Every author has to start out small and work their way up. No doubt, many great authors who have achieved success started out small. Here are some examples.
With that said, I suppose I should not let it get to me that my latest two book readings have been less of a success than I would have liked them to be. Actually my first one, which was at the Breezeway Cafe’, next to the Dunn Library, had a fairly good turn out. I actually had a teacher who asked me if I would be interested in coming to read for his students. My books are also now a part of the Dunn Library, although I was in the process of redoing the covers at that time, so I still am intending to get them new updated copies.
As for the one at the Mary Duncan Public Library in Benson, it being cold and pouring rain had a lot to do with it. As for the one at the Johnston Community College Library, I suppose the laugh is on me here, as you would think that as a 2008 graduate of JCC, I would have realized that after 12:00 – 12:30, most of the students are out of class and heading off to lunch, work or home. So, of course, not one person showed up. But I still have to say, hats off to the ladies at the library, Leander Croker and Jaxie Bryan, who made me feel right at home, and also purchased my books for addition to the library!
With Leander Croker (L) and Jaxie Bryan (R) at Johnston Community College Library
With Jaxie Bryan, receiving my books for addition to the JCC Library! (Sorry, this one’s a little blurry.)
If there is one thing I have learned, it is that in most instances where things have not turned out the way I had planned, I have tended to have bad timing. At any rate, we live and learn. Meanwhile, you can bet that in future events and gatherings at my Alma Mater, where there is likely to be a good crowd of students present, or anywhere there is an opportunity to be an inspiration, yours truly will be there, with copies of my books available. After all, one of my main goals is to encourage others, especially other students, that there are always opportunities to use your skills and abilities, if you only believe in yourself. Walt Disney himself said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them”.
My youngest daughter graduated high school in 2010 and has also attended JCC. She is currently working on her transfer degree, as is my eldest, my son (at Fayetteville Tech). My middle child recently completed her Associates through an online college and both of my daughters are working hard towards their goals, in addition to being excellent mothers to my grandsons. For my youngest daughter, for her 2010 high school graduation, I was able to use my skills from my training in Office Systems Technology to make her graduation announcements myself, which actually came out very nice. The quote I put on the back? “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
With that said, I am proud to be an alumna of Johnston Community College. A lot has happened since I walked across that stage, some of it good, some of it not so good, but I have learned from it. I have taken the lessons life has taught me and kept moving forward, and I’ve taken my skills I gained from my time at JCC and put them to use in whatever way I could. That is what has carried me to where I am now. After all, like the many other “Indie Authors” like myself out there, we can only hope that perhaps one day, we will take our place in the “Authors’ Hall of Fame”, along with the others who started out small. For now, if I look at this experience in the positive light, I know what to do differently in the future. That and the fact that in that light, it was a milestone on my path, seeing my books become a part of the selections at the JCC Library! From that viewpoint, I walk away a winner!
So, I will simply learn from my mistakes, and keep moving forward. I will keep on using the things life and experience teach me, and if there is an opportunity for me to be an inspiration to someone else, then I will take it and run with it. It is then, that I will be on the “write path”! Believe in yourself, and never give up on your dreams. You never know, a future best seller may be trapped inside you! What ever your talent is, give it all you’ve got. Decide you are going to make it happen, and never settle for anything less! And yes, that is my tassel hanging off of the rear view mirror of our car!
All of my best to you,
Flossie Stewart, Author, JCC Class of 2008
Flossie Stewart, Christian Author & Speaker 