The breakthrough arrived when I attended a coaching and mentoring training workshop early last year (2013). During an ice-breaking session, the topic was “a project that you abandoned that you wish you could have continued”. The book project came to my mind (the word Botox did cross my mind :>) and I brought it up. My workshop partner suggested me sending my book draft to a few close friends that I think would be objective to give me proper feedback. I followed that sound advice and they unanimously told me that there is true value in my book.

Such encouragement coupled with regular yet gentle reminders of my book from my lovely niece Vivian, I spent another year “fleshing out” the content of my original draft and started to look for a friend that is willing to take on the project as my editor.

In Jan this year (2014), I approached my friend Geoff who is an excellent writer and by sheer kindness (perhaps madness in retrospect from his point of view :>), he agreed to take on the project and the rest is history (or for future blogs).

After that decision, I spent the next 2-3 years working on my very first draft. I showed it to some of my family members. The feedback was mixed.

Some of them said, “Well, what you wrote is logical and of common sense, but it is not ground breaking.” On the other hand, my niece Vivian, a medical doctor, was wise beyond her young age (she was still in her teens back then) made a counter-argument. She said, “Though it may be true, did you find a book in the market discussing the subject matter in the precise and systematic way that you wanted it? If not, you definitively have a market! You did not have a phd in adult education, and one should not expect earth-shattering new discoveries from you.” She even spent the time giving me the first unofficial editorial advice!

Nevertheless, I put the project aside for 2 years :< So how did the project get “revived” later? *** Will be revealed in the last part (part three) of this blog soon. ***

Yes, indeed. Some people were wondering why it had taken seemingly, shall we say, a bit longer than “normal”. Let me try to make the long story short here. For part one of this blog, let us talk about how on earth I came up with this book-publishing idea.

I started learning French about 10 years ago and found it quite frustrating when I did not pick it up as smooth as I had expected. Being a bit analytical by nature, I began to try different ways and spoke to (close to tears in a few such occasions!) different people about it. In the process, I took some notes for myself, a bit like a journal. A few years later, it suddenly dawned on that it might be a good idea to share my experience with other people that may face similar problems. There were at least two problems that I was facing. The first was learning a new language at a later stage in life (In short, “older”. I will never use the “o” word again!). The second one is an Asian learning French. My book focuses on the former issue. By sharing my experience through the book, I hope other “more mature” people can benefit from it.

Stepping into September, I am in officially in the “counting down” period of the book publication.
Time for a bit of reflection on this journey of self-publication! I have embarked a different journey from writing a book which took me 8 and half years. Hopefully it will be shorter if I meet the deadline in a few weeks’ time.

I felt like the process has taken a whole village of people (in a good way). Since I don’t have a publisher (by choice and by default), I am literally doing everything myself and “recruit” people (as many as possible) from my circle of friends and family. All in all, it has been an extremely rewarding experience for me particularly, from the perspective of personal development and self-discovery.

First of all, professionally, I have always been part of a much bigger “pie” and quite specialized in my work in large corporations. Self-publication and promotion (more my book than me as an individual) has prompted to look at the bigger picture as well as various aspects of a business (in my case, selling my book is my small business). For example, I signed up to Twitter a month ago to “get myself out there” in the social media is in itself an interesting experience. In addition, I have worked with my 17-year nephew Damian to come up with the book cover and business card in conjunction with consultation of other FFR (Friends and Family of Raymond!). My 12-year niece Cameron has been helping me on market research. My super-loyal editor friend Geoff took on the task of building this very website for me. My photographer friend Yvanne took my profile photos for the book and website. My friend Gary who helps me on what he called “executive assistant” work (vs. personal assistant work which apparently makes a HUGE difference in his mind).

I can go on and on, but you got the picture. It is indeed a village of FFR (Friends and Family of Raymond). For that and more, I am very grateful for all of you giving me a hand and/or a pat on the shoulder (I am sure “a kick on the back side” will come at some point :>) The journey continues…..

First thing first, a flurry of inquires asking me to clarify.

“Is it a typo?  Do you mean a great(excellent) nephew?”

Well, for the record, I do have a 4-month great-nephew (the son of a great nephew Edwin) whose name is Ethan!

He is adorable as you can see in the picture.  I held him for the first time in July and refused to let go for 3 straight hours!

Silly great-uncle but he could not help it :>

Wow–I’ve managed to set up my website, which is pretty awesome!

Keep an eye for upcoming posts about my soon-to-be-published book, From Latecomers To Late-Bloomers; filled with tips and advice for people who want to learn new skills but who are worried that they might be too old to learn!