Have you had long term goals that seemed out of reach or just impossible to achieve? With proper planning, organized teamwork and frequent spoonfuls of determination, we humans are capable of almost any positive accomplishment.
The Year of the Rabbit, A Novel about Fate, Family and Forgiveness provided me with a creative outlet as well as a structured approach to a goal. The title represents hope, respect for traditions and the conquering of fears. While conceiving, nurturing and planning for it, I was able to exercise creative freedom as well as practise some basic project management skills. Yes, The Year of the Rabbit for me was a concept as well as a project.
This post will focus on the project angle.
It started as an idea in 2007 and was documented in January 2008 with an anticipated delivery date in mid-2010. I had set targets for completion of various phases and milestones like chapter draft completion dates, novel edit version 1, version 2 completions, etc...
I acquired resources who helped as readers, subject matter experts and editors. Some services were obtained in exchange for lunches, dinners or for my own skilled offerings. Some were offered freely. Some required payment. I met new people, made professional connections and obtained some unlikely new friends.
Along the way, it became apparent that I would need to adjust the time span represented in the novel and the intended milestones leading up to the release. There were real life distractions with family issues, volunteer group commitments, working a day job plus preparing to downsize and move the family home in mid-2011 (yet another project).
Due to the quickly changing publishing scene in Canada, my dream to have the novel released on target by a credible publisher soon faded. There were other options but there was no way I was going to pay to have hundreds of copies of my novel printed and eventually end up storing boxes of them in my own home. No way - especially if this would hinder the moving project. I thought about the cost, the space, my energy performing the leg work plus... the possible waste of trees and paper.
My goal had to be delayed or re-imagined. I pondered options available to me. I explored alternatives.
Enter the liberating opportunities for Print on Demand and ePublishing.
In April 2011, I released the Print on Demand edition of The Year of the Rabbit, A Novel about Fate, Family and Forgiveness under the pen name of Florence T Lyon. The reader feedback was encouraging. In September 2011, I released the eBook version.
The Year of the Rabbit, A Novel about Fate, Family and Forgiveness provided me with a creative outlet as well as a structured approach to a goal. The title represents hope, respect for traditions and the conquering of fears. While conceiving, nurturing and planning for it, I was able to exercise creative freedom as well as practise some basic project management skills. Yes, The Year of the Rabbit for me was a concept as well as a project.
This post will focus on the project angle.
It started as an idea in 2007 and was documented in January 2008 with an anticipated delivery date in mid-2010. I had set targets for completion of various phases and milestones like chapter draft completion dates, novel edit version 1, version 2 completions, etc...
I acquired resources who helped as readers, subject matter experts and editors. Some services were obtained in exchange for lunches, dinners or for my own skilled offerings. Some were offered freely. Some required payment. I met new people, made professional connections and obtained some unlikely new friends.
Along the way, it became apparent that I would need to adjust the time span represented in the novel and the intended milestones leading up to the release. There were real life distractions with family issues, volunteer group commitments, working a day job plus preparing to downsize and move the family home in mid-2011 (yet another project).
Due to the quickly changing publishing scene in Canada, my dream to have the novel released on target by a credible publisher soon faded. There were other options but there was no way I was going to pay to have hundreds of copies of my novel printed and eventually end up storing boxes of them in my own home. No way - especially if this would hinder the moving project. I thought about the cost, the space, my energy performing the leg work plus... the possible waste of trees and paper.
My goal had to be delayed or re-imagined. I pondered options available to me. I explored alternatives.
Enter the liberating opportunities for Print on Demand and ePublishing.
In April 2011, I released the Print on Demand edition of The Year of the Rabbit, A Novel about Fate, Family and Forgiveness under the pen name of Florence T Lyon. The reader feedback was encouraging. In September 2011, I released the eBook version.
Although the targeted completion date was delayed, I am proud to say that this project was completed in 2011. Visit www.yearoftherabbit.ca where you can follow links to enjoy excerpts, reader comments, tweets and other blog entries.
As for the missing parts of the final product, they may be part of a new project that I intend to nurture, plan and release as a collection of short stories by 2023. Another project I can envision is for the novel to be made into a movie. I think it has the potential to rank with the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird and Stand by Me. I also think I need time to re-energize before even drafting a plan for that project.
Yes, I was born in the Year of the Rabbit, the same year as the novel’s main character, Sera Fletcher.
Thank you for reading this far. Comments are welcome.
TJ
