For me, growing up in the inner city with teenaged parents, I was counted out before I even started. In order to persevere, I had to have a spirit for survival in order to catapult me to the person I am today. Most people, who meet me would never grasp the struggles I had growing up. Truly, I didn’t grasp them because I always saw the glass as half full, yet it could get empty if I didn’t hustle to make something happen.
Dreaming big, is taking your dreams, and mapping them into reality then talking yourself out of moments of depression to push through no matter what. No matter how many times people tell you that you can’t, you smile then say ‘I will’ and make up another roadway to your success. I write this into my characters, they don’t give up, even when they stumble.
Here are my steps for Dreaming Big:
KNOW THY SELF
Dreaming big starts with taking time to get to know the person you are turning into, and the person you want to become.
I loved myself at an early age, and knew myself relatively well. Part of the reason why was because I imagined myself as what I wanted to be. I would create versions of myself in my mind’s eye when I was a kid. I believed that I would be a warrior that killed dragons while I rode in on my unicorn. I even wrote little stories about my imaginary adventures.
When I look closely at my created worlds when I was young, I realized that I created a place in my imagination where I could win. In that world, I never took ‘no’ for an answer. In that world I had revealed a lot about myself.
DREAM, YOU CAN DO IT…DREAM OF WHAT YOU WANT TO BE
First of all, you have to DREAM it in order to ACHIEVE it. That was a motto I learned at a summer camp, and it stuck.
As I got older, and started to listen to the many people in my life that told me that I couldn’t do this or that, I staggered in my dreaming. I started to dream small careful and easily attainable dreams. I didn’t allow myself to wish for something beyond what I could see.
Don’t ever do that! You don’t want anyone else to have control over your dreams or aspirations. You own them, and you can make them happen.
PLAN IT! RE-PLAN IT!
All dreams can come true. However, you want to think about how you can do it. You have to have a plan A, B and C. If none of those work, figure out another way.
REJECTION WON’T STOP YOU!
Never let a ‘NO!’ stop you. Turn that ‘no’ into your own ‘YES!’
Brush it off and move onto plan B. If plan b, c, d, e, f is not working then you need to take a step back and re-evaluate if you are ready to pursue the next plan.
As a writer, our first draft is not complete. I have had to revise, edit, and rewrite my books up to ten times. In the end, it was a better, cleaner, shined up piece of work.
After I received over fifty rejections on one manuscript, revised and edited my work, then I finally reached my Big Dream.
BE WILLING TO REDIRECT
Sometimes you set forth on a dream and find that you are no longer willing to pay the price for that dream.
Redirect – Take what you have learned from that dream and build your next dream.
Unlike most writers, I never dreamed of becoming a writer. I just wrote because I loved it. Some friends told me that I mentioned to them that I wanted to become a writer, but I truly didn’t remember that dream. My original dream was to be a CFO (Chief Financial Officer). I know that’s not exciting, but I really wanted to do that. Okay, to be honest my first dream was to be a teacher, and then it was CFO.
Well like most people, I had unrealized talents. I went to college and become a Financial Analyst. I hated it. I worked as a Financial Analyst for one year, and then I went back to school for my Masters in Information Technology. I loved working in the Information Technology field, and took to it like a fish in water. My recreational writing came to a standstill and I started writing technical documentation and designing large computer systems.
After sixteen years in IT, I decided to apply for a job teaching at the University. I loved teaching. It allowed me to create all of these really cool science fiction type devices for my students to design.
While working as an Engineer, I ran across a published author who I revealed that I wanted to write a book but I didn’t have the time. He encouraged me to write a page a day. After our conversation, I put that thought away and did not start writing. Later that same year, my husband suggested that I should write a book, and once I started, I couldn’t stop.
I’ve had many Big Dreams, and some of them I have reached, others I have not. The pleasure of pursuing those dreams, and the lessons I’ve learned in doing so has given me a fulfilled life. I don’t ever have to look back over my life and say “I wish I would have tried to do that.”
You only ever get one life, so don’t be afraid to Dream Big and pursue your dream.
My character, Rei, in Rebel of Fire is a dreamer. Jump into hers by reading Rebel of Fire, by LM Preston Rebel of Fire (The Vigilant Book 3)
by LM Preston
October 8, 2021
Genre: YA, Urban FantasyPublisher: Phenomenal One Press
Who knew that taking a job at a High School Newspaper would weave Rei into an underground news operation? She’d stupidly sacrificed her family and was blackmailed into becoming a member of a Vigilant operation to save the unsuspecting human population in what most thought was Newport, RI. Rei was no longer living in ignorance, but knowledge came with a price. Love wasn’t an emotion she could give into when the ransom of her family’s life was at stake. Asher was sent to help her, but she felt he was sent to ensure she paid the debt owed in order to save her family. Rei didn’t relish being held hostage by Megan and her puppets or being thrust into interfering with a war instigated by magical beings, and their fight to control humanity. Rei had no idea how she could create a diversion that would save her, destroy an unimaginable evil, and teach her to love – again. Read other books in the Vigilant series: Insatiable Darkness, Caged Fire, Unbreakable Darkness, Scepter of Fire, Break the Darkness.
Chapter 1
Rei smelled blood. The metallic taste was in her mouth, enveloping her senses. Sirens blared, but the throbbing in her head hurt so bad she didn’t have the will to wake up fully. She had to open her eyes. The accident. Her last thought before being suffocated by the chilled waters beneath the bridge where they’d crashed was that her sister, EmVee was thrown from the van. Her brother hit his head. Dexter was drowning. Her mom and her twin brother, Reece… what happened to them? It was her fault. She had to save them, get them away from here. She struggled and jerked, feeling like she was fighting to get out of the suffocating waters of the lake.
“Ah!” She fought the pain that coursed through her entire body and pushed herself up. Rei’s trembling hands braced her on the hard cot in what appeared to be the inside of an ambulance. Rei willed her body to move.
She tried to open her eyes. One was bandaged closed, but the other was slightly crusted but opened. Rei’s vision cleared. She raised a hand to the gauze covering her head. Everything on her hurt, but suddenly, an energy she couldn’t explain rushed through her in waves, dulling the pain, giving her focus.
“They are on us!” a gruff curse came from a medic near the light from a window. The ambulance sharply whipped from side to side.
Rei slid off the hard bed, and her knees buckled when she hit the floor. “God! Ah.”
She willed herself to stand and pushed her back up against the wall, wincing at the burn in her side and on her head.
The crouching medic held on to a looped strap in the corner of the ambulance van. The medic pointed a gun through the broken glass window of the back-double doors. Several pops sounded, and the doors flew open. Someone was shooting at them? At an ambulance? Why? Rei crawled backward, grimacing at the pain.
“I can’t die today.” Rei searched for a weapon, anything she could use. The bed slammed to the opposite side of the ambulance then surged at her. Rei dropped to the floor, barely in time to keep her head attached to her neck.
The medic yelled a name, maybe the driver’s – Rei didn’t know. The medic fired at what sounded like a motorcycle gang outside. She could hear the revved-up engines in succession.
A huge explosion from a building or something shook the vehicle. It caught the wind from the blast and reeled forward. Rei’s petite form was jerked against the small cabinet of supplies then fell backward, striking her throbbing head against the metal back wall of the ambulance. The motorcycle riders didn’t relent though.
The medic shot several rounds from the gun he thrust forward. The back door flung open then closed then open again. The shots didn’t stop them. The dark smoke from the motorcycles kicked up. They swerved from one side to another behind the speeding ambulance as if setting up for another attack. A blue, glowing whip snapped through the opened door and wrapped around the medic. He fought against the weapon around his neck and braced himself by a foot against the wall within the cab of the ambulance. His fingers wrestled with it as it tightened.
Rei could have sworn his hands turned to claws as he tried to rip the glowing blue whip’s tail from his neck. The medic roared. His teeth even appeared to grow into sharp points that protruded from his mouth. Rei gulped back the putrid taste of vomit as she held tightly to a small hook in the middle of the wall. She must be hallucinating.
“Grrrr.” The medic released an inhuman sound before the whip yanked him out of the cab of the ambulance.
She had to be dreaming. Rei felt nauseous. This couldn’t be real – could it? What kind of medicine did they put her on? Rei shook her head. She felt clammy, sweaty. She had to get out of the ambulance.
She blinked through her blurry vision while searching for a weapon. She crouched lower, wondering how she would get out of this alive.
Rei glanced at where the medic had fallen before he was snatched from the vehicle. His gun would work. There it was in the corner. She scrambled on her hands and knees to the tossed handgun. She remembered her father’s summer hunting trips and wished she’d paid attention when he told her how to shoot a stupid gun. Rei fumbled with the weapon, vaguely remembering how to fire it. She couldn’t make out what was behind the smoke from the ambulance.
Then two of the bikers appeared within the sway of the smoke they kicked up. One of them, in a black leather suit and helmet that covered his head, gave a hand signal to another. Rei squinted her eye and swore the bike resembled her twin brother Reece’s motorcycle. It had to have been stolen or a replica. Rei didn’t care. She wasn’t going with anyone without a fight. She pulled the trigger, bracing for the kickback of the weapon and – nothing. All of the bullets were gone.
The ambulance rocked to the left and up into the air. “No!” Rei was thrown against the door frame. The bed slammed the wall then rolled toward her. She kicked it away. It launched out of the door. The impact of the ambulance hitting something hard bounced it down and then up. She went flying, mid-air, and fell on the side of the breathing machine. She fell forward. Every bone and muscle on her body throbbed. Smoke and dust from the collision curled around the high blood-red moon Rei focused on trying to fight the throbbing of her head. A motorcycle guy climbed up into the cab of the ambulance.
Rei’s vision grew hazy. She fought to stay coherent, but the ache drumming into the back of her head traveled to her eyes. Rei tried to stand, but gravity sucked her down.
Someone caught her.
“I think she’s okay.”
Rei stumbled into the abyss of darkness once more.
Rei smelled blood. The metallic taste was in her mouth, enveloping her senses. Sirens blared, but the throbbing in her head hurt so bad she didn’t have the will to wake up fully. She had to open her eyes. The accident. Her last thought before being suffocated by the chilled waters beneath the bridge where they’d crashed was that her sister, EmVee was thrown from the van. Her brother hit his head. Dexter was drowning. Her mom and her twin brother, Reece… what happened to them? It was her fault. She had to save them, get them away from here. She struggled and jerked, feeling like she was fighting to get out of the suffocating waters of the lake.
“Ah!” She fought the pain that coursed through her entire body and pushed herself up. Rei’s trembling hands braced her on the hard cot in what appeared to be the inside of an ambulance. Rei willed her body to move.
She tried to open her eyes. One was bandaged closed, but the other was slightly crusted but opened. Rei’s vision cleared. She raised a hand to the gauze covering her head. Everything on her hurt, but suddenly, an energy she couldn’t explain rushed through her in waves, dulling the pain, giving her focus.
“They are on us!” a gruff curse came from a medic near the light from a window. The ambulance sharply whipped from side to side.
Rei slid off the hard bed, and her knees buckled when she hit the floor. “God! Ah.”
She willed herself to stand and pushed her back up against the wall, wincing at the burn in her side and on her head.
The crouching medic held on to a looped strap in the corner of the ambulance van. The medic pointed a gun through the broken glass window of the back-double doors. Several pops sounded, and the doors flew open. Someone was shooting at them? At an ambulance? Why? Rei crawled backward, grimacing at the pain.
“I can’t die today.” Rei searched for a weapon, anything she could use. The bed slammed to the opposite side of the ambulance then surged at her. Rei dropped to the floor, barely in time to keep her head attached to her neck.
The medic yelled a name, maybe the driver’s – Rei didn’t know. The medic fired at what sounded like a motorcycle gang outside. She could hear the revved-up engines in succession.
A huge explosion from a building or something shook the vehicle. It caught the wind from the blast and reeled forward. Rei’s petite form was jerked against the small cabinet of supplies then fell backward, striking her throbbing head against the metal back wall of the ambulance. The motorcycle riders didn’t relent though.
The medic shot several rounds from the gun he thrust forward. The back door flung open then closed then open again. The shots didn’t stop them. The dark smoke from the motorcycles kicked up. They swerved from one side to another behind the speeding ambulance as if setting up for another attack. A blue, glowing whip snapped through the opened door and wrapped around the medic. He fought against the weapon around his neck and braced himself by a foot against the wall within the cab of the ambulance. His fingers wrestled with it as it tightened.
Rei could have sworn his hands turned to claws as he tried to rip the glowing blue whip’s tail from his neck. The medic roared. His teeth even appeared to grow into sharp points that protruded from his mouth. Rei gulped back the putrid taste of vomit as she held tightly to a small hook in the middle of the wall. She must be hallucinating.
“Grrrr.” The medic released an inhuman sound before the whip yanked him out of the cab of the ambulance.
She had to be dreaming. Rei felt nauseous. This couldn’t be real – could it? What kind of medicine did they put her on? Rei shook her head. She felt clammy, sweaty. She had to get out of the ambulance.
She blinked through her blurry vision while searching for a weapon. She crouched lower, wondering how she would get out of this alive.
Rei glanced at where the medic had fallen before he was snatched from the vehicle. His gun would work. There it was in the corner. She scrambled on her hands and knees to the tossed handgun. She remembered her father’s summer hunting trips and wished she’d paid attention when he told her how to shoot a stupid gun. Rei fumbled with the weapon, vaguely remembering how to fire it. She couldn’t make out what was behind the smoke from the ambulance.
Then two of the bikers appeared within the sway of the smoke they kicked up. One of them, in a black leather suit and helmet that covered his head, gave a hand signal to another. Rei squinted her eye and swore the bike resembled her twin brother Reece’s motorcycle. It had to have been stolen or a replica. Rei didn’t care. She wasn’t going with anyone without a fight. She pulled the trigger, bracing for the kickback of the weapon and – nothing. All of the bullets were gone.
The ambulance rocked to the left and up into the air. “No!” Rei was thrown against the door frame. The bed slammed the wall then rolled toward her. She kicked it away. It launched out of the door. The impact of the ambulance hitting something hard bounced it down and then up. She went flying, mid-air, and fell on the side of the breathing machine. She fell forward. Every bone and muscle on her body throbbed. Smoke and dust from the collision curled around the high blood-red moon Rei focused on trying to fight the throbbing of her head. A motorcycle guy climbed up into the cab of the ambulance.
Rei’s vision grew hazy. She fought to stay coherent, but the ache drumming into the back of her head traveled to her eyes. Rei tried to stand, but gravity sucked her down.
Someone caught her.
“I think she’s okay.”
Rei stumbled into the abyss of darkness once more.
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L.M. Preston, a native of Washington, DC. An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl. She is an author, an engineer, a professor, a mother and a wife. Her passion for writing and helping others to see their potential through her stories and encouragement has been her life’s greatest adventures.She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.
Blog-Goodreads
Pinterest-Instagram
L.M. Preston, a native of Washington, DC. An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl. She is an author, an engineer, a professor, a mother and a wife. Her passion for writing and helping others to see their potential through her stories and encouragement has been her life’s greatest adventures.She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.
Giveaway
eBook copy of the first book in the series
Great advice and I love the covers!
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