by Heather Martin, VPG Contributor
I wrote a book. It’s a simple statement and not that big of an announcement to the world, but for me, it was huge. It was the culmination of a lifelong dream and the fulfillment of a promise I made to myself when my father died. He was also a writer, both for fun and work, and I always aspired to be like him.
Writing the book was a daunting experience, both at the idea of writing something from start to finish that people might enjoy, and also to create a story out of thin air that was cohesive and coherent. As scary as the thought was, the thought of what came after was almost worse. I put off finishing because then I would have to promote it. And I’m terrible at self-promotion. But, at the end of April 2024, Towards the Rainbow was released for the world to either love or hate.
And after that, the dreaded promotion began. I still haven’t done as much with it as I should, but I did have a book signing. I thought it was odd that someone might want me to sign my name to anything, but it seemed people did. In June, I had the signing. I made sure there were refreshments (giving people at least one reason to come) and books to buy (although I thought that was a fool’s errand).
The first thing that was amazing was that people came. Over a dozen people showed up that night. It started with a trickle, well really, one woman. We talked about the book and what she thought. Her first words to me, “Tell me you’re writing a second!” were encouraging. But it was only her for almost a half hour and I thought at least I had one fan.
Then people started showing up, some in pairs, some alone, some with books, and some with money to buy the book. Overall, it was probably one of the most rewarding evenings of my life. I felt supported and admired. So many of the people who came wanted to know about the process, how I started it, when I started it, and, from the people who had read it, when did I anticipate finishing the second.
From this evening I took two important lessons: first, I had value. Something I had created brought pleasure to others. And people wanted me to sign it, one person saying that now she had a first edition signed copy of something she just knew was going to hit big. And the other, which I’m still struggling with, is that I seem to have inherited my father’s talent for storytelling. This was a humbling revelation. My entire life I followed in his footsteps, basking in the glory that was his impromptu stories and well-thought-out novel. I feel like his spirit and legacy live on, and I am grateful to be in his rarified air.
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