Trust

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Inked in Gray: https://inkedingray.com/books/harvesting-game-by-maxime-paul/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Harvesting-Game-Maxime-Paul/dp/1952969344/

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/harvesting-game/id6747409129

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harvesting-game-maxime-paul/1147665747?ean=9781952969348

Tertulia: https://tertulia.com/book/harvesting-game-maxime-paul/9781952969348

I decided to do something a little different since I’m feeling a little sick and capitalism is capitalizing on me.

Trust in self —can I do this, it’s never been my skill. What is a writer like, an author, didn’t match my identity or the image that I had in my head. Can I write? What will I write about?

In that assortment of words are intelligible and syntactically accurate —there goes my training speaking for me.

Started with a test, an experiment in those times I had to discover. I let it all pour out. My therapist thought it was useful as a journal at least, but I spun it into some sort of narrative, a grander story that was larger than me.

But I was still nervous. So I tested it out with pre-readers that I had to trust. We had a whole user feedback session just like what I did for work. And people enjoyed it, understood it, and I was ready.

I took time here and there to understand what exactly what I was doing and what I wanted to do with this writing besides my own healing and synthesis, but it did not come until I was laid off in 2020. When I really stepped out to trust what I was doing was worth the effort and time.

I surfaced my reason, which shifted my priorities. To put together a bridge, an intellectual, social, cultural, emotional, spiritual bridge to take myself and others from this world of cruelty to one of harmony, healing, and happiness with each other, the planet, and of course, ourselves.

The arc was set and the nuances, the uniqueness, the connective tissue, primordial.

This first book was originally called Who is You? All of the books were novellas, somewhere in the 30K word length, about 140-150 pages each. I even had some illustrations created, first from my youngest brother, who is a dope artist, but that still took trust. Then as I hired an editor for Who is You? and the other stories in the Window to Liberation series. That was very nervewrecking and I had to trust that this person would understand and not water down the story and message, but this is when I started wot learn how to write a book in earnest. I hired another illustrator that drew the world that I had in those pages. And that was a step out on trust and faith that she would understand what was in my mind translated onto those pages. She read it and created the first images of the world, that is now in this book. And that is when I got the publisher.

I think I hashed how I got the publisher from an online pitch, but I had to trust putting myself out there. Then working with a publisher and an editor over 4+ years to make this vision a reality. I questioned myself, revamped things, grossly expanded the story, and learned much more about writing, my voice, and what this story was truly about.

Throughout this time I had to trust in myself deeply and the people around me, especially my partner, because we had 2 kids in those 4 years since I had a publisher and I had to steal time during naps, at night, while rocking to sleep, making food, and much more to get this done and done well, not just pushed out.

So now I am still nervous because this feels big. A time capsule with a piece of my mind spanning a couple periods of time and local as well as global context is woven throughout this book to make a story that begins the tale of how we cross that bridge into a new world. I hope you all pick up what I’m putting down and share it with others. Because it feels like I’m letting the world into my mind to poke around, see what is going on, and digest it in their own way, which is supremely vulnerable.

You can pre-order through my publisher, amazon, apple, Barnes and Noble, tertulia, and I heard Kobo and Google got me too. If you’re in Dallas on 7/29, next Tuesday, launch day, come on out to Whose Books in Bishop Arts at 7pm where we will talk about the book more, have fun with friends and family, and I’ll sign books. Oh, and you can pick up the book there if you haven’t already pre-ordered it.