GALA

TW: Don't start celebrating me TOO MUCH yet.

I'm kind of/sort of PROJECTING the day that my absolute favorite of all of my books gets picked up by a traditional publisher (oh; WITH an Amazon Prime deal on the way).

This is all in good fun; and pay specific attention to the acceptance and thank you section. You just MIGHT know someone...

The lights in the auditorium hall arestill dim. The lights over the stage still accent the presenter (a beautiful blonde young woman; semi-familiar).

"It is the Self-To-Tradional-Publishers Gala's DISTINCT honor and pleasure to award THIS year's (TwentyTwenty-something's) HONORARY Traditional Publishership to South Haven's VERY OWN Kent Brindley! Bring yourself on up here, Kent; we're holding a soda and a water with lemon behind the podium for you too...!"

In case the newly TRADITIONAL published author still needs help FINDING the stage, two more blonde young women escort him up to receive his award, adulations, and jokingly promised beverages. His eyes need a moment to adjust to the stage lights, making his celebratory grin look more like a grimace. He is on Cloud Nine with his absolute favorite publication, "The Art of Belonging and Blending In." Surrounded on stage by beautiful women, with a reward in hand and his favorite book present on a podium that conceals two plastic cups from the audience view, he has already ALMOST forgotten that he owes the audience something...

"SPEECH!"

The girls clear out the stage and the recipient gives another coy grin as if knowing, intrinsically, what he had forgotten before. With a chuckle over the near error, he takes a swig of the water, props up his now TRADITIONALLY published book, and begins...

Thank you, thank you ALL, for that rousing welcome. You know, "The Art of Belonging and Blending In" had been a publication ever since April of 2014. Then again, it was self-published, so who WOULD know...?

The crowd bursts into chuckles at the light-hearted, self-deprecating slight before the author can continue...

If Nicholas Paul himself were up here, FINALLY being told that something that he had done mattered, he couldn't have been more proud. Of course, maybe he IS successfully published by now and I just don't know that yet until I write the sequel. I do sort of recall giving him quite a few more successes than I ever felt myself.

There's an old adage to write about what you know. Normally, there is a truth to that principle; every so often, you can get away with writing about something you HAVEN'T experienced (Hello, Ray Bradbury, J.R.R Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling. You are INSPIRATIONS to fantasy writers everywhere!)

I took a chance on writing a coming-of-age novel on experiences I had. No license, no girlfriend, outcast at school AND at home, refereeing between two friends what seems like all of the time.

Eventually, Nicholas Paul won the girl (then won her BACK no fewer than three times) AND got the car and license

You're welcome, Nick. I wish that I'd been projecting my own successes on to you...

Delicate applause, some laughter, "AWW."

I'm up here today because I've seen SUCCESS at Traditional Publishing. I'd like to take a moment to address an argument that I once heard.

"THIS book will NEVER sell!"

"It doesn't DESERVE success and neither do you!"

"*Write about what you know?* Oh; did Tolkien and Bradbury and Rowling write about what THEY knew??? Silly aspiring author!"

That's funny; I don't recall EVER being told that every single clunky piece of cookie-cutter sword-and-sorcery fiction that I mass-produced for a National Novel Writing Month Project would *NEVER* sell. That argument was RESERVED for the publication that I had specifically poured the most of my heart, soul, time, and honesty into.

THAT book just got picked up for publishing, which brings us HERE tonight...

Oh; and it's coming soon to Amazon Prime as its own miniseries too...

Enough about that; I'd like to THANK some people right now.

First and foremost, thanks be to God for these talents and this perseverance. Lord knows that it was a struggle to get here; but here I am. May I use my gifted talents, first and foremost, from here on out for His glory!

Mom n' dad, it wasn't always easy to support my endeavors. I want to thank you for doing so anyway.

Grandma, you were my biggest cheerleader and I know that you're watching over this right now. This one's for you...

Mrs. Torp, thank you for encouraging me to KEEP writing upon seeing my old, school-aged prose.

To the South Haven community, and Lake Michigan College, and THE Grand Valley State University, I'll never forget where I've come from and I thank you all for hosting me through separate parts of my life.

To the girl who once handled a copy of "The Art of Belonging and Blending In" with CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM on her hands during my time of trying to sell my self-published works, I haven't forgotten the incident. To the grandmother watching her that day and having not seen what had happened, I assure you that accidents happen...

Okay, now I want to address a community a bit more behind-the-scenes.

In 2021, my books were simply NOT selling. I needed a gimmick to help my writing be paid for.

I found "Vocal."

Now, only the best, the most persuasive, and the most fortunate creators could possibly come anywhere near to making the (advertised revenue) off of Vocal.

I'm sure that I've read some of their works and they DESERVE the success.

Now, for Vocal to make me a FINANCIAL success, I still needed to put myself out there, write what people wanted to read, and continuously self-promote; nothing of which I was ever good at.

Besides, Vocal is at least 85% an avenue for NONfiction. Articles.

It's tough to pigeonhole fiction, creative writing, humor into such an avenue.

So, I didn't quite reach the upper echelon of financial success on Vocal either. I FOUND a writing community sharing THEIR crafts while they accepted me sharing mine.

My thank yous aren't over yet.

Dyllon Rodillon and Vanessa Powell, thank you both for talking me through the ins-and-outs of the "Vocal Creators Lounge." (If not for YOU, Dyllon, I STILL wouldn't know how to properly post a link).

Bryan R. and Laquesha Bailey, you both know how to explore your respective political opinions, from very different viewpoints, in a reasonable and logical way. I do find myself agreeing with one and not the other; and that's okay too. In America, we can agree to disagree; and I want to applaud you BOTH for consistently making reasonable arguments in respectful ways.

Tom Bradbury, it's nice to meet a fellow fiction author here on Vocal as we BOTH try to navigate fiction into the community.

Kelli Sheckler-Amsden, your poetry is astounding and always good for a quick read through even as I struggle to develop more poetry myself...

Julie Wehmeyer, I know that we didn't get off to the best start and it was a misunderstanding that I could have avoided. Thank you for your understanding and for sharing your words.

Paula Shablo, I appreciate your willingness to share the embarrassing anecdote. Lord knows that I've had quite a few of my own that I might have also added to "Confessions." (The Junior-High Talent show stories that I DID share notwithtstanding).

Now, where was...

Lindsay! (Okay, who on Vocal didn't see this one coming?) Where, oh where, would the Vocal community BE without the anecdotes and wit from our very own "Queen of Cringe?"

When I'm not fictionalizing dream sequences where the eyes of my former crushes are on ME (or the ensuing dream date) or writing about Saturday Morning Cartoons or Action Figures, I like to write about what makes a decent man or where I've failed before to live up to that expectation as I continue to strive to leave the "Nice Guy" role behind and be a GOOD MAN. It'll happen one day...

By the way, first girlfriend, I'm (BLEEEEP!) [Age] now and still haven't met you yet. Maybe you're even out there tonight...

Cheers, laughter, applause, lone whistle.

Thank you all again for being here tonight. Drive home safely.

Standing ovation as lights come back up over full auditorium.

For MORE of my self published works, here's another link...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=kent+Brindley&rh=n%3A283155&dc&qid=1623260146&rnid=2941120011&ref=sr_nr_n_1

...and for more out of me and Vocal, here's THIS link...

https://vocal.media/authors/kent-brindley

Thank you all for reading. YOU help make Vocal what it is...