Boldness

Let’s face it.

It’s been said,

The meek shall inherit the Earth…

But the same person (Jesus) who said that also said,

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

 

To accomplish anything beyond the ordinary it takes a lot of perseverance and faith.  Now, faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  So it takes faith that all that hard work we put into a long term project be it writing a book, raising a child, or sowing seeds for crops you won’t see for months.

There’s a certain boldness required with faith.

It’s a boldness to not only think but step outside of the box and take actions that ordinary people won’t.  I’m not talking about anarchistic rule breaking for its own sake.  I’m talking about being wise and knowing when certain “guidelines” or “conventional wisdom” are nothing more than roadblocks put up to keep the timid and lazy outside the gates.

Early in my writing career, I was cautioned about writing books in first person.  Agents all over the internet blogged about this saying that it would make a tough sell, therefore don’t do it.  But my book(s) really required it.  In fact, DARKROOM, the book I just sold to Simon & Schuster (Howard Books) is not only written in 1st person, but in present tense over multiple POVs (points of view, at least 5-6)

The big challenge is getting each voice to be so distinct, you can tell who is speaking just by the prose and dialogue.

I took my inspiration from Amy Tan. (The Joy Luck Club.)

And Stephen King, and Ken Follet, hence my elevator pitch to publishers:

If Ken Follet, Amy Tan, and Stephen King conspired to write a novel about the far reaching impact of American war crimes, it would be DARKROOM.

It was a bold pitch, but I feel my entire book was bold in taking huge risks. BTW, it got about 40 rejections before Simon & Schuster came about to buy it!  But that was about 35 less rejections than Dean Koontz got before he sold his first novel.  🙂

 

I leave you with the words from the Old Testament book of Joshua (wink).  These are the words God spoke to Joshua after the death of Moses:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.  (Joshua 1:9)

Joshua Graham is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, winner of the International Book Award and Forward National Literature Award. His thrillers include DARKROOM, LATENT IMAGE and BEYOND JUSTICE, and TERMINUS. Graham's works have been characterized as thought-provoking page-turners.

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