Getting to Know...

Getting to Know…

This past weekend I had the pleasure and opportunity to sit at a table at Comic-Con in Fort Collins, Colorado. It was my job to sell books, specifically, my books. As many of you know I’ve written and published 12 books. I absolutely love selling my books at conventions but more than that I love meeting the people that want to read my books.

It was wonderful meeting so many people this weekend, but one fan stuck out more than others. Her name is Sky.

Sky is a younger girl about 10 or 11 years old. She timidly came up to my table with her parents and looked at one particular book, “The Sounds of Tomorrow” which is quickly becoming one of my most popular books, in fact, last year and this as well, I sold out of that particular book. She picked up the book and told me that she came to the convention last year and bought that book. She proceeded to tell me how much she loved it. She told me that she did a book report on the story for her school and that she loved it so much that she wanted to buy another copy. I was very touched and provided her with another copy. She then, very timidly again, asked if I would sign it for her. When I did, her face lit up and she thanked me over and over. My heart soared. This was an amazing event not only at this convention but in my life.

After this happened and Sky left, it made me realize that each person who reads my stories has feelings about what they just read. I remember when I wrote this story and how much fun it was developing the characters and the plot and the storyline. It was so much fun watching the entire story develop. Many authors plan out their stories from beginning to end, but I come up with the idea and then let the characters write the story. It’s always amazing to me how each story ends. So to have so many people loving this particular story makes me so humble and grateful.

I want to get to know each of you and what you think about my books. I would encourage each of you, if you want, to write to me at author@drewbankston.com and tell me what you like or dislike about my stories. Tell me a little about yourself. Help me get to know who you are.

Many thanks to you all for being a fan to one degree or another. Each of you makes my life happy and my heart skip a beat. I hope to get to meet each of you someday.

Up or...

Up or…

by Drew Bankston

I am a very positive person. I get up each morning expecting the day to be amazing and I am seldom wrong. To me, each day is amazing. I have life, I have a job, I have a few friends, I have a family, and I have dreams and goals that I continue to work on with the anticipation of seeing them come true and reaching them someday.

Every now and again, however, I run into people who don’t think or feel the same way as I do. These negative people used to irritate me and bring me down. I would get grumpy and allowed their attitude to change mine. What a really crummy thing for me to allow someone else to change my attitude and change how I view my life. Once I realized what was going on, I determined to change that part of my life, I couldn’t change them, so the change had to come from within.

Today I worked with one of those people. I watched and listened as this person painted a picture of a life that was filled with woe and self-pity. I chose to just listen only, smile, and continue to be positive. After doing all of this I came home and found that my attitude was just as crisp and chipper as it was when I first woke up this morning. I was happy. I was ready to tackle the night and have fun.

It’s so important to realize how much we control our own lives, our own emotions, and our own futures. So often we allow outside circumstances to creep in and change how we feel about everything, but keeping focused on how we are and where we want to go will propel us farther and faster than you could ever hope for. Always stay up. Don’t let there be an alternative. No “or”, just always up. By doing so you’ll see your world improve and your days progress to a level that you’ve never known to exist. Always up!

If You Take Another Step You Might...

If You take Another Step You Might…

by Drew Bankston

It seems like every now and then I go through periods of reflection, thinking about where I am in life, where I’ve been, and where I still want to end up. I think that we all go through this type of thought process from time to time. Today I’m looking at how many things I have on my pate and wondering if I really need them all infant of me in order to be happy.

Happiness can often be elusive and fleeting. For some, happiness comes while hanging out with friends or family. For others, it could just be the opposite finding happiness only when alone and doing the things that one person enjoys. For still others, happiness can come from totally different sources. I used to think that for me, happiness came with being constantly busy and changing the ever elusive dream of success. Well, maybe not so elusive. I feel that my entire life has been a success. Perhaps it’s time, however, to drop one of the businesses that I’ve been so keen on perpetuating, but which one? I love them all.

If you’re like me, you love life and everything that goes with it. Yeah, even the bad parts. I use those as learning tools. So each day as we go through life and walk that path through time, each step brings us closer to something. Sometimes we become discouraged and decide to just quit. If there’s something you love, however, why would you quit? What if you took that one more step? What would lie ahead if you just took that one more step? If you quit, then you would never know. Keep taking those steps toward your passion and you’ll find out. That’s what I plan on doing. Next week we can talk about where those steps might lead.

And Then it Happens to You

And Then it Happens to You

by Drew Bankston

When I used to teach Kung Fu, one of the things that I would tell my students is that with time and distance things become less impactful. For example, we here in Colorado might hear about a shooting in Florida. We’re sad, outraged and bothered by it, but not as much so as if it happened in our town. When we look back on a tornado that wiped out part of a nearby town, it’s less impactful ten years later than it is today. Time and distance make things less urgent in our minds.

Sometimes we hear about a person on the news, who is being stalked or harassed, and to us it’s just another news story. But what if such an event were to happen to you? What if something happened in your life or the life of a loved one that was not getting resolved? What if you suddenly and unexpectedly became the target of undeserved attacks and you needed help? How would you handle such a situation?

I only bring this up because recently this has happened in my life. I’m learning that there are some very disturbed people in this world. Thankfully, I know several people who can help with this situation and things are in the works unbeknownst to the perpetrators. Like a tiger, I sit back and watch until the time is right and everything is in place, then when I pounce, they don’t know what hit them.

It’s sad that there are people like this in the world, and even sadder that they have no idea what their thrill-seeking can do to the lives of others. Why would someone do this? I have no idea. Money? Grins and giggles? Whatever it is, it’s still bullying and not at all acceptable.

Be kind to others, friends, and help those in need.