Hey everyone!
I am so thrilled to make what might be one of the biggest announcements of my career:
I WROTE A BOOK!!!
This project has been over two years in the making. Back in March 2022, my friend Paul Pastor (who is an extremely talented poet, author, & editor in the publishing world) called me with excitement in his voice. It went something like this: “Stephen! I’ve just gotten out of a meeting with Ink & Willow, the gift book imprint here at WaterBrook/Multnomah, and they are wanting to create a nature-based photo-book with stories. I showed them your Instagram feed, & they want to talk to you. This call is just to gauge your interest. So… would you be interested in writing a book featuring your drone photography?”
Y’all… I am dead serious when I say that I did NOT have this on my bingo card. At all. And to be honest, at first I just wanted to work on the visual part of the book & focus on the photos, while someone better at writing (like Paul) could work on the written portion. But after some gentle encouragement, I wrote a sample chapter. And then a book deal was signed. And next thing you know, an entire book was written! And then began to process of curating & editing all of my best photos from around the world.
I even gained an agent in the process! Her name is Whitney Gossett, & she is both amazing & hilarious! And to top it all off, my spiritual hero & creative mentor, Makoto Fujimura, agreed to write the Foreword. I am both stoked & humbled to have such an incredible team of people come around me to help bring this book to your coffee table!
But while all of this is a dream come true, most of you know that 2023 was the worst year of my life. As soon as the bulk of the book was written, my mom suffered a health crisis that ended up taking her life. It was very unexpected. My last normal conversations with her were about this book & how the writing process was going. She was the biggest source of encouragement & prayer throughout the early stages of this project… and that’s why I decided to dedicate it to her. Her prayers brought this book to fruition. But I am still heartbroken that she will never get a chance to see it with her own eyes and to hold it in her hands.
So yeah… the last year has been filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And yet, that’s so much of what the book is about. From listening to the sounds of nature by the ocean, to exploring grief by looking to the hidden life of the forest floor… from drinking tea while learning to have peace like a river, to seeking silence & attuning our ears to the songs of glaciers… all leading to a mountaintop experience where we can behold the beauty of Earth from a heavenly perspective: Wild Wonder is an invitation to slow down & to see Creation through a new lens. And to hopefully offer a new perspective on how to live a life of peace in the midst of a noisy, chaotic and hurting world.
And I am so excited to invite you on this spiritually-rich, contemplative adventure through some of the wildest landscapes on this blue planet!
Wild Wonder will be released September 3, 2024. And you can pre-order your copy today!
In fact, if you pre-order before September 3rd, I’ll send you two gifts:
One is an exclusive collection of digital wallpapers for your devices. This is a collection of 10 photos from the book, formatted for your phone, iPad & laptop/desktop computer.
The 2nd gift is an early access/private link to “Music for Wild Wonder.” This is the 1st of 6 music playlists curated for the book, which serves as an overall soundtrack for Wild Wonder. (Available on Music & Spotify.)
Simply go to proktr.com/book and pre-order from your favorite retailer. Then fill out the form at the bottom of the page. Once you submit the form, you’ll be directed to a page where you can download the wallpapers & gain access to the music playlist.
Thank you all so much for being with me on this journey. And I can’t wait to take you on this new adventure beginning September 3rd!!
Peace be with you,
Stephen Proctor
P.S. You might have noticed, but I’ve updated the name of this newsletter to “Wild Wonder”, as this will become an extension of the book. This newsletter will continue to feel the same, though it might be a little more frequent, especially as we get close to the book’s release. I promise not to flood your inbox too much though. 🙃
Announcing My First Book!