I remember going into a recording studio when I was twenty-one years of age to record some songs I had written. I’d never played them to anyone other than my girlfriend at the time. The terror I felt the first time I performed them for the producer is impossible to describe. Not only was I playing guitar and singing out loud to a real person, they were my songs; things I had written. My babies.
In the end, the experience was a good one. While none of my songs went on to make it to the Billboard 100 charts, I learned that it was okay to face my fears. Enjoying being creative was fine. The key is realizing that way more people refrain from doing something creative out of fear, than people that do make the attempt. It’s way easier to sit on the sidelines and find excuses. Since then I’ve tried to continue to follow the belief that you only live once, so go big or go home.
For the last 15 years, my job has allowed me to travel the world. I have been away from home up to three months a year. I spend a lot of down time on airplanes, in hotel rooms, sitting in cafes, and basically trying to keep myself sane (and awake, as I change cities and countries every two or three days). Reading, Netflix, and going for walks in between meetings, can only go so far. While I have always done some writing, it was during this period that the ideas for various fiction novels began to surface.
Figment is the result of an idea that came to me at 3:37 one morning. It gestated and then began to spill out onto one page, and then onto two, and soon it was finished. Yet another book to sit on my computer and never see the light of day.
My daughter Emily is responsible for convincing me to follow my own philosophy of life and let it find its place in the world. Having never edited, published, or promoted a book before, she agreed to take over the nuts and bolts. Figment is the result of her persistence.
I look forward to hearing both the positive and negative reviews. It means I have completed yet another step toward accomplishing something creative.
ความคิดเห็น