GIVEAWAYS: The author is giving away (3) $5 Amazon Gift Cards during this tour! For your chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment below as well as leaving a comment on the author's 4WillsPub tour page. GOOD LUCK!
Good day to you! I extend my appreciation to my host who generously agreed to have me as a guest, and to the good folks at 4 Wills Publishing who organized this tour.
A Sample Reflection
Reflection 15 And What Did Writing Teach You?
“And what, you ask, does writing teach us? First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that it is a gift and a privilege, not a right.”
~Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury was a highly celebrated American fiction writer who published many works in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mystery. He began his writing career while still in high school in Los Angeles, during the Great Depression. As a young man, he could not afford a college or university education, so he spent countless hours in the public library reading authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.G. Wells, and Jules Verne.
I was instantly intrigued by this quote that began with the question, “What… does writing teach us?” My immediate reaction was an awareness that I had never given this question any thought, nor had the question even occurred to me. Unlike Bradbury, I did not set out as a youth to make writing my lifelong career. Instead, I decided on a career in education and taught high school History for over three decades. It wasn't until the second last year of my chosen profession that it suddenly occurred to me to ask what teaching had taught me. I may never have considered that question if I had not been asked to write an inspirational book about my teaching career. The answer became my second published work, A Personal Journey to the Heart of Teaching.
Prior to writing this book, I had never considered writing fiction, and therefore, had never considered writing as a career. As a young man, I had been told that I had some talent as a writer - remarks I had never taken seriously in terms of pursuing a writing career. It was in my final year of teaching that I decided that writing full time would be my retirement gig. That's when I began work on my fiction series The Genesis Saga. That was June of 2008, and it wasn't until December 2013, that my wife and I founded Fiora Books. After seven years of retirement and writing, I had not thought to consider what writing had to teach me.
Bradbury asserts that writing reminds us that we're alive. I smiled as I read that. Yes, indeed, writing my stories and my blogs does remind me that I'm alive... not just walking, talking and breathing, but my brain is fully functional. I am creating stories about human beings (with some aliens thrown in for good measure) who love and hate, suffer hurt, and experience joy. I find myself experiencing all of these things through my characters, and it makes me feel fully alive. As I write a reflection like this one, I'm working a different part of my brain, but I feel no less alive. I find the writing experience exhausting - not unlike my physical workout each day.
He goes on to say that writing is a gift. I can't argue that. I've had next to no formal training as a writer, and yet I seem to have this ability. Until recently, I have been a voracious reader - and I've always believed that readers write much better than non-readers. The validity of that belief was very obvious in my classroom.
Bradbury goes one step further and states that writing is a privilege. This is a specialized communication medium that I can use to share ideas, entertain or instruct. It really is a privilege to be given this precious gift of writing. I've always regarded "privilege" as one side of a coin, with the other side being "responsibility". As a writer, I have been gifted and have the privilege to write about what is in my mind and in my heart. My responsibility is to use the gift with care and with awareness, not just for my own gain, but also for the benefit of those who read my words. As Bradbury so aptly phrased it, “… writing is a gift, and a privilege, not a right.”
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The Reflections Book Trailer:
https://youtu.be/51jCOYUCI34
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An Amazon Review:
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a gift for the soul and a highly recommended read!
Reviewed in Canada on May 25, 2017
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Reflections by author Fioravanti is an absolute gem of a book. The author candidly shares his interpretations of 50 inspirational quotes by well-known and highly distinguished people, such as Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, and Anne Frank, just to name a few. The author articulates his thoughts so eloquently, with such candor and grace, it’s impossible not to look within and dare to reflect on our own thoughts and perceptions, without self-imposed judgment or fear.
I took my time reading this book, allowing myself to reflect and engage with my personal views. I have since revisited many of the 50 interpretations, and firmly believe this book will be one that will stay with me for years to come. I currently have the eBook version but will be treating myself to the printed version for sure.
This is a gift for the soul and a highly recommended read!
by Natalie Duce
AUTHOR BIO:
John Fioravanti is a retired secondary school educator who completed his thirty-five-year career in the classroom in June 2008. Throughout his career, John focused on developing research, analysis, and essay writing skills in his History classroom. This led to the publication of his first non-fiction work for student use, Getting It Right in History Class. A Personal Journey to the Heart of Teaching is his second non-fiction work; it attempts to crystallize the struggles, accomplishments, and setbacks experienced in more than three decades of effort to achieve excellence in his chosen field.
John’s first work of fiction is Passion & Struggle, Book One of The Genesis Saga, and is set within Kenneth Tam’s Equations universe (Iceberg Publishing). He claims that, after two non-fiction books, he’s having the time of his life bringing new stories and characters to life! Book Two is Treachery & Triumph.
At present, John lives in Waterloo, Ontario with Anne, his bride of forty-six years. They have three children and three grandchildren. In December of 2013, John and Anne founded Fiora Books for the express purpose of publishing John’s books.
JOHN’S LINKS:
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