December Update

Today’s announcement comes with both joy and sadness. The happiness feeling comes from the acknowledgement and praise I’ve received from putting together this digital magazine, ‘Hold On,’ over the past 8-months. I felt a sense of accomplishment each time I finished designing each edition, especially watching the quality of my magazine grow in both design and content. The people I’ve met and connected with through the author and musician interviews were the most rewarding. I’ve always enjoyed memoir and biography writing, so having an opportunity to put my spin to their life stories was an extra bonus.

The sadness feeling comes from the end of this magazine adventure. Putting together a monthly publication as the sole contributor and designer is not an easy feat. Admittedly, I’m quite proud that I’ve done this for almost a year. If I had all the time and energy in the world, I would keep releasing ‘Hold On,’ but the low readership and time commitment to this magazine does not justify for it to continue.

Originally, as announced a few months ago, I was planning to switch to a quarterly edition release schedule in 2022. However, after some serious brainstorming with previous guests in this magazine, my mentor, and some avid readers, I’ve decided to take a different approach in sharing inspirational stories of hope.

Have you heard of the proverb, “all’s well that ends well”? It refers to the idea that the end justifies the means. So, if a good result is achieved, it does not matter what was done in order to achieve that result. I think this theory can apply to the next stage for my digital magazine. So, you are the first to hear of the possibilities I’ve been considering.

Wouldn’t it be super awesome if ‘Hold On‘ the magazine became a book? It’ll take some brainstorming to put this together. Magazine and book writing are two different styles. But, I think it’s possible. A book also has the potential to reach more people, and wouldn’t be restricted to subscribers of my newsletter.

My goal for 2022 is to release more books. I felt that after the release of my debut novel, I was swimming around several ideas, but none of them ever became a boat strong enough to set afloat. I dreamed of releasing one more book before the end of 2021, but that didn’t happen. Still, I hope that by diverting more energy into writing, it would equate to more publications and exposure.

From the start of my authorship journey to today, I’ve never been so grateful for the kindness of others. Growing up, I sought encouragement from mainly family and my best friend. However, I’ve come to discover how anyone could suddenly become your greatest supporter and source of inspiration. It’s not necessarily someone you grew up with. Many of these people are now some of my closest friends. This is exactly why I feel that sharing stories from everyday people can inspire others, just like how they’ve inspired me.

Although this is my final edition of my digital magazine, my journey of writing, creating, and spreading hope has not ended. I hope you all continue following me on my blog and social media channels to stay in touch. I may not be blogging daily in 2022, but I’ll still be keeping everyone updated. Before I end this update, I want to share some thank you’s.

To everyone who’ve followed my journey since day one, read my novel, ‘Hold on please, Emily,’ and wrote a review for my book: THANK YOU!

To all the wonderful authors and musicians who’ve shared their inspirational stories with me, and gave me an opportunity to feature them: THANK YOU!

To the cancer survivors who’ve reached out to share their stories: THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone for being my #1 fan. Let’s work together to make 2022 another awesome year! Enjoy the final month of 2021 and hoping it’s filled with several memorable moments.