Don't Give Up On Your Dreams

I recently came across a website that compelled me to write about something close to the heart: giving up on dreams.

What I read was a despairing post from a fellow struggling writer who had been posting his rejected responses from literary agents on his blog over the last year and a half. The revelations of his struggles became infrequent as more time passed, until finally his last post was a couple of thrown together words symbolising a waving white flag.

His spirit was broken. His hopes had evaporated with every rejection he had received and he was on the brink of giving up completely. Will he? That's up to him to decide but this is the path for many would-be-authors, would-be-sports stars, would-be-musicians or for anyone who dares to possess a dream. So what do you do when that goal you set yourself becomes a seemingly unattainable target?

You regroup and try again.

It’s easier to say than do, but I’ve been there at that point where you’re on the brink of giving up and you have to do some soul searching and find something within to see if that burning desire still exists. If it is, you have to reignite that fire to spur you on to try again.

Be willing to make sacrifices. If you really want it, stop listening to those around you who say you can’t, distracting yourself with time-sinks and dedicate yourself to turning disappointment and rejection into a challenge. I can’t speak from experience of achieving success, but I can of giving it your absolute all and turning seemingly obstacles into stepping stones as you try and scale the mountain you’ve targeted.

I’ve wanted to become an author since I was a kid. I spent my childhood writing short stories. As I grew older, I attempted my first novel. Before I managed to complete it, the laptop I was working on was hit by a bolt of lightning (true story) and I hadn’t learned at that point the value of backing up your files. Doh! Rather than be discouraged, I took it as a challenge to try again and it was almost a lesson from life that has shaped me ever since.

So I wrote another and finally completed it as I turned twenty. I submitted it to various agencies via post as e-mail submissions weren’t an option back then, and just like in Harry Potter, floods of letters came my way except these weren’t invitations to magical places but rejections of cold hard reality. I wasn’t ready yet. The lightning bolt’s lesson gave me the experience to try again and I responded by writing another book, and that has been my cycle for the past decade with eight different books of various lengths to my name. Each one spurred on by a belief that the next one will be ‘the one’ and I'll know it when I write it.

My current manuscript I’m championing is 96,000 words long and I believe it’s ‘the one’. I’d say I’ve written closer to 500,000 words in total on that book alone. The initial creation was over 100,000 words in length, which had its own sizeable rewrites and edits. I sent it out to agents, I got rejected. I decided to try something new and I hired a professional editor and based on her notes, I rewrote it again, set up a publishing brand, hired book cover designers and self-published it on Amazon for three months to gain external feedback that made me do another rewrite. Ready to try again, I resent it out and received some reward: positive feedback along with a request from an agent for a rewrite followed quickly by a referral to an interested editor at a publishing house. It’s like waiting for a bus after years of shivering in the rain at the open roofed bus stop.

I was faced with a choice: the easy option of submitting the original version directly to the editor, or the choice offered by the agent that presented more hard work. I decided to do the rewrite, which eventually became a 60,000 word modification in total, because I believed putting in the work to make the stronger story would go a longer way to making my dreams come true and set a stronger foundation to long-term success. During this process, two other agents also reached out to me and after explaining the situation, one asked to be kept updated and the other invited me to resubmit the rewritten version once completed.

That’s where I am currently. I’m still agentless and unpublished, and many months have passed with me waiting on a decision that’s not mine to make. It’s been hard. That’s a lot of time for self-doubt to spread but I’ve turned that growing negativity into positivity by using that time to rewrite three of my older books that might have potential, just in case, and plan out in detail the rest of the series and think of future book projects I’d like to write. Always keep going because the only guarantee in life is you won’t achieve anything if you don’t try.

To any would-be-authors out there, if you’re convinced that the particular story you possess is ‘the one’, then don’t give up on it. Work on it. Literary agents aren’t blind, they’re readers just like us who in addition to searching for a compelling story are looking to turn their 15% into a liveable income. If they’re saying no, there’s a reason so find that reason and figure out how to turn no into yes. If you believe they’re right and the story isn’t salvageable, use the experience and write another book.

The secret to success is not giving up, no matter what the dream, you have to try and find a way. Rather than give up, give everything you’ve got and then give that little bit more.

You’ll earn what you want in life when life decides you deserve it and that’s when you’ll get it. So keep going and don’t give up on your dreams as they are what define us.

Best Easter Eggs in Dublin

Where’s the best place in Dublin for Easter Eggs? After combing the streets in the lead up to Easter, my preference and recommendation would be Fallon & Bryne.

Shelves are lines with a vast variety of options and colourful chocolate goodness that go beyond the usual Cadbury and Nestle usual options. At Fallon & Byrne, there are a range of different beautifully designed artisan Easter Eggs that is sure to make a delicious treat for any chocoholic.

Choices range and without going into a never ending list, some of the available options include a Retro Sweet Easter Egg adorned with colourful candies, and love it or hate it, you just have to try it – the Marmite Egg-sperience (I envision a few of these remaining on the shelves after Easter)!

A personal favourite, which is perfect for the egg hunting is the Pandora Bell egg, which contains praline chocolate encased in real egg shells. Fun, unique and delicious!

Happy Easter everyone!

St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin

On the seventeenth of March, there’s one standout city you would envision celebrating St Patrick’s Day and that’s Dublin. A sea of green on the Emerald Isle in its big smoke. It’s a worldwide event, celebrated by millions – whether Irish or not.

The positives - a great atmosphere, so many different nationalities partaking in the parade and the amount of colour wherever you looked was cheerful and uplifting, especially overlooking streets washed with an ever present green that was worn with pride.

The St. Patrick’s Day ‘weekend’ (due to the day it fell on), was a bubbly atmosphere throughout thanks to the gathering of different nationals and the backdrop of Dublin's cobblestone streets and lively pubs. While an Irish tradition, it felt very much like a welcome international affair.

Yet, for a celebrated national day that gathered over half a million people, with most spectators being from overseas, is the parade the only thing on offer on St. Patrick's Day? Why weren’t there entertainers positioned around Grafton Street, Wicklow Street and the general main shopping district area, singing traditional Irish songs and demonstrating Irish dances? There should have been a host of activities seeped in Irish traditions to enhance the experience rather than the amusement rides that were offered. Activities suitable for children to mark the occasion, especially for the kids who were seeking entertainment after only being able to see kneecaps in their efforts to catch a glimpse of the parade. Is day drinking the only option available to adults during and after the parade on St. Patrick's Day in Dublin?

Rather than stay for the duration of the parade to admire the back of green hats, an exploration of Dublin’s vibrant side streets might prove more appealing. While there were no activities taking place within the streets or anything of noteworthy interest to see, plenty of outlets did make an effort to create a St. Patrick's Day ambiance, including Fallon and Byrne's little touches in their coffee corner and just being within the buzz was more enjoyable than squeezing together like a pack of sardines to watch the parade itself.

After experiencing the parade and St. Patrick's Day in Dublin this year, I can say I've done it once but I wouldn't be so keen on experiencing it again. Funnily enough, I feel I would find more of an occasion on the day elsewhere overseas rather than Ireland's capital city. The Wild at Heart Fox float symbolised a message that 'things could always be better' and I agree and I think Dublin's celebration of its national day could be so much more than what it is.

What would I recommend to anyone intent on coming to Ireland for next year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade? Enjoy the lead up to the parade in the days prior to St. Patrick’s Day. You're in Ireland for St. Patrick's Day to watch the parade. That's something to be able to say and its a worthwhile experience. In the three day build up, there were several fun activities available throughout Dublin, including street shows, festivals and treasure hunts and there was an uplifting buzz apparent throughout the populated areas such as Temple Bar, Grafton Street and around St. Stephen’s Green. So enjoy the build up, experience the atmosphere but watch the parade on TV.

However, if you’re bringing children insistent on seeing the parade, get to the designated route at LEAST two hours before the parade is scheduled to start or position yourself towards the end of the earmarked march. A longer wait but less populated and a better vantage point. Otherwise the kids, or anyone not particularly tall, won’t see anything unless you're bringing a stepladder. Either get there early or prepare to get creative like this gentleman did below.