Passing the Baton
Just yesterday I heard of the passing of a dear friend. Kim Mutch Emerson. Maybe some of you knew her or heard of her. She was an author, an encourager, a life coach, a prayer warrior, a lover, and a friend. I only knew her through the Internet. She published some of my books through her publishing company Master Koda but we became close, sharing our manuscripts that we didn't dare show anyone else, helping me with edits and brainstorming. We joked together and sometimes we even dreamed about meeting up and spending real-time together - Maybe I'd go to Utah or she'd come here to WA. We dreamed about taking a train ride with our writer friends just for writing. We shared our dystopia stories and talked about how we were going to save the world through literature.
She added so much to my life, and with her death, that part of my being is gone.
But she isn't. She left a legacy. Not just for her family but for the writing community. She has done SO much for us, and I'm left thinking...would I leave the same imprint?
Have I passed the baton to anyone?
Sometimes I look at my posts and I think how selfish I am always talking about my books. Half of me argues..."well no one else does, someone has to!" And the other half of me wants to just slap me. (Just kidding). But seriously, I want to help people too. I know I've given art lessons and seen my students grow. But I haven't really done a lot for other Indie authors.
Some of that is because I think....well, I have 24 or 25 books out there. I should be making a living off of my work. But I don't. I'm lucky to sell one book in three months. Who am I to teach anyone anything about writing?
I don't believe my lack of selling books is because they aren't good books. The few people who do read them love them. It's mostly because I'm a lousy marketer. But maybe it's also because I'm not contributing enough.
So I've decided to share a little workshop that I made up. It's titled Hacking the first Draft in 30 days. A perfect lesson for NaNoWriMo people.
It's really a simple procedure and I will give you the steps and assignments on my blog here starting with my next post. But I wanted you to know where I'm coming from.
I'm upset about my friend's death, but I'm also upset that I have not done for others half of what Kim has done for us.
Remember that love is the most important thing in the world, and love is not a noun. It's a verb.