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| C. Kevin Thompson |
“All I
want to do is write.”
“If I
could just get a book published, then I’d be on my way.”
Ever uttered these words? Or similar phrases?
As a writer, when we delve into art of putting words down on
a page, we tend to view life through the lens of the right side of the brain.
That’s where art occurs. Creative juices flow like a river from that half.
Flowers bloom. Butterflies flutter by. The wind snakes its way through the tree
tops. The world is our canvas.
To a writer, evil lives within the left hemisphere. That’s
where the horrors of math and science and logic lie. Creativeness can never
coexist with these plagues of humanity. They are diametrically opposed in every
way. Some non-fiction writers seem to think the two can be blended together,
but the novelist scoffs at such naiveté.
Then, one day, the writer becomes a published author. The
goal of “all I ever wish to do is write” seems well within his or her grasp
now. Left-brained people send this author a thing called a contract. It is some
legal agreement to satisfy the ones who have succumbed to the dark side. All
they see is numbers, profit margins, and marketability. The author views these
things as roadblocks to creative freedom. A necessary evil.
It’s not long before the now published author is asked to
market said book. “These left-brained
hucksters are simply trying to build their empires. All I want to do is write!
That pure, innocent act of placing words in a select order to cause my kindred,
right-brained spirits to jump for joy at the sheer awesomeness of my
imagination.”
However, the shadowy secret of the dark side has been
lurking all around the author. It’s been crouched in the branches of the
beautiful trees the author paints with his/her “wordbrush.”It’s been swimming
under the surface of the rhetorical river pieced together by the author’s
prose. The left-brained have kept it hidden. They obscured the author’s view.
They waited until the right time, when the right-brained author was at his/her
weakest, most vulnerable point. They waited until the author was sitting in
front of a contract. The pen of publication, like a tractor beam, snagged the
author’s hand, dragging him/her into the fold without a whimper.
Before the author knew it, he/she was partnered with people
who are more concerned with numbers, profit margins, and marketability.
Now, fully embroiled in this thing called a publishing
relationship, the wretched, left-brained lowlifes placed further demands on the
author. Facebook author pages must be created. Twitter accounts need to be
launched. Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Hootsuite…to the author, the words of
left-brained sound like the languages spoken in a bar on Tatooine.
The author feels like he/she has been sucked into a
vortex—The black hole of business. All that awaits is the face-to-face meeting
with the Emperor himself, informing the author he feels the author’s anger.
And we all know where anger leads, don’t we? Pain. The pain
of sending out tweets and being a member of LinkedIn. Then comes the suffering.
The author buying his/her own Facebook ads. Traveling a hundred miles away from
home to sign books for people he/she doesn’t know. Telling novice authors who
don’t market their books that he/she “finds their lack of faith disturbing.”
It’s then, in that moment, when the author realizes he/she
has succumbed to the dark side of writing. The author is now a small business
owner.
It’s inevitable, my right-brained friend. Don’t fight it.
Embrace the left brain.Otherwise, end up on Dagobah, living in a hut, all by
yourself, you will. Hmmm?
Book
2 of The Blake Meyer Thriller Series
A
Looming Attack. A Loathsome Abduction. A Lethal Assassin.
Supervisory
Special Agent Blake Meyer has an impossible choice to make. After thwarting a
massive biological attack on the continental United States, the contagion is
still missing and in the hands of the enemy. So is his family. Abducted as an
act of revenge.
The
clock is ticking, and the chances of finding his wife and children wane with
every passing second. The assassin behind it holds all the answers.
Or does
she?
Three
demands. Three choices.
Blake
Meyer knows what must be done...but can he accomplish it before it’s too late?
Time is literally of the essence. And double time will not be fast enough.
C.
KEVIN THOMPSON is an ordained minister with a B.A. In Bible
(Houghton College, Houghton, NY), an M.A. in Christian Studies (Wesley Biblical
Seminary, Jackson, MS), and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (National-Louis
University, Wheeling, IL). He presently works as an assistant principal in a
middle school.
His latest book, 30
Days Hath Revenge - A Blake Meyer Thriller: Book 1, is now available! Book
2 of the Blake Meyer Series, Triple Time,
is now available! Book 3, The Tide of
Times, will be out in August 2017! Also, the second edition of The Serpent’s Grasp will be out in May
2017 through Hallway Publishing!
Kevin is a huge fan of the TV series 24, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, and Criminal Minds, loves anything to do with Star Trek, and is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, too.
To connect with Kevin and learn more, please visit:
Facebook: C.
Kevin Thompson – Author Fan Page
Twitter: @CKevinThompson
Goodreads: C.
Kevin Thompson
