Thank you to Mary @ Wistful Nebula, Nicki @ Not-So-Deep Thoughts, and Suze @ Subliminal Coffee for setting up this blogfest. Here's the blurb so you know what it's all about:
You're up before dawn on a Saturday when the doorbell rings. You haven't brewed your coffee so you wonder if you imagined the sound. Plonking the half-filled carafe in the sink, you go to the front door and cautiously swing it open. No one there. As you cast your eyes to the ground, you see a parcel addressed to you ... from you.I remove two trade paperbacks from the shoebox, and they are mine! Provex City and SUSY Asylum, but with new covers and a line across the top of each that reads: "New York Times Bestseller." On the back covers is a picture of myself that I've never seen before, but I don't look much older than I do now. I flip through the pages and scan familiar scenes. The words are definitely mine.
You scoop it up and haul it inside, sensing something legitimate despite the extreme oddness of the situation. Carefully, you pry it open. Inside is a shoebox -- sent from ten years in the future -- and it's filled with items you have sent yourself.
What's in it?
I turn to the first few pages to find the publisher and stop on a list of over fifteen books I've supposedly written. It would have been nice to get one of the books I haven't written yet to make my life a little easier, but I'm sure my future self already thought of that. Leave it to future Mike to be teaching present Mike a lesson in earning my own way. Damn you, future Mike! At least I don't have to fret about running out of ideas.
My gaze drops to one more book in the shoebox. I set the other two books down and reach for my original Createspace proof of Provex City. I still have this book buried in my bookcase somewhere--a copy I never want to lose. It was the first book I had ever held in my hands with my name on it. With all of its imperfections, it symbolizes my transformation into an author. I open up the front cover and find a short inscription:
"Remember to always believe anything is possible."
I close the cover and know it to be true.
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Thank you for reading and be sure to check out the other awesome bloggers signed up for this blogfest!
Smart of you not to send the other books! Now you know you need to get busy writing. And that you will come up with something awesome.
ReplyDeleteI love that you didn't send the copies of the books to yourself, but you did send the knowledge that you would be a bestseller! I wish I had thought of that :).
ReplyDeleteGo to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, that first one is such a rush. I now have four! I cleared off a shelf in the bookcase for my books. It makes me smile every time I look at it. Yay for future Mike! I'm rooting you on.
ReplyDeleteGreat contents especially your book. I hope your wish to become a full time writer comes true.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
What a hopeful entry! It's definitely going to come true, Michael :)
ReplyDeleteNutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
I have no doubt you will be a New York Times best selling author, Michael. I'm hoping it comes true soon!
ReplyDeleteAww, your ending gave me chills! Love that.
ReplyDeleteI cracked up at future Mike refusing to makes things easy LOL.
Love your mix of confidence and joy of things yet to be discovered. Good luck with those next fifteen books! ;)
ReplyDeleteFuture you is very wise - he doesn't want you to miss out on all the fun of writing, rewriting...rewriting again. Means so much more when you've sweated out every inch of it. Thanks so much for joining the fest. :)
ReplyDeleteYour future self isn't gonna cut you any slack, huh? That's probably for the best. And yes, anything is possible.
ReplyDeleteYour future self is quite the tough nut... but for a very good reason!
ReplyDeletePositivity rocks!
Better get busy!!! :)
ReplyDeleteHope our comments aren't distracting you from writing that best seller- they are intended as a cheering on! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe knowledge that things will work out is enough for a writer--love that you included the list but didn't include the books.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea. I have no idea what I would send to myself but yours is an answer proper of a proud writer. I would want to read that bestseller, too!
ReplyDeleteFuture Mike knows the lesson of paradox :)
ReplyDelete.........dhole
Kudos to future Mike for not sending the other books! Part of the joy is writing them! :)
ReplyDeleteFunny how we want our books to be out there and bestsellers. That's a common yearning for writers, including me. Dropping by via the Back to the Future blogfest.
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you.
i sent myself future books, but i know me, i wont read my own stuff unless i'm editing it. mine sya i better get busy! same message, though!
ReplyDeletethe future is shades-needing bright!
Nice post :) I still have my CreateSpace proof(s) too. Two of them. I hope to get more in future as well. They're seriously overbloated terrible drafts, but still, they're special.
ReplyDeleteNice Mike.
ReplyDeleteI, too, made the NYT best seller list. LOL. At least I know I am in good company. But I didn't have fifteen books to my credit. Just an important discovery .... Calorie free chocolate that produce euphoria when you eat it. LOL.
Excellent visualization, Michael. I can totally see this happening. :)
ReplyDelete