The Magic that’s Ours
was launched in June of 2007 and as mentioned previously, when I did have a publisher they requested that I write more chapters, which I did. When I decided to self-publish I cut the book back to its original length with the idea that if all went well I’d use those chapters later on in another book.
2007 was a huge learning curve in finding out different ways to market my book and the sales of The Magic that’s Ours was relatively good. But at the back of my mind sat the gnawing idea that I needed to sit down and finish the follow on book. I had grown in confidence through learning about the first book and I knew that I could successfully publish another book.
There was also another little gnawing idea that was becoming louder and louder in my head, and that was-through being a photographer I had started a delivery service company- Peninsula Runners- involved primarily in the film industry in Cape Town. It had grown considerably and after 6 years of owning it I realised that I didn’t want to be involved with it anymore. Besides being very stressful it was also getting in the way of me being a full time photographer-something I really loved.
Since the early 90’s, when I was first introduced to the idea of self-development I’d, really become passionate about learning about myself and what made me tick. Through coming to understand about my values etc I was able to assess quite accurately what my needs, wants and desires were, and what made me happy. It’s through this self discovery that I realised that being the owner of a transport company wasn’t suitable for me anymore. I am extremely grateful in what I had, learnt and achieved through it, but I realised that it needed someone with more passion to take it to the next level.
Not only did I want to sell it to work more as a photographer but also I seriously wanted to become more involved in writing along with photography. The type of work that appealed to me most was to become a travel photographer and writer. But this would need capital to become a reality. So, the business was sold in November of 2007 and I was free to pursue my new found dream. From November until April I wrote and re-wrote the other 7 chapters that were to make up the follow on book The Power that’s Ours
-that introduces people aged 11 upwards to the concepts of; goal-setting’ visualisation, affirmation, and the idea of thinking positively. Instead of it being written as a self help book, it is written as a story with the activities at the end of each chapter, and even though the book was written with children in mind, many an adult has remarked that this is a great introduction for them and not only their children.
In May of 2008 I embarked on what would turn out to be a 4 month trip through; Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand.
The manuscript of the second book had been completed but I was only going to take it further when I returned home.
While traveling through these amazing countries I came to learn something that would affect the talks that I had been giving at schools. But more about that next time.
To view some of the pictures pleas see www.garyhirson.com