Interrupting my normal posts about books and publishing to have a little fun today…
Here are 3 things you probably didn’t know about me
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#1 – Back when I was like 11 years old, I had tons of collections. Rock collection. Cactus collection. Comic book collection and baseball card collections.
I would ride my bike to the the next town over with a few dollars and a pocket full of change to get new editions. It felt like such an adventure
Then, one day there was a first-edition Superman comic book at the store. Oh man did I want that!
So, I negotiated and pestered the owner until he agreed to take my entire comic book and baseball card collection just for that first-edition Superman.
For extra security, I had my dad drive me there so no one would beat me up and take my Superman riding my bike home haha
If I were to draw a lesson from this now, it’s that when I see something I want I tend to go all-in.
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#2 – From age 13-23 music was my life. Electric guitar specifically. I would skip high school and learn Jimi Hendrix songs note-for-note.
I moved out at 18 to go to Los Angeles Music Academy, and my cover band The Rock N Roll Revue would get black “X’s” on our hands when we played shows on Sunset.
Then I lived in Vienna, Austria with another American guy Scott from age 19-20 and we played in the bars and clubs there, as well as on the street for tourists…learning the shifts of the police to make as money money as we could before getting chased away
It all culminated living in Nashville, TN on Music Row where I started my first business at age 21, Tabula Rasa Records (it means blank slate in Latin) for our rock band Harsh Krieger
Well, we released our album back in 2005 and it’s still available around the world today
Rock out to Harsh Krieger here on Spotify
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#3 – I won 3rd Place in the California Chinese Speech Contest in 2011
After my early life in music and a few goes at starting businesses, I ended up transferring to UC Berkeley at age 27 to complete my undergrad degree.
I minored in Chinese Language & Culture, which earned me two Summers studying abroad and diplomas from Beijing Normal University & National Taiwan University.
Back at Cal, my Chinese teacher encouraged me to entire the CA Chinese Speech contest, where I wrote and delivered a 5-minute speech in front of a panel of Chinese teacher judges.
Well it all worked out for the best, and here I am celebrating with my teacher and friend who won 1st place.
So there you have it, 3 things you probably didn’t know about your favorite publisher 🙂
Tell me something most people don’t know about you in the comments!
~ Jesse
Most people do not realize there are hair olympics and made my way on the US National Team when I was 19 and took 5th in Sydney Australia
I write too, but most of my works come from my dreams (that sounds crazy now that I’m talking about it).
Anyway, I get glimpse of things in my dream and I develop them into a book.
I also write poems; And I want to publish my books someday; And make a positive impact in someone’s life (not necessarily through my books).
Jesse. I lived a similar type of life. However what might interesting to you is that
1. I also purchased a lot of comic books and collected them for a little while. I also have done a lot of gigs in music, lived in Nashville, and traveled overseas because of my music career.
2. I spent most of my youth in college and university settings. I’m still planning to get more ed.
3. I purchased lots of technical books through memberships in book clubs, until I had my own private library. That’s my pride and joy.
4. I collected hardback books with black covers for a long time. I was only mediocre at this.
5. I’m an accomplished book binder. I make bound notepads for arts and crafts and sell them online for income.
6. I need a house big enough for me and my library.
7. I want my own house back! It’s where me and my business grew up. People started trying to force me out of it. They eventually got violent, and nearly destroyed my library.