A 22-year-old man from a Suffolk town has achieved a dream of his after releasing his debut book about self-help in a world dominated by social media.
Daniel Sillett, of Bury St Edmunds, recently published The Butterfly Garden after the idea of the book was first sown while he was at the University of Warwick.
A couple years later, he has now concluded his first journey of writing a book to his delight.
“It’s incredibly exciting and it is something I’ve dreamt about for a long time,” he said.
“It’s not an everyday thing to say you’ve written a book and I’ve been wanting to do it since middle school so to now have it in my hands is great and a really proud moment for me.
“Hopefully it will inspire other people as it has inspired me, as it has helped me through some tough times recently and helped me live life a bit differently.”
According to Daniel, who is now a political assistant and commentator, The Butterfly Garden (£9.99 and available on Amazon) is designed to be a life philosophy for everyone, helping people restore peace to their busy social lives.
The 215-page book recognises the challenges younger people in particular face growing up in a world dominated by social media.
Daniel appeared in several Youth Writers’ poetry and short story books when he was a pupil at Ixworth Middle School and wrote in several Youth View columns for the Bury Free Press whilst at King Edward VI school.
Despite this, the idea of writing a book scared him and after publishing his first book, he wants young people to know it is very possible to achieve their dreams.
“The prospect of writing a book used to seem very daunting and out of reach,” Daniel said.
“This was worsened by the fact I suffered with anxiety and chronically low self-confidence throughout most of my childhood and I was a very scared and frightened boy.
“But now I have done things that would have scared me to death back then, including speeches in front of thousands at political party conferences and being invited as a keynote speaker to high-profile university debates.”
Daniel has credited his parents and a former teacher for helping him in his journey of releasing The Butterfly Garden.
“I want to express my gratitude to my mum and dad who have been pivotal in everything I’ve done up to this point as it’s a very difficult and long process writing a book,” he said.
“I also want to shout out Sharon Shelley who is a former teacher of mine who has been encouraging me to write a book for years.
“We have kept in touch since A-levels and over university. Her support has got me to where I am today. I’m very grateful to her.”
Sharon won the Bury Free Press Teacher of the Year award in 2019.
She works at Abbeygate Sixth Form as a government and politics teacher.
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