Travis Thrasher's Blog, page 32

Interludes

1. Disjointed thoughts

2. Discovered dreams

3. Decisive moments

4. Damning brokenness

5. Dramatic blessings

One Thing

Imagine you're just a kid, a teenager alone in this world. Abandoned by the only family you ever had. Left to live and die on your own. Left in this mean, broken world.

But there's something you have that the others don't know about. It's this one thing deep down inside of your soul. This thing that you've carried around all your life and something you're good at. It's one thing that so many others love to do and long to be but few are ever talented enough to succeed at.

You're pretty good at this one thing. In fact, you're pretty awesome at it.

But more importantly, this one thing ends up saving you. It sustains you during your darkest hours. It gives you a reason to survive and continue on. It softly whispers to your soul to keep on going, a day at a time.

This one beautiful thing.

So imagine you're this kid years later, with this one thing now fully grown, with the rest of the world knowing about it. Life is pretty different now on the other side of the tracks, but the memories and the scars remain. So does this one thing. It would be easy to turn it into something it never wanted or intended to be. To make it all about yourself. To continue to feed it and make it monstrous. To make the one thing turn into many, many things.

But no. You don't do that. You don't play that game.

Instead, you take this one thing you have and you give it back. You take this one thing and shed light on the boy you once were and the life you once lived. You use this one thing to tell your story and the many other stories that need to be told.

You know not everybody has found their one thing, and not everybody has something like you do that is enjoyed by so many others. So you use it to spread some joy and some light on those who need it.

As we enter a month leading up to Thanksgiving and then another leading up to Christmas, let me ask you a question: What is your one thing?

Do you know it?

It doesn't have to be something public or something creative. It's doesn't have to result in a product or an initiative. It is the one thing that is truly unique about you, the thing that drives you, the thing that connects the dots in your world.

What is it?

If you know, give thanks for it. Then use it to somehow give back to someone somewhere this Christmas season.

I learned my one thing early on, but like many others have spent so long trying to build it into a bigger and more beautiful set of things. All for me. But I'm learning and growing and changing. And hopefully I'm giving a little back. I'm trying to.

If you don't know your one thing, ask God for it.

Because sometimes, when you ask for that one very special and very important thing, God will turn around and give you two of them.

Working

Love This Review

Every day someone new discovers my fiction. I guess when you've had 18 novels published, it's going to happen. I don't say that to pat myself on the back. Sometimes it feels like after this many novels, more readers should have heard of me, right? But publishing is a tough business like every other business out there.
Well, allow me to pat myself on the back by sharing a review of Solitary. It's not all positive, but that's why I love it. This is the first series I've done and I'm two-thirds through the final book. If you haven't read this series, you might want to check it out.
From an Amazon.com reader:
This book made me mad, and I'm writing this three days after finishing it, still mad. I don't think there could be a greater complement to an author and his work than a reader not being able shake to himself out of the book he's just read.
Writing style somewhat annoying; check.

Incidents occurring that make you say c'mon, really?; check.

Tension and suspense that had me clicking the next page button on my Kindle so quickly that I very well may have taken years of function off that button; check.

Characters, that while unique and hard to figure out, wind up becoming so endearing; check, check, check.

I was so angry with the end of the book, I vowed to walk away. I started reading another couple of books but couldn't keep my mind from wondering what's going on next with these characters. And instead of being firm on my vow to give up, I did an about face and ordered the second book in the series because I have to know what happens.

In closing, you may be put off by the writing style. You may find character reaction to events unbelieveable. But you won't walk away. You'll be stuck in the town of Solitary just like Chris is.

The Bright Red Rose of Mylo Xyloto

Chris Martin once said "I'm 31 now and I don't think that bands should keep going past 33."

Thankfully for us, Chris didn't take his own advice. The frontman for Coldplay is 34 years old now as they release their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto.

Age is a funny thing. I'm forty years old, and as a novelist, I'm still pretty young. Many writers just start warming up around my age.
For forty years my favorite rock stars and musicians have always been older than me. But no more. Nope. Today with the release and the first official listening of Mylo Xyloto, this foursome full of 30-something year olds has moved into being my favorite group out there.
Why? Because I have a beating heart and ears that can hear. That's why.

Here's the thing. The first time I heard that song "Yellow" and saw the guy singing it on the beach in that video, I didn't like them. I thought, heard it and been there and not going there again. I didn't really know these guys but that's our culture and our world. A first glance and a first listen and an immediate opinion. Mine wasn't glorious.

I grew up listening and loving Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, and New Order. I love new stuff too. The National. Phoenix. Arcade Fire's The Suburbs was THE album for me in 2010. So it's not like I'm stuck in the past.
But back in 2000, my first initial response to Coldplay wasn't like lightning.

It took "The Scientist" to get my attention. Then "Clocks". Then . . . well, every song since then. Including a new appreciation for "Yellow" and other songs.

But now we have the new album. And I have to say I dearly love it. X & Y has its place for many, many reasons. And Viva La Vida is the soundtrack of a new man trying to figure it out. But this album has joy and beats and songs that make me want to hurdle anything and everything out there.

The band has it critics. They'll never be U2 or Radiohead. Look, there is only one U2. And I love Radiohead. They're so Radiohead. But today, in the world we live in, I want Coldplay. I want something to stir my heart. U2 is majestic and has an amazing history. Radiohead is cool and strange and funky. But you know, I need a little Coldplay stirring in my life. I really do.
"Charlie Brown" by Coldplay is the song I've played when I leave my office after writing all day and going back home to my family. I blast it (the live version that I found online) and it makes me feel lighter and brighter. For like four minutes. Kinda like those first Beatles songs made a whole world feel.

You think I'm exaggerating? I'm not. This music is Red Bull chocolate chip jalapeno joy.

I'm not a music critic so don't quote that last sentence.

All I know is that I love "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall". It's fun and makes you want to twirl your four-year-old daughter around. It helps if she's a diehard Coldplay fan like you.

All I know if that "Major Minus" is a funky rift that sounds snarly and edgy and a bit unsettling.

All I know is that I got teary-eyed when the fireworks first went off at Lollapalooza as I stood fifteen people away from the center stage and the sweet melodies of "Mylo Xyloto" played before heading into "Hurts Like Heaven."

Yeah.

"Paradise" is the song that I play before driving our four-year-old to preschool. It's beautiful and it just sets the tone for a beautiful day.

Then came "Princess of China" and I still can't get over how much I love that track. I've always loved Rihanna and this was great. It leaves you wanting a ten-minute version. Or an entire album.

Yes, haters will focus on Rihanna's involvement as a sellout or as a change or as a marketing ploy. Whatever. Grow. Evolve. Change. Morph. Do you want you to do. Create what you want to create.
Take a melody and make it yours.

Take a sweet sound and then make it you own.

Can you do that?

You don't like that? Okay, fine. Don't buy their albums and go to their shows.

Others will. Many others.

The album goes from vibrant passion to a more subdued and settled sound. Like a song like "UFO". But think about it. That's kind of like relationships. You have the joy and the ecstacy and the colors until you settle down.

What I didn't expect at the end of Mylo Xyloto was "Don't Let It Break Your Heart." The utter energy and exuberance in that song. The drive and the passion and the shades blossoming up in a brilliantly-colored parachute.

This is when I know.

My favorite band now is younger than me. And they still have far to go and many more songs to sing and many more roads to travel.

The subdued "Up With The Birds" conjures echoes of Coldplay's first album. At first. Any song with Chris Martin will conjure it because of his voice and delivery. It's melancholy and even moody but utterly memorable.

But then . . . halfway through the song . . .

Joy.

So fast and so easily played and so sweet.

In a world so broken and dark it shouldn't be this easy to create something so sweet.

Maybe the same was said about The Beatles.

Yeah, I'm comparing the two and if you think that's crazy oh well.

A foursome can still create a little joy in a bleak world. And they can tell a "simple plot" about a boy and a girl.

Then again, that's the plot of any and every moving and memorable story.

A boy and a girl. Trying to figure it out in a bleak situation.

Maybe that's why I love Coldplay.

Or maybe it's just because their songs move me and make me a little happier.
Thank you Chris, Jonny, Guy, and Will for taking another leap of faith and giving us another album that will serve as the soundtrack to our lives.

The Journey Begins Monday

"It doesn't matter who we were. It only matters who we are." – Juliet from Lost in "A Tale of Two Cities" episode

10 Reasons I'm Not Giving Up On Traditional Publishing

I'm diving into the e-book waters. I'm not just getting my feet wet. Nope. I'm plunging headfirst into the deep waters. I recently uploaded my first original ebook online, 101 Writing Tips. And that is just the start.
Yet before you think I'm one of these authors who is turning his back on traditional publishing, let me share ten reasons why I'm not.
#10. Traditional publishing is not going away anytime soon. Yes, ebooks are on the rise, and yes, the landscape of publishing is changing. But the publishers you know and trust are still going to be around for a long time.
#9. There are many talented people at publishers who know more than I do. A lot more.
#8. Traditional publishers have resources in place that I will never have, even if I become a bestseller and have unlimited funds at my disposal (and if that's the case, those funds are going toward college and weddings and dresses and ...)
#7. Some of my favorite people in this world work at publishing houses (like Karen Watson, Barry Smith, Becky Nesbitt, Don Pape, and Ken Petersen just to name a few).
#6. Nobody likes paddling a boat alone. It's a lot harder work. And let's face it: it's not that much fun either.
#5. One day, a big name publisher is going to write me a bigtime check. I can't give up on them before that happens, right??!!
#4. If Stephen King can publish the good, old fashioned way, then so can I (and by the way, we share the same publisher in Simon & Schuster!).
#3. Many publishers are adapting and changing with these crazy times.
#2. I really want to do more collaborations since my first two went really well. I'm excited to see what doors might open next.
#1. For me, it boils down to telling the best story I can. If that story only gets published in an electronic format, that's fine. But I'll be honest--nothing quite beats getting that package and opening it up to finally hold your book (your baby) for the first time.

Waiting For An Opportunity

My collaboration with country musician Jimmy Wayne almost didn't happen.
That's true.
I found an email I sent to the publisher back on January 6, 2010. I had come up with three story treatments that everybody (the publisher, agents, managers) liked. Everybody except Jimmy.
Here's a quote from that email:
"Just had a separate question related to Jimmy Wayne. I know that all of us were excited about the story ideas and the potential there. I can also understand that it's Jimmy Wayne's story and vision. Have you had any more thoughts on where to go from here? After learning about Jimmy and coming up with those different stories, I got really excited by this opportunity. I still feel like I could come up with a great story that matches Jimmy's heart and vision. Seems like we would connect too--he seems like a cool guy.

Anyway, still hope there's an opportunity to work with Jimmy. That'd be really exciting."
Well, as many of you well know, I was given that opportunity. I didn't just get to work with a celebrity and a country singer but I got to know a humble, authentic guy.
A guy who gets my sense of humor.
I thank God he does.
Paper Angels comes out November 1. It's a very special story I hope you read. Then buy a dozen copies to give as Christmas presents!

Princess Of China by Coldplay Official Lyrics (For Haters)

[image error] Coldplay's collaboration with Rihanna that I blogged about earlier here was leaked online today and I couldn't resist listening. Like a hundred times. The melody has been in my head all day. I love it. Absolutely love it.
But I guess not all Coldplay fans love it. Some really dislike it.
That's okay.
I wrote these lyrics for them. (Be glad I didn't sing them myself and post them on Youtube!)
Check out the song and then read along!
"Princess Of China" (Thrashed) Lyrics
Once upon a time four Brits came
Started a rock group with a funky name
"Oh hello. Come to our show."

Once upon a time you fell in love
You're holding in your hands
And just can't get enough
A single oh
It's called "Yellow"

Once upon a time the "Clocks" burned bright
The crowds swelled and felt so right
On and on and on and on and on

Once upon a time all "In My Place"
You had to just go shove it in my face
Some "X & Y"
Please tell me why oh why?
I need some of that old Coldplay

I could've been a groupie, you'd be my band
Could have had big hits I'd understand
But no oh oh
You got Brian Eno

I could've been a groupie, you'd be my band
Could have safe songs, that's the plan
But no oh oh
None sound like "Yellow"

Where's my "Sparks"?
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
You break my heart
La la lal la la la la

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
It's not "Yellow"
Oh oh oh oh oh your new single
Is not "Yellow"

And it really hurts me
And it really hurts me
Can't you really see?
I just want some "High Speed"
Didn't you once say?
That "We Never Change"?
This really hurts me
Coldplay can't you see?

Dreaming Big (What I've Been Up To)

I don't think people dream big enough these days.

Think about it. We live in a day and age where everything is instant and every idea is articulated. Every story has been told, every song has been sung. Everything we see is simply a redo, a repeat, a reboot, a remix, a retweet.

Ten thousand boxes have been created so very few people think outside of them.

Yet I believe that these days are glorious ones for creativity. We have so many things at our disposal. The late and great Steve Jobs gave us the immaculate iTunes and iPod and iPhone and all those other iWonderful things. These are great toys, but they're also inspiring creative tools.

The books that are written, and the means to read them by, are endless. The amazing movies that are being made and the inspiring music that is a download away . . . All of this can either take up ALL of our time or fuel our creative fire.

For me, I hope it's the latter.

Since I officially entered the publishing industry in 1994, I've been dreaming. Since I officially left in 2007 to become a full-time writer, I've been dreaming.

And now it's time.

It's time to really, truly reach for the stars.

This day and age is also the celebration of the celebrity and the rich and famous. Nobody congratulates you when you're struggling to make it. People like to see those who have made it and then set them on a pedestal to follow.

Do I really think the journey is everything? Or do I believe that it's about the end result?

If it is about that journey, about the struggles and the doubts and the ebbs and the flows, then I need to embrace the now. I remind myself that all the time. If someday people are looking at some great success I've had, it will be these days that will have mattered.

It will be these dreams that meant something.

It's been four years of "living the dream" and I'm fortunate to continue to do so in a time where so many are struggling just to find any work. I remind myself that, too. If that huge success never comes, I'm still a very fortunate man to be this blessed.

But that doesn't mean I'm going to be complacent.

No. I wake up and walk around and work all day long with an incredible sense of urgency. Perhaps a bit too much at times. Maybe I should ease up on the poor Comcast lady who's taking a long time on the phone, for instance. But there's never enough time. And energy. Never. Not in a house full of females that I dearly love.

It would be easy to take the simple and safe path where I'm working for someone else's dream. Or to take an easier path and dial the dreams down a bit. But why do that? Where's the fun in that?

It's eleven days before I dive headfirst into this big, blue ocean of dreams.

We'll see where the tides take me.

Soon enough, I hope to continue to share more about this current journey. For my millions of fans in my mind and for those real ones I'm gracious to have, stay tuned. I'm working hard, and I've finally got it figured out that I'm also working for you.