I HAVE A BOOK CONTRACT!
By RÉKA KAPONAY
“The road ahead lies open, waiting to be paved with the stories of the future. The ones yet to be written. The ones yet to be told. The ones yet to be lived.“
It’s been just over a year since we self-published and launched my book, Dawn of the Guardian (DOTG). And what a year it has been. It has seen us travel over 40,000 kilometres / 25,000 miles, taking DOTG on its very first International Book Tour to over 7 countries, visiting schools, libraries, bookstores and independent communities of learning and connecting with children, teens and adults alike. Truly, it has been you, the people, that have made this year such a brilliant success and such an extraordinary experience. Your support, your encouragement, your friendship shared across time and space. You make every hectic day and every sleepless night worth it and it has been an honour and a privilege to have met you and become a part of your story.
For you are all forever intertwined with mine. And I will never forget the power that stories can wield. It was through a story that the incredible team at Libri Publishing Group and Kolibri Publishing found me. The contract we have forged of agency and publishing signals the start of a new chapter in Dawn of the Guardian’s journey, as well as my own. I can’t wait to work with the creative minds within this inspiring company and to embark on this literary adventure!
The road ahead lies open, waiting to be paved with the stories of the future. The ones yet to be written. The ones yet to be told. The ones yet to be lived. I sit in the downstairs study of our rented adobe in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on the cusp of beginning the writing process of Dawn of the Guardian’s sequel and what I know is that while challenges lie ahead of me, with mountains to be climbed and oceans to be charted, and a whole new book to be written… those challenges are given to me with a purpose. Every experience teaches something new. And life is adventure, waiting to be seized in every single moment.
A year ago I brought my dream to life and became a published author at 14. In the twelve months that followed, I found I had a strange, new fire burning in my heart. A fire that brought forth some of the most incredible experiences of travel and connections of friendship. A fire that brandished a determination to share Dawn of the Guardian’s story with the world.
And it is the incredible humans that grace my life… past, present and future. The ones tied to me by blood. The ones tied to me by soul. The ones who I have yet to touch who I owe my most heartfelt thanks to. You are my inspiration on the days when the sky seems to be devoid of sunlight and it is the moments shared together, echoing outwards as if I had skipped a stone over a silent lake that have given me a gift that is priceless in its worth. The gift of appreciation.
I want to finish with a single moment I captured during our time in Paris last summer. A moment that became a treasured memory that continues to inspire me to this day. We were staying in a charming house on the outskirts of the city and one morning our hostess came over for a delicious breakfast of home-baked bread, cheese and fruit freshly bought from the farmer’s market down the block. While everyone else had met Shirel before, it was the first time I was making her acquaintance. I learnt that she was an acclaimed film director and screenwriter who’d been nominated for a Best Screenplay Award. Soon, we were all in deep conversation with Shirel, discussing everything from her years as a student at film school in England and the projects she worked on as a young director, to her recently released film Atlit and the inspiration behind it and even things like the conflicts and arguments directors and writers can sometimes encounter with each other as rival creative influences behind a project.
“But we are all artists in the end,” Shirel spoke as she slowly stirred a cup of coffee. Her eyes were sharp as she leaned in close to me. “I am an artist… and so are you.” Everyone fell silent around the table. I held Shirel’s gaze as she spoke: “Everyone thinks to be an artist you must imagine, dream… But everyone can imagine or dream a dream. It takes a true artist to be a decision maker. Someone who can say firmly ‘this is my vision’ and then follow it through to the end.”
I don’t think I’ll ever forget those words and the way she spoke them, softly but with so much power in every letter of each word. Then the cat leapt up onto the table, nearly knocking the orange juice jug to smithereens… and the moment was over.
I am so very excited about every single aspect of partnering with Libri Publishing Group and Kolibri Publishing and I know that our collaborations will bring forth many a wonderful vision. I so look forward to sharing this journey with you all.