Drawing Out The Dragons

I am often asked to speak at schools, but many booksellers, educators, and students have been surprised to realize that when I do, I barely talk about my books at all.

That's because I believe that there are reading groups, and dedicated librarians, and community-active booksellers, and best of all, excellent teachers who are more than happy to discuss the Dragons, and Myth, and Legend, and storytelling in my Imaginarium Geographica books with their students. But if I am given the attention of five hundred middle-school students for an hour, and only that hour, I'm not going to talk about my books - I'm going to talk about the things that I believe are most important in this life; about things I believe are True, and meaningful, and worth sharing.

I'm going to tell them stories drawn from my own life: examples about overcoming obstacles and adversity; stories about how making choices in their lives is like drawing a Dragon; vignettes about how I came to do what it is that I love most in the world for my job. But most importantly, I'm going to tell each and every one of them that they can make the same kinds of choices that I did - and that I believe in them.

Sometimes, being told that is the thing that we need most in our lives. And I think it's the most important thing that I can say to anyone: I believe in you.

After one of my presentations, I received the following letter:

"I pray I am sending this to the correct person, because the person who spoke Friday, at Jerling Junior High, in Orland Park, IL, was awe inspiring... Mr. Owen projected a message to our 8th graders, repeatedly, in a direct and appealing manner...[and] should not be listed as just author, but motivator to the young and young at heart, even those floundering, wondering what path to walk."

- Bernadette M. Cronberg, Educator

I'm very gratified to say I have many letters like this - some of which are heartbreakingly sincere about how the presentation inspired a change in their writers' lives. But until now, most readers could not experience that presentation unless they attended a school, or some signing event where I was speaking - and in part because of that, we have long considered putting those stories, those things I most believe, into a book.

A book that is, I feel, the most meaningful thing I've ever written.

A book that is available for purchase right now.

I speak, somewhere, every month, and those who attend don't have to wait for these stories - so I didn't think that anyone else who wanted to should have to wait to experience them, either.

I have always believed that if you create something of value, and offer it to people who will see the value, and understand it, and appreciate it, they will return that value to you tenfold; a hundredfold; and more. And so I made the decision to take the most valuable stories I have, and release them as an ebook from Coppervale Press, under the same title as my presentation: "DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS: A Meditation on Art, Destiny, and the Power Of Choice".

Share the magic that you find in this book. And, hopefully, it will inspire you to make more choices in your own lives help you see that the Magic isn't hard to find, after all. Because it's EVERYWHERE. And sometimes, to see it, you just need someone you believe in, someone you trust, to take you by the hand, look into your eyes, and say, "I believe in you."

But it's also possible that there's a story in this book that someone out there needs to hear, right now. And that alone is reason enough not to wait to read this book.

Magic is real. And worth looking for.