Finding Inspiration...

...the following passage was written by Paulo Coelho.


Enjoy ;)


"I remember receiving a letter from the American Publisher Harper Collins that said: 'Reading The Alchemist was like getting up at dawn and seeing the sun rise while the rest of the world still slept.'


I went outside, looked up at the sky, and thought to myself, 'So, the book is going to be published in English!'


At the time, I was struggling to establish myself as a writer and to follow my path despite all the voices telling me it was impossible.


And little by little, my dream was becoming reality.  Ten, a hundred, a thousand, a million copies sold in America.  


One day, a Brazilian journalist phoned to say that President Clinton had been photographed reading the book.  Some time later, when I was in Turkey, I opened the magazine Vanity Fair and there was Julia Roberts declaring that she adored the book.  Walking alone down a street in Miami, I heard a girl telling her mother, 'You must read The Alchemist!'


The book has translated into fifty-six languages, has sold more than twenty million copies, and people are beginning to ask, 'What's the secret behind such a huge success? 


The only honest response is, I don't know.  All I know is that, like Santiago the shepherd boy, we all need to be aware of our personal calling..."




...scheduling conflicts and the daily grind can often treat one's personal time in the same manner as a moist sponge held under a leaky sink.  If only enough quiet time remains for one great read over the summer months, choose wisely, and consider The Alchemist.  


You can thank me later ;)


...keep writing, my friends.


El