Home
>
Success
>
Dare to Dream...and Dream Big

Dare to Dream...and Dream Big

Dare to Dream~

It is said that every person has at least one good story in them! Some people are gifted to have more than one.

Do you know a future writer ? someone who dreams of writing fiction, poetry, or short stories? Maybe that future writer is?you! If you dream of writing, then why not write?

Why not Dare to Dream?and Dream BIG?

There once was a young girl who dreamed of becoming a writer. Her goal was to become the next Stephen King?or 'Stephanie', at least. When she was about 16, she started writing a novel. It took her over a year to complete it and at 17, she tried to find a publisher. She submitted query letters, partial manuscripts?and her dreams, for other people to judge. She received rejection letter after rejection letter.

The first strike against her was that she had very few published works ? a few town articles in a small local paper were her only credit. The second strike against her was that she was Canadian, struggling to get into a predominantly American market. 95% of the major, big-league publishing companies were American. She hit a brick wall ? hard.

For the next few years, she wrote mostly poetry until she submitted a health and beauty article and landed another column in a small newspaper. And then a year or so later she ended up in a New Brunswick newspaper, as the writer of a song dedicated to the Gulf War soldiers. This was the first indication that she had power ? power to influence people's emotions, to make them feel something.

Years passed as she struggled to find a way to make her dream come true, to be that writer. She continued to write, took a course in journalism/short story writing and graduated with a 98% average. She wrote two children's books, complete with illustrations and tried desperately to get them published. They became her 'babies', her creations. Her children's books were well received in schools when she did readings, but no one seemed interested in publishing them. After two years of more brick walls, she gave up trying. Her dream dissipated?died a slow death.

More years went by, until one day she was talking to a friend about a story she had always wanted to write. It was a story about a young girl who experiences a tragedy and loses part of her memory ? a tale about killer whales and native legends. It was a story about wolves and dreams, love and life, death and fear?but mostly it was a story about triumph and forgiveness. Her friend told her "You need to just WRITE it! Even if it never gets published, write it for YOU!" Her friend was right!

Dream BIG~ If my friend had not encouraged me to write "Whale Song" then I would have let an awe-inspiring story slip away, lost in self-doubt! I would be at home, working a J.O.B., giving up on my Dream.

Whale Song was more than a story to me?it was my inspiration. It played itself out like a movie in my head. The story haunted me for two years until I finally began writing it. Once I sat down to write, the story flowed as if I wasn't even there. Some stories simply demand to be told, and this was one of them.

Then came the brick wall: how to get it published.

I knew of two options: find a reputable publishing company and get them to notice my novel out of the hundreds of manuscripts they receive, or self-publish.

The problem with traditional self-publishing is that those companies expect you to fork out thousands of dollars so they can run a huge print job with hundreds or thousands of copies that you have to warehouse yourself, in a basement or storage unit. And then you are left on your own to sell/market your books. Who has $20,000 to throw away?

Six weeks after I started writing Whale Song, I located a Canadian publisher via a search on the Internet. Trafford Publishing is a Canadian company with offices in 5 countries, Canada, the US, Ireland, Spain and the UK. They are on the cutting edge of a process called POD ? Print on demand. Trafford offers a form of self-publishing, but the difference is that they help promote, sell and advertise your work. As with any business (and a writer is his/her business) there is an investment, but it was unbelievable SMALL compared to what I received. Trafford made it POSSIBLE to finally realize my Dream?but it hasn't stopped there!

I have been featured in local newspapers, on TV, and have used Whale Song to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Edmonton.

Whale Song has grown beyond a simple novel?it is BIGGER than my original dream. Why? Because I live my motto: Dare to Dream?and Dream BIG!

Do you have a dream? Dare to dream it! No matter what it is, whether to be a writer, an artist, the next Canadian Idol or a doctor. Then take that dream?and Dream BIG!

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cheryl Kaye Tardif, Canadian author, was recently nominated for the prestigious Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award. Tardif's debut novel, Whale Song, is currently being considered for a film option, and her latest novel, Divine Intervention, has been compare to J.D. Robb's (Nora Roberts) 'In Death' series.

Tardif has appeared on Global, Shaw TV (Red Deer and Edmonton), RDTV, CFRN, and A-Channel. She has been interviewed on CJSR radio and New Age Radio (Illinois), and she has appeared in magazines and newspapers in Canada and the US, including a recent articles in Real Estate Weekly (http://www.rewedmonton.ca) and California Chronicle (http://www.rewedmonton.ca)

Tardif is the owner of BookAdz.com, a promotional website for US and Canadian writers. She is also the creator of A.F.T.E.R. ~ Authors For Tsunami-Earthquake Relief, an organization that raised money for the tsunami survivors.

For more information on Cheryl Kaye Tardif: http://www.rewedmonton.ca http://www.rewedmonton.ca http://www.rewedmonton.ca http://www.rewedmonton.ca

cleaning help near Mundelein ..

In The News:

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

Dare to Dream...and Dream Big

Success