I was on my way back to my hotel from London's Piccadilly Circus when I met a charming woman on the Underground in 1998. She was a retired Air Force intelligence officer who had lived all over the world during her career. She spoke several languages and was living in Atlanta where she was part of an expatriate group that convened once per month for cultural gatherings that reflected the international experience of its members. To qualify for membership one had to be fluent in at least two languages and have been an expatriate for at least two consecutive years.
After we exchanged farewells, two distinct feelings swept over me: hope and despair. Hope, because I had met a living role model for the life I had been craving but couldn't fathom how to create - aligning earning power with passion as a geographically unencumbered yet spiritually grounded being. Despair, because I felt stuck in my life situation.
Later, memories of our conversation inspired me to draw up a pact with myself: I committed that my time in London would be more than a week-long getaway. My magical experience in England would be the beginning of the authentic life I wanted. And I would use it back home as a metaphor to conjure the invisible world of thought energy into tangible expression. I named it "The London Life Expansion Pact."
I read my Pact every day for six months. Two years later, I stumbled across it and was astounded by how dramatically my life had changed. I had resigned my full-time job to travel around the world, launched a freelance journalism career with a regular column in Connecticut's largest newspaper, and begun the draft of what will become my third book: Postcards and Pearls: Life Lessons from Solo Moments on the Road.
My written commitment has created a monumental shift in my unconscious energy. And this led to concrete external actions that put me closer to living the life of my dreams.
My second book, How to Take Risks to Create the Life You Want - The Lesson of the Chopsticks will be out the end of November! If you've never been inclined to learn how to eat with chopsticks (as a metaphor for trying anything new), this book offers perspective on what could happen if you did.
Last time, Gina was attempting to find a rhythm in her new writing schedule catalyzed by working part-time at her day job. In this episode, as Gina's second book is printed for release in November, she considers the impact of decisions she made six years ago on her publishing life today.
I understand why writers are hesitant to travel the independent publishing route: it's A LOT of work. And it takes very little in circumstances to overwhelm, stymie, and dismay the writer psychologically unprepared for the tsunami. I resisted it for years because I couldn't get beyond the unglamorous trade-offs I cultivated in my imagination: Good-bye social life! Hello debt! Toiling in obscurity! Rejection on steroids! In publishing, as in life, the first time is always an experiment; you have to start somewhere; a journey of a thousand miles…
This year, everything and everyone I needed was in place to write, develop, publish, and build a marketing engine for my second book. Having established a publishing network for my first book, The Lesson of the Paper Clips, made the journey this time less overwhelming for The Lesson of the Chopsticks. Someone once said, "Your life today reflects the decisions you made five years ago." I know that to be true.
The seed for what will become my third book, Postcards and Pearls: Life Lessons from Solo Moments on the Road, was planted during my solo trip around the world in 2000. As I began to infuse life into that flash of inspiration, I asked friends who are also thoughtful readers to provide feedback. And I got a lot of it - mostly in the category of "This is a good idea but it needs work."
Six years later, some of these friends still read for me today as I do for them. Astute, courageous, and critical thinkers, my friends and readers are indispensable to my writing process. From Connecticut and Texas, to Louisiana, Minnesota, and California, objective readers are the bedrock of my publishing network.
In 2003, I launched a Web site - two years before I wrote and published The Lesson of the Paper Clips. Enter my Webmaster who developed the site and maintains it today. Many authors pride themselves on helming their own Web sites to save costs. I am not among them. I have plenty to ponder and develop to ferry a high quality product to market. So, I've chosen to leave Web development to someone who knows what he's doing.
In 2004, I hired a professional coach, who is also a friend, to shepherd me through the publication of The Lesson of the Paper Clips. Her insights helped me navigate one of the most critical decisions for the book: identifying an illustrator. He is the same illustrator I used for The Lesson of the Chopsticks.
Both my on-demand and off-set printers also became part of my publishing network last year. One is in San Diego, the other is in Manhattan. To this, add my intellectual property attorney, also in Manhattan, and my photographer, marketing communications printer, and accountant, all in Connecticut.
In 2000, if I'd tried to look down the road to where I am today, I would have been paralyzed. Instead, I put one clog in front of the other, and formed a publishing network that grew from necessity, one decision at a time.
Gina's publishing adventures continue next time with episode 14 of The Leap: Follow the Open Door.
Looks like writers are reading more than readers are writing for this issue!
Below are my three word reviews for strong reads since my last newsletter. What are you reading?
Fiction
American Desert - Percival Everett
Fresh satire.
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Heartfelt, not gory.
Non Fiction
Eiger Dreams - Jon Krakauer
Moving mountaineering stories.
Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Surprising fun.
Jeanne from Lafayette, Louisiana, recommends these non-fiction books:
Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage - William L. Rathje and Cullen Murphy
Fascinating trash tales.
The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction - Linda Gordon
Southwestern racism revealed.
Courage to Change: Personal Conversation About Alcoholism with Dennis Wholey by Dennis Wholey
Definitive alcoholism text.
Tell me about your Symbol Life. How have your own metaphors for living shaped you? What leaps have you taken? I'd
love to hear about them.
Thanks for taking time to read my newsletter. I'll be writing to you again in December.
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