Nik Nicholson's Blog, page 31
January 30, 2014
Reader Email
Recently I’ve been so happily overwhelmed by the people who tell me they are moved by “Descendants of Hagar” I haven’t known what to do with myself. This morning I received an email from a reader who actually came to my webpage, found my email and wrote to tell me what she thought about the book. I am going to post it in it’s entirety.
All of the warm receptions have definitely encouraged me to stay focused, motivated and goal oriented. Thank you Hazel
The letter is below:
Hello
I just finished reading Descendants of Hagar about an hour ago and I feel as though some bit of me was taken ,awakened and re-introduced to herself and taken again. A friend of mine gave me this book yesterday because I had been telling anyone who was willing to listen that I absolutely must read it this year, this after I saw a review of it on Sistahs on the shelf.
I’m feeling so many things, can’t really name them but they are familiar things, things I kept feeling whilst reading it, things I’ve felt before in my life. It’s just such a wonderful thing that this story made me remember all of those things that I’ve felt before. I feel like I’m still trying to catch my breath and take my head out of the story, I see myself living in the space where it’s most alive and breathing in my head for the next couple of weeks.
I just really want to say thank you, this was such a beautiful story and I absolutely can’t wait for September. September is my birthday month so I’m definitely going to guilt a lot of people into getting Daughters of Zion for me
Your mind is such a beautiful place, the things it shows and the feelings they evoke are just sublime. I also appreciate the amount of research that anchored this story. Uuuuuh your writing is appreciated.
I absolutely love it, thank you so much.
…As I wait for September…
Regards
Hazel Jambo
Reaping what you sow
“Patience, because what gardening teaches us is that if you plant things, they’ll come up. But you have to be willing to wait for them to bear fruit because things are seasonal.” -Alice Walker
In this time of planting, this message definitely resonates. People aren’t supportive of my writing. They are not supportive of my art. They love other people’s art and books, but they don’t see the struggle that comes with being a productive artist or writer. You have to find or create an audience for your work. I don’t care what kind of art you are doing, it is always the road less travelled. The best thing about any artist is their uniqueness. The hardest thing about being an artist is being visible until people notice you are there and appreciate you.
I’m here.
Advice from Writer Alice Walker
Rev Thompson asks: What advice might you offer young adolescent females searching for positive self-identity?
Alice Walker: Love yourself. Just love yourself. In fact, the love of the self cures every kind of problem you have with yourself. For instance, if someone calls you nappy-headed, it rolls right off your body, if you love nappy hair.
Or if someone calls you buck-toothed or too black, that won’t be a problem if you love being buck-toothed or black. If you love it, then so what. The development of self-love cures many of the ills that people suffer from.
How To Write A book
In little over a minute, Carol Taylor gets right to the point and teaches you how to write a book. This process would work for any kind of book. It’s a nice option to the outline.
July 21, 2013
Imperfection is…
Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. – Marilyn Monroe
