When I fall asleep at night, I try to tap into the super powers of my brain. This practice is relatively new to me, but it’s an amazing thing to experience. As I understand it, the speed of sound is about 750 miles per hour, the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, and the speed of thought is instant. Our brain is constantly thinking across three levels — the conscious, the subconscious and the super subconscious. Somewhere within these levels of thought and emotion, “I Knew Men” was brought to life.
For more than six months, while going through the process of having my first novel published, I’ve been sharing my experiences. Writing, editing, publishing – everything I can think of that pertains to being a first time, completely inexperienced author has been shared. I believe writing these blogs has been good exercise for my brain, and it helps to keep this dream alive, no matter where it lives inside of me. If you’ve been following, I hope it’s fun tagging along.
PICTURE YOURSELF IN A BOAT ON A RIVER
As I work on the final review (I think this is the fifth one), I’ve started to picture myself in what I believe to be the author’s realm — visiting with book clubs, book signings at bookstores, speaking to groups … walking in the shoes of someone with an actual book to share. When I picture that person, she is confident, eager, enthusiastic, and committed.
Is she the current me? Not even close. However, I’m a keen observer and have watched women who are successful -– how they dress, conduct themselves when no one is watching (as well as when they are in the spotlight), and the way they talk, stand, sit, walk — everything.
By mimicking success, it starts to seep in. I’ll stand up straighter, dress nicer, watch my language and tone of voice, and always treat people the way I would want to be treated. Slowly, gradually, that person I’ve been pretending to be comes around. I’m the same me I was before, but a newer version with new abilities and confidence.
So, when I’m in the pre-sleep state, I like to see myself doing the things I think authors do, even though I haven’t got a clue. It’s also fun to picture reaping a few rewards. The sun is glimmering on the water, I’m lounging on plump pillows as the boat lazily glides downstream, and my next story idea is milling around my head. “Would you like another cocktail, ma’am?” the steward asks. “Why, yes, thank you,” I reply.
I bet that somewhere, a famous author is doing this right now.