1) the suddenness and impact of the death of a loved one
2) a profound statement or action that hits us at the core of where we are and/or
3) an experience that brings us face-to-face with death.
For me, it was all three and the added pressure that God put me here on earth for so much more than what I was doing with my life. Writing and acting have always been my passion, but up until recently, I had done nothing much to pursue either. I’ve written many books, but have only published one. So 2015 is the year to do something. No Resolutions. Just ACTIONS. As great as that sounds, I know I’ll be fooling myself and setting myself up for failure if I don’t surround myself with people to whom I’ll be accountable.
To accomplish this, I had to put a team together (will introduce my wonderful team at a later post), consisting of an editor, illustrator, and social media strategist and consultant. In the coming days, I will share about how those 3 life incidences prompted me to action and the part each team member plays.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve written several books but only published one. That doesn’t mean I never tried to publish the others. I did. I sent out hundreds of query letters to publishers and literary agents and, without a doubt, received some good reviews; however, my work wasn’t quite what they were looking for at the moment. I respect that. In many cases, we as writers never know what a publisher’s trends are even if we check their websites and write along the veins of the genres they print. Thank God for the evolution of the printing and publishing world. Authors do not have to wait for a big publishing company to validate their work.
My current project is titled, When Freedom Came. A chapter book about South Africa’s 1994 election when people of all color were allowed to vote for the first time. The story carries a montage sequence – where the narrator is now looking at the current result of freedom from the lens of 3 generations (her, her mother and her grandmother).
I’m inviting you to come on this literary adventure with me. I pray and hope that by sharing my experience throughout this journey, you will be encouraged to awaken and revive those passions/dreams in your life that are lying dormant. Let’s walk this road together. I’m positive that there are a lot of things we can learn from each other. I look forward to hearing what your dreams and passions are. Please share. Let’s walk this road together.
Stay Blessed!
~Arama Christiana
But as it is written,
Eye hath not seen,
Nor ear heard,
Neither have it entered into the heart,
What God hath prepared
For those who love Him. (1 Corinthians 2:9) KJV
