. In school he was known as the kid too stupid to learn anything.
Colonel Sanders. Yes, the creator of KFC. After retirement he was rejected over 1009 times over 2 years for his idea of fried chicken.
Bill Gates. Yes, One of the richest men on the planet. he dropped out of Harvard and his business failed but he was an aggressive and persistent and now you're probably reading this on one of his machines.
Harrison Ford. Everyone knows either Han Solo or Indiana Jones. In his first ever movie he was told he would never have what it takes to be a star. He was a carpenter and was helping George Lucas work on his house when he landed the role in Star Wars.
I think that's enough for now.
So the people who succeed are those who keep at it. After all, good things come to those who work their ass of and never give up.
If you have a passion and a love for something, why would you listen to someone who doesn't have a love for the same thing, how would they know if they don't feel the same.
My advice to you is pretty simple. Ignore the world who put you down and make you feel like you can't do what you want in life cause the only person who can direct your life is you.
A few years ago I wrote my first quote and it is perfect for closing this blog.
"Choice not chance dictates direction, and passion strengthens fortitude" - Joshuah Buckle
RSS Feed