Countdown (2)

I am a competitive person. There, I said it. I love to win. I dislike losing. I am not fond of performing badly. Probably the greatest fear of self publishing my first book was that it would be a complete and utter failure. That is why any kind of validation is always very, very welcome.

Poetry books are pretty niche. They almost never sell as well as a book of short stories or a novel. So validation is even harder to come by. Every positive comment, every decent review turns into an espresso shot of confidence.

I published Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought last year. It was quite the learning experience. However, at no point did I regret taking the plunge. Would I have done some things differently? Absolutely. But finally getting my first book released at the age of (then) fifty-eight was in itself rewarding and exciting.

That does not mean there haven’t been days when my enthusiasm waned. Particularly after the initial rush of orders eventually slowed down. Then there have been the moments when a poem was rejected by a publication. It is going to happen sometimes, but it takes a thick skin not to feel a little deflated.

Fortunately during the past months there also have been moments which gave me a boost. Even something simple like a kind word at an open mic event can really raise the spirits. I have been lucky that there have been such moments.

Perhaps the most significant of these came at a very difficult moment of this year for me. When things seemed a little bleak, and I really needed a boost, readerviews.com announced their annual awards.

I had submitted Old & UnWise in the poetry category and was humbled when I found out that the book had one two awards.

It was awarded the Veneration Award for the Best Debut Poetry Collection and second place in the overall poetry category.

I started off this piece by stating that I am competitive. Coming from a family with a strong sporting tradition makes it pretty inevitable. Would I have liked two golds? Sure. But I will take a Silver and a Gold any time. No matter the event 🙂.