Dream High

How high would you dream if you knew you couldn’t fail?

This saying has been my beacon for many, many years.  It tells me that the biggest impediment to achieving my goals is my own insecure self.  I’ve been told since childhood, or at least learned by watching family and friends, that someone like me should be content to be average.  Don’t make waves.  Don’t set your expectations too high so you don’t get disappointed.

Writing a book, being a published author, doing book signings, being a success, is something “other people” do.

Babe Ruth said, “Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.”  Of course, if you never get up to bat, you never strike out.  Thus, you are safe in your own little world of never taking chances.  If you write a book but never submit it to a publisher, you never, ever, get one of those nasty rejection letters.  Then you can sit back and say, “My manuscript is probably great but as long as I keep it in a drawer, I’ll never know and never have to face being told it doesn’t meet someone else’s standards.”

What if, every manuscript you sent in was accepted?

What if, every goal you set, you achieved?

How high would you dream if you  knew you couldn’t fail?

The summer Olympics are on right now.  What if every athlete said, “I won’t win so why bother?”  Olympian Dara Torres says "Never put an age limit on your dreams."  She didn't and she won the gold in swimming 2000, 1992, 1984, silver 2008 and 1988, bronze in 2000 and 1988.

Are your dreams turning into nightmares?  Would you rather not try at all so you don't experience failure?

Dreams are those marvelous thoughts that tell us we can be more, have more, do more.  But we have to dream high enough.  We can’t limit ourselves by our own vision of what we “should” do or are “expected” to do.  Get out there and tear down the barriers that are holding you back.  Write that book.  Send in that query letter.  You never know what might happen when you “go for the gold!”

Today’s quote:  Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.  Winston Churchill

An Interview With Jan Toom

Today I’m interviewing award-winning author, Jan Toom.  Jan divides her time between San Diego, CA and La Conner, WA. 

Jan took first place for best children's story in the 1987 San Diego Annual Writers Showcase.  Way to go, Jan!

Tell us about your latest book, Jan? 

Jan:  The name of the book is Dead Ringer.  It’s a time travel/mainstream book.

Can you tell me a little about it?

Jan:  Sure.  When Paula Martin, an advertising executive in San Diego, California, discovers a 100 year old photograph of a girl who looks just like her, she is intrigued.  The photo was taken in 1907 in Oro Belle, a gold mining camp in Arizona.  Paula decides it would be interesting to travel to the mining camp, now a ghost town, never dreaming the adventure that awaits her.  Catherine Hollingsworth, the girl in the photo, is the daughter of the mine superintendent in Oro Belle.  Due to some unexpected circumstances, Catherine changes places in time with Paula and finds herself in 2007 San Diego while Paula gets accustomed to life in 1907 Ora Belle.

Because the young women look exactly alike, no one suspects that anything is different.  Now each of them has to lead the other’s life until they can figure a way to change back to their own time period, assuming they still want to.  

Why did you write the book?

 Jan: I was inspired by a box of old photographs of an Arizona mining camp in 1907.

How long did it take you to write it?

Jan:  It had been in my head since 1989.  I just kept playing around with different ideas and never got serious about it.  Finally, I wrote a 15 page publication about the mining camp, using the photos, called “The Quest for Oro Belle.”   That inspired me to write the novel.  I’m not sure how long it actually took.  But without the help of the Alpine Writers Guild I might still be procrastinating.

What is your favorite line in the book?

Jan:  “Paula awoke with the feeling she was being watched.”  I always thought it would make a great first line in a book.  It’s the first line in one of my chapters when Paula first arrives in1907.

Is it published?  If so, where and by whom?

Jan:  Yes, I self published it online in 2011 through Lulu.com.

Where can people buy your book?

Jan:  Currently only through me.  Email me at jtoom@yahoo.com.

What’s next for you?

Jan:  I have several things in the works.  But I just got an idea for a

children’s book, so I may put the others on hold and write that first.   

Thank you, Jan.  I read the book and it kept me intrigued from beginning to end!

 

Travel Tip:  When you travel, take a journal.  You never know when you might want to jot something down so you don't forget the event, the sight, the memory.