2013 Resolutions: Jamie Brazil and the Future Mrs. Elton John

Do sunglasses and the literary life have anything to do with one another? They do for me.

As a kid growing up on the Canadian prairies with no cable television and six-foot-high snow drifts surrounding our home in winter, I obsessed over Elton John, the writer of the greatest rock and roll song ever written, Crocodile Rock.

Elton always wore sparkly outfits and his trademark wild sunglasses. He was the man of my dreams, and at eleven-years-old I knew, and I mean KNEW in an absolute and certain way… in my hearts of hearts… in the very depth of my soul… that I would marry Elton John.

I was the future Mrs. Elton John.

You can imagine how devastated I was when he married Renate. When I saw the photo of her sitting on Elton’s lap I wept. I bawled like a baby. He was supposed to be mine.
Turns out, he wasn’t Renate’s either.

Years later, I take solace in the fact that Sir Elton married fellow Canuck David Furnish and I wish them all the happiness in the world. Even if there’s now little chance of my childhood dream coming true. Some sunglasses, once removed, cannot be put back on.

My vision of creating a literary life has been permanently altered, too.

The writer I wanted to be when I began writing is not the writer I am today. I had some success with my Renate (nonfiction), but Renate was not my true love. 

Fiction was. Yet the world of million-dollar advances for first novels doesn’t exist anymore. A digital landscape exploding with possibilities took its place.

So what’s a girl to do when her old dreams bite the dust, when she accepts there is no going back to the way things were? I’m taking a lesson from Elton. I’m buying new sunglasses and reinventing myself. I want my new shades to have frames as large as my dreams, and rose-colored lenses to see the wave of digital opportunities in the best light.

And Crocodile Rock is still the best song ever written!

 Check out Jamie's wonderful book, Prince Charming, Inc.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

http://jamiebrazil.com

http://facebook.com/BrazilBooks http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5281706.Jamie_Brazil

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

2013 Resolutions: Maggie Jamieson and Being the Best ME possible

Resolve 2013: Be the BEST Me Possible

Maggie Jaimeson

HEALING NOTES

Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art.
– Neil Gaiman  addressing  The Philadelphia University of the Arts Class of 2012

Leading a creative life is not for the faint of heart.  It is highly likely that many people you care about will at one time or another do a “tsk, tsk.”  If you dare complain about the challenges of creating, the lack of money, the difficult choices you have to make, most people will not understand or empathize. Some will actually be I-told-you-so friends or will distance themselves because they just don't get it. Leading a creative life during the Renaissance was prized, but during 21st Century America not so much. Today, for many, the belief is you’re an adult and you should know better than to make such a (feel in the blank with a word akin to “stupid”) choice for a career. However, for a true creative person it is the only choice that brings fulfillment. So, how do you make it work? How do you keep going in spite of the naysayers and the challenges?  Here are a few rules of the road that work for me.

1. Embrace Failure. You will fail at some point, and probably at multiple points. It is inevitable. I had 39 rejections before getting my first book contract. Other writers were successful with several books and then couldn't sell anything for years. It's the nature of being a working writer. If you paint, draw, dance, act, it is the same. Creative people fail, but they also succeed. Embrace your fear of failure and get on with it, because you will eventually succeed. Let's face it, you ARE a creative and that means you must create.
2. Embrace Success. Because most creative people fail a lot before they get to the point where they are selling regularly, once success happens it is natural to think it’s a fluke. Watch out for this kind of self-talk: “If all those readers, buyers, publishers, editors, really knew that this book is no better than the other nine I couldn’t sell, they would run screaming.  Gosh I hope they never figure it out.”  Make peace with the impostor syndrome that comes with success. You will be visiting success a lot. Enjoy the time you have there and accept it as an affirmation of all your hard work.
3. Don’t compare your success to someone else. Each creative person has a different path. You have no idea what that other person did to get there and, even if you did know, chances are your choices would be different. 
4. Celebrate each small victory. Don’t get swept up into the next thing before being fully present with the joys of this one.  In the beginning I celebrated rejections because it meant I had the guts to send out my work. Then I celebrated edits because at least I had an editor. Then I celebrated publishing. I even celebrate bad reviews because I know the person read the book and cared enough that he or she was angry when I didn't meet expectations.  OMG! A person READ my book. That is a reason for celebration. Celebration is key, don't let an opportunity for celebration escape you.
5. Make up your own rules. This is an era in which the creative landscape is in constant flux. The rules are being broken down, the gatekeepers are being replaced and displaced. There are no hard and fast rules. Do works for you.
6. You are unique and only you can tell your story.  You don’t need to copy others, just be the best you possible. Make your art, tell your story, find your voice.

Now, go forth and conquer! 

Contact Maggie: Website | GoodReads | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet