I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Gui Ren is officially published and copies begin to arrive tomorrow…. Can we say, CELEBRATE!?
Click the image below to order your pre-sale exclusive! (Post left as originally posted, options for purchase may vary but you can still click to order ◡̈ ) 
I am so thrilled for you to take the adventure of Gui Ren: Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary People. It has been a long time in the making and it’s hard to believe it all started with this blog site. I was combing through Facebook posts the other night, trying to find the individual who commented, “If you wrote a book I would read it” because, truly, it made all the difference.
When I first found myself “stranded” in Asia, unemployed, heartbroken, and anxious about finding my new path, I hardly anticipated that anyone would find value in this story. I had failed; I was losing myself and my passion, and all the while devastated at the crumbling reality of my first post-graduate job. But looking back, I know now how transformative this experience has been. I see the people who helped shape my new journey, and the lessons in self-love and growth that I discovered along the way.
Gui Ren is about travel, love, vulnerability, and transformation. It is about the places that left me breathless and the people who changed my life forever.
Writing a book was no easy task; the lengthy editing sessions, strategic structuring of narratives, endless writing, design workshops, marketing consultations, never being able to shut my brain off, and the unbearable wait for my first proofs…. But it was all worth it. To say I am proud of Gui Ren would be an understatement. It has been my life’s focus for the last two years, and it is such a relief to finally share its story with you.
Giving your story to the world is an act of vulnerability and courage. And it is freaking terrifying. I know that not everyone who reads this book will set it down and walk away with the impact of what the experience truly meant to me. I know that each reader will have a different take-away. Some may love it, and some may consider it the worst piece of non-fiction they’ve ever read. But none of that matters to me; the story is yours now, and it will fit into your life as it needs to, even if that means it has no place to belong.
Being an author, particularly of non-fiction, means presenting your values, beliefs, and passions to someone and allowing them to form their own opinion. And that, my friends, is the beauty of storytelling. It wouldn’t be the art form it is without an unapologetic permission to interpret and connect with in whatever way the listener decides. It starts a conversation, opens channels of empathy and compassion, and celebrates even the most mundane of experiences as opportunities for growth.
So I want to thank you, person who commented so many months ago, for encouraging me to share my story in all its chaotic glory. And not in spite of, but rather in celebration of just how human of an experience it was. I hope there is a place in Gui Ren for your story, and moments in which you feel connected to its characters. I hope Gui Ren can serve as a celebration of human connection and reminder that there is always a choice in life.
Gui Ren is my story, but it is also yours. And your extraordinary story should be celebrated.
Order your pre-sale copy today (complete with an autograph and free bookmark in addition to other package options available), and join in the conversation by connecting with me on Instagram and submitting your very own experience with Gui Ren.
Thank you for your ongoing support and THANK YOU for sharing in this journey with me. I am eternally grateful ❤
eko
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[…] August, I published my first book, Gui Ren: Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary People, a heart-warming narrative about a dream-job gone wrong, […]
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