And then I became an author... what could you become?

Have you ever come across something that you thought “I would like to do that” but then stopped yourself? I always wanted to be a children's author growing up (even though I was diagnosed as dyslexic in primary school and back then hated writing) but I found joy in it after writing a short story aged 11.

There were just two problems, 1 - Life got in the way and I never found time to do it and 2, the fact my story at school was not the best (it was about a strawberry and a wet sandwich at the beach) and it met with some good old 1980’s English Teacher commentaries that I would never make it and I’m wasting my time.

One day, I realised that I could do it and in fact, had done great things in my career which in part had been due to my successful story creation and storytelling to build faith and passion for my various transformations, strategies, and initiatives. Let’s face it, all good business cases tell a story, involve multiple characters, choices, and take the reader on a journey with a compelling and engaging ending… This is storytelling and selling belief in the story and its players. Taking people on a strategic journey and building interest is like storytelling and when done right should be just as fun! Even after making this discovery, I didn’t put ink to paper until life threw me a new curveball.

My first child arrived prematurely and was in the hospital for multiple weeks while his body adjusted to being out in the big wide world. Whilst doing night feeds and changes at the hospital I decided to create a story just for him as he didn’t sleep well and with that my first children’s book “There’s a Monster Under My Bed” was born and by the time he was 2 it was produced and had over 5000+ downloads on Kindle in the first 3 months and provided me an escape from the stresses of first time parenting as a hobby. Not bad for someone who was told “you cannot do it so don’t”.?

Some of you might tell from the above, it turns out that the same imagination and methods a lot of us use and have been used daily by developers, innovators, creators, and strategists for some time are the foundation of my achieving my dream... without imagination and the ability to sell those words and develop products that the customer wants we are not successful in the digital age.

That was going to be my only dip of a toe into the children’s author ink well. ?That was until my daughter came (also prematurely) and Covid dropped on the world. With the uncertainties of life at that time, we moved to the Southwest and never looked back. She came and so did the new stories so I put them down on digital ink.

Using freelancer sites like fiverr.com I found a great illustrator who is now working with me on my books and a great narration talent to do audible versions and finally an editor (my wife).

I continue to use various work learned principles and practices to build the stories (the EPIC’s), break them into phases for story development, and with a dab of SaaS platforms, the machine for creation and distribution was complete.

My one takeaway for anybody who has wanted to try something new is firstly, never let yourselves be blocked by the word “No/Cant”. Secondly, learn as much as you can and accept support from others. Thirdly, digital services in my case made the world smaller (making resources more accessible) and enabled the mystic art of product creation, production, and distribution to become almost as easy as shopping on Amazon. Take a chance, let passion push you to experience new things, and enjoy the ups and the downs along the way, they all teach you new things and help us grow. You also make some great new friends across the globe on the way.

My published books are now totaling four with the fifth coming in the quarter. Who doesn’t enjoy a hobby that lets you make children and parents smile?

2022 is on the horizon, what could you do to realise a dream?