Guest Goddess K.M. Walton

A big Naked Hero Welcome to YA/MG author, K.M. Walton!  As some of you enter NanoWrimo craziness (hey, I’m  right there with you), I thought you might be inspired by K. M. Walton and a little ‘dream talk’!  She’s my twitter friend (see, twitter really does bring people together!) and I’m happy to have her on The Naked Hero as my guest today.   So give it up for K. M. Walton!!!!!  Woot!  Woot!

And what better day to have KM here with us, right on the heels of her BIG ANNOUNCEMENT that she took an offer on her YA book,

~Misa

__________________________

First, thank you to Misa for asking me to write this guest post.  I was honored and humbled!

Anybody out there have dreams?  You know, things you wish would happen in your life?  Talk to any kid under the age of eight and you’ll hear the best dreams ever.  I’m going to be a professional baseball player…the president…an astronaut…firefighter…pop star…and on and on.  Best dreams ever.

Why?  Because as kids we truly and unequivocally believed those dreams were possible.  The average seven year old doesn’t have gnawing self-doubt, whispering voices that sabotage or a full life that gets in their way.  We adults on the other hand typically have all that and more.  Throw in the pressure of kids or money problems and dreams fly right out the window.

Geez, K.M. way to bring the party down.  I know.  Bear with me here.

Has anyone ever asked you who your hero was?  I’m sure you could come up with a name right now.  But I have a distinct challenge for you today.  I dare you to become your own hero. No, I triple-dog-dare you.  Don’t worry, I won’t leave you on the playground with your tongue stuck to the flagpole.  I promise.

Anyone wondering:  How might one become their own hero?  Doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose of a hero?  I think it would be weird if I was my own hero.  That’s sort of conceited, don’t you think?

Let’s, for the point of this blog post, change the language to…The Champion of Your Dreams.  How’s that?  Being the Champion of Your Dreams can be boiled down to three simple words – Never.  Give.  Up.  I know you’ve hear/read them before, especially if you’re a blog reader.  It seems like everyone is encouraging everyone out there.  But you know what?  If you want “it” bad enough then those three words are all you need to be the Champion of Your Dreams – no matter what “it” is.  Be that seven year old again and believe, without a doubt, that “it” will happen.

But I also challenge you to assess what “it” is.  Even though I’ve been called a dreamer, I’m also a bit of a realist.  For example, my “it” was landing a literary agent.  And the dream would never have come true if I hadn’t done a few crucial things like:

write the novel

revise the novel 5,000 times

research who to query and then query for 2.5 years

start a blog

join professional writing organizations

go to writing conferences

build an online presence

write another novel

revise the novel 5,000 times

start querying that novel

rack up 100 + query rejections

research writing techniques

write another novel

revise the novel 5,000 times

rack up more query rejections

blah, blah, blah.

My point is, I didn’t just say what I wanted and then wish for it to happen.  I refused to give up until it happened.  I did everything humanly possible to make it happen.  Why?  Because I wanted it that badly.

Go as big as you want with your dreams but please don’t sit back and assume “it” will just plop into your lap.  For some lucky ones that happens, but not many.  For the rest of us, “it” requires attention and time and dedication and gumption and tenacity and planning.   “It” needs to be believed in like a child with wild eyed abandon.

Your Herculean Task is to answer these questions:

Do you want “it”?  How badly?

That badly eh?  Okay then, you know what I’m going to say don’t you?  Be your own hero and more importantly, be the Champion of Your Dreams.  No one else has the power to do it.  Only you.

So go on, make “it” happen.

_________________________

K.M. Walton spent ten years as a public middle school language arts teacher and loved every single day in her classroom.  She now spends her time coaching teachers on highly effective instructional practices and writing, writing, writing and more writing.  She is represented by Sarah LaPolla from Curtis Brown Ltd. and considers herself blessed on many levels.

You can find K.M. online at:

Her blog: http://skateorbate.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/KMWalton1

She Writes: http://www.shewrites.com/profile/KMWalton

Teen Fire: http://teenfire.ning.com/profile/KMWalton

• Tweet