Project Bear Trap
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My name is Russell James and I’m about to fail in the most public way possible.
• • •
Where do I start? Well, how about my obsessive need to be able to explain why I’m here on planet earth, as if some inspector is about to bust down my door and demand an explanation.
But also, like a lot of people, I’ve experienced some pretty great highs and some deep, deep lows that have, at their worst, taken me right to the edge. Some of those darkest moments have driven me to truly focus on what I care about, and what I believe in.
I’ve always known this, ever since being a kid, but it’s only been in the last ten years or so that I’ve been brave/stupid enough to really claim it you know?
Here’s my little mantra - what I want to achieve in some small way with my life. My purpose:
“To make art that makes other people feel less alone, and less terrified of the world, even for a moment.”
Who knows if I’ve ever succeeded but I know I’ve had plenty of failures.
So now, I’m 43, I’ve released two albums over the years, a few singles out there, some art on people’s walls, a single story published…and now I’m getting even more serious about what I want to achieve.
Maybe some of those things helped one person feel less alone. Maybe someone somewhere felt that the world became a little less scary. I don’t know but I know in my bones that I’m not done trying.
• • •
So this is my story. At this new starting line. And I’d love to share it with you.
This blog, and this site is all about my journey to become a full-time author. Songwriting is my other big love but that (for now) won’t be the story I’m telling here.
I’m trying to finish two things.
A collection of nine stories about Love & Death (I’m at seven)
A novel (I finished the first manuscript ten years ago and I’m now half way through version 386 or something)
I’ve also spent the last six months building this website in a way that I felt inspired me to share more. Instagram’s great for little song clips but not for reading a whole story. I made a note on my phone called Project Bear Trap, named after a story I was trying to finish, but felt disheartened that I had no good place to share it.
So that’s why this place exists. To inspire me to finish, to do my best, to show up to work.
Thanks for joining me on this little journey, I’ll share everything to anybody who will care to listen. I’ll talk about the weeks I rack up zero words a week, I’ll share the progress I’m proud of and the moments I summon up the courage to make big moves. Maybe even show up to an author’s networking event and pretend I’m not a total fraud.
So here goes.
Come and have a drink with me when you can buy my novel in Waterstones.
Deal?
Russell James ☂︎