“Dreams come true: without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.” — John Updike
One of my favorite blog authors is Lynne Spreen at Any Shiny Thing. Her article “Our Dreams Persist” describes the long and winding road that she 
traveled to write and publish her book “Dakota Blues.” I admire her persistence in the face of many obstacles to hold tight to her dream and to finally see it come to fruition.
Reading her story of how she wrote her book reminded me of my own experiences.
I first determined to write a book when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras in 1987. I didn’t have any idea, at that time, exactly what I wanted to write about. I just knew that I wanted to write a book that would be useful to others, and to hopefully inspire them along life’s way.
Time Marches On
It wasn’t until 15 years later, after starting my fixer upper and rental house business, that I began to put pen to paper (and fingers to computer keys) to begin writing my book. I thought that sharing my experiences with fixer upper houses would be that useful and inspiring book that I had imagined writing years earlier.
Four years later, through many iterations, and alternating periods of exhilaration and self doubt, “Fix em Up Rent em Out” was proudly rolled out on Amazon.com. Seeing my book finally published gave me a warm glow that still shines inside me to this day.
The Seed Continues to Grow
What I find interesting, in both my experience and Lynne’s, is that once the seed of a good idea is planted, it grows inexorably and invisibly inside of us, until it eventually becomes reality. The fact that it takes years for the final completion of the dream makes it all the more satisfying.
Weekly Blog Roundup
Additional recent blog articles that I liked:
The Landlord Quick Fix at LandlordInvestor
21 Ways to Manage the Stuff that Sucks Up Your Time at Louisville Gals Real Estate
Why is it Healthy to Change Bank Accounts? at Fearlessmen
Give your Family an Amazing Fall with these 8 (Frugal) Activities at Frugal Habits
Hording Gold at All Things Pondered
How to Save Money on Contacts and Eye Care at Work Save Live
How We Bought A $50K Duplex – Part 4 at plantingourpennies
Legal Battle Over a Sagging Balcony at Blue Collar Worker
What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What You Want To Do With Your Life? at Untemplater
Auto Insurance Basics And Recommendations For Everyone at Financial Samurai
Household Budget Tips for the Upcoming Fall at My Money Design
Catering Your Blog To Your Readership at Modest Money
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Coming Soon!
- How to Turn Your Home into a Rental House, Instead of Selling It
Tags: all things pondered, blue collar worker, book writing, care out your niche, Dakota Blues, fearlessmen, Fix em Up Rent em Out, frugal havbits, landlordinvestor, Louisville Gals, Lynne Spreen, modest money, Peace Corps, plantingourpennies, self publishing, Terry Sprouse, untemplater, work save live
Thanks for including our post!
Mrs. Pop,
You’re welcome.
Thanks for the shout-out. Best wishes in all you do.
Lynne,
You’re welcome. Your book is on my “to read” list.
Hi Terry –
Thanks so much for the share!
When you are ready, I look forward to doing a review on my blog. We should also do another video interview to go with that blog post. Shoot me an email and we will find a time to talk next week. I’m excited to read your new book.
Sharon,
Thank you for the offer to review my new book on your blog. It would be an honor to have you review it.
At present, the book is still in the editing process. I will drop you a line as soon as it is in final form.
Terry,
congrats on getting your 3rd book written. This is quite an accomplishment and sounds like quite a journey. I can imagine that is very satisfying..
Chuck,
Thanks, although I’m still not quite there yet.
I hope that within the next month to have the book wrapped up.
I guess finishing a book is a little like having a child, although maybe more so from my wife’s perspective.
Since she is the co-author of this forthcoming opus, I may diplomatically ask her if that analogy rings true for her, without diminishing her role in the childbirth process.
Sometimes she accuses me of understating her role, yet, as I (jokingly) remind her, I was right beside her the whole way offering moral support.
Terry, thanks for the mention! I didn’t realize you had already written two books. “Carve Out Your Niche” looks like something I should read. Since starting Fearless Men Todd and I have wondered if we should put some of our stuff into a book.
John,
I think your the themes in your blog could be turned into an extremely interesting book.
Plus, your “Fearless men” perspective would be a topic of interest on radio shows, which is one medium that I like to focus on for book promotion.
[…] Skilled Investor. Fix ‘Em Up Rent ‘Em Out linked to the last post in the series in his Dreams Come True Weekly Blog Roundup, as did Outlier Model in Updates September 16-22. Thanks to you all – we hope everyone gets […]
Thanks for the mention. Nice job publishing a book on Amazon!
You’re welcome.
I think that Amazon is the great equalizer. It allows self publishers like me to compete with the big publishers on an even playing field.
John Dillinger said, “I rob banks because that’s where the money is.”
I aim all my books at Amazon because the money now, in book selling, is at Amazon.com and other internet book stores.
Big thanks for sharing my link! Would you mind emailing me your RSS feed? I don’t see the link anywhere on your blog and would love to add you to my reader.
Thanks again, Terry!
Jason,
There is a “follow blog” box that you can check below where you make your comment.
Terry
Terry this is very encouraging. Your thought-that a good idea will continue to grow and grow and grow over years inspires me to keep driving forward!
Todd,
It’s kind of amazing when you think about it. It seems like life gives us several chances to take advantage of those good ideas that are somehow embedded into us.
[…] Dreams Still Come True by Fix ‘Em Up. […]