My Self Publishing Journey Starts Here 📖

I just finished, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and it completely inspired me to go back to one of my old manuscripts.

100 Cups of Coffee is done and I’m feeling pulled back into a project I started in late 2014: Musical Awakening

I stopped working on it in 2015 when 100 Cups of Coffee took over and honestly, that made it really easy to walk away.

But this past week I opened it again and…

I don’t hate it. LOL.

And like Elizabeth Gilbert says:

"Done is better than good."

So that’s the plan, finish it. My goal is two weeks. To re-read, re-edit and add to it.

Because let’s be real:

a lot of people start things…

very few actually finish them.

So I’m finishing this one and self publishing it. Click here to read a sneak peak!

What Musical Awakening is About? 🎶

June is a concert photographer building her career, her identity, and a global music community on her blog.

Her musical awakening begins the moment she hears an up-and-coming British artist—Richmond Adams—for the first time.

What follows is a will-they-won’t-they story told through:

• blog posts

• social media

• and music

It’s about timing, creativity, and taking chances. For readers who miss tumblr-era music blogs and late-night playlists!

🌙 PREFACE

Hey, Music Nerds.

I didn’t mean to turn my life into a record.

It just… happened.

It started in fragments—

late-night blog posts,

concert photographs I kept just for myself,

text messages I almost sent and then didn’t.

And then Richmond Adams.

Which is where things get complicated.

So instead of living in the unknown, I wrote it all down.

Not because I knew how it would end—

but because I didn’t want to forget how it started.

I told myself it was just music.

Until it wasn’t.

#ListenForYourself

🎧 CHAPTER 1 - I Turn Around

My heart stops when I hear his music for the first time.

Like, actually stops.

Only for a moment—but when it starts again, it beats in time with his song.

I let the hotel phone fall back into its cradle, abandoning room service mid-order. I collapse onto the bed, arms out like I’m about to make a snow angel in the sheets.

I don’t move.

I just listen.

“I knew you would love this one,” my Mum says.

“Shhhhhhh,” I whisper, eyes still closed.

I can’t break this moment. Music like this doesn’t come around often—and when it does, you don’t interrupt it.

The song ends.

I open my eyes. Mum is watching me, equal parts amused and mildly annoyed.

I nod. She can speak now.

“While scouting bands for the Festival, I heard about Richmond and his band,” she says. “They’re from the same small town in England as us. They’ve built a following here in the States—tour pretty often.”

We’re in LA because of her job.

She’s one of the creators of the Albuquerque Music Festival, and I’ve recently started working as a photographer for it. This trip is my trial run before my first official festival this summer.

No pressure.

I reach for my phone without sitting up.

@musicmavenjune March 15, 2013 / 11:11AM

one note & i’m hooked.

seeing @richmondadamsuk live tonight in LA.

#SwoonMusic

I hit send.

Drop the phone.

Close my eyes again.

An hour later, that’s not enough.

So I open my laptop.

Hey, Music Nerds.

I love sharing new music with you—and I have something you need to hear.

Stop what you’re doing and listen to this.

(I’ll wait.)

Okay—back?

You get it, right?

One note. One song. That’s all it took.

I’m sitting in a hotel room in LA listening to an album I didn’t know I’d been waiting my whole life to hear.

And tonight?

I get to see it live.

Stay tuned.

#ListenForYourself

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💬 If You Made It This Far…

Thank you. Seriously.

I know this was a lot but I’m really excited about this project again and wanted to share it with you.

Let me know what you think in the comments 💛

And most importantly:

Don’t let a spark of inspiration slip away.

Keep creating.

x Meg