Hobbies are Life

We need hobbies or we go nuts.

Hobbies keep us engaged in something we enjoy. Otherwise, life is just school, school, work, work. We need something that brings a smile and reminds us – there’s more to life than running around from one deadline to the next.

My big hobby is writing.

Writing is therapeutic. It’s a solitary endeavor filled with introspection.

But the thing is, our world is loud and full of advice. Writing advice, particularly publishing advice, can take the fun out of writing. And the noise is constant. So, how do we manage?

Well, we write for ourselves. When we write for ourselves we write with passion and power. Most times, if the passion and power are there, the writing will be relatable to readers.

Five years ago, after many years of writing, I was offered a publishing contract. The mysterious world of publishing opened itself up to my curiosity, and a great new partnership began. I learned a lot about the publishing side of writing, and while beneficial, it took me away from the actual art of writing.

I almost lost myself in this new world of numbers and public relations. I like the public relations side better than the numbers side, but a publisher requires knowledge of both.

When my contract came up for renewal this year, I said: no more. I want to do it on my own, write and publish for myself, particularly since the next book in the series will be out next year.

Hence a new edition of STRANGER OR FRIEND was born, under new cover and with minor additions. A week from today, my newly selfied mystery novel will be out in the world.

Your humble correspondent offers the book trailer above, for what I hope is your enjoyment.

The Writerly Life — Booklover’s Heaven

 

In my pre-publication days, I thought completing a book and working with a publisher was the end of that particular road for me.

Slowly the realization dawned that while I have transitioned into being a published author, with a publisher, my work is far from over. And perhaps that’s how it should be. Only the author knows what went into creating the characters, the story. The author, then, should be the only spokesperson for the book.

I remember years back, when I would read an intriguing book, I’d flip to the author’s photo and imagine the interesting life she must lead to write such a story. I’d pay particular attention to the eyes. Not sure the eyes told me anything, but it was fun trying to connect the person in that photo with the story before me.

While I enjoy talking about my book, I am grateful to my publisher for taking care of the technical aspects: pricing, distribution. Thankful my publisher is sensitive to pricing, as I am amazed each time I see an e-book listed for nearly $20.

Thank God it’s not my job to look at numbers, units, and argue with distributors over ungodly practices, which my publisher often does on behalf of its authors. Or go after pirate sites. I admire those who have the patience to do so.

And so in the writerly spirit, I just completed two interviews for Stranger or Friend which will be published on two different blogs in the near future.

But wait … is there no end in sight to all this?

Maybe when the next book comes out. ♥  The next book … which I’m still researching.

And to end the post on a booklover’s note, I was told Stranger or Friend is featured on Booklovers Heaven today, in the mystery category (linked on the photo below). Oh, the joy.

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Image: fourcolumns.net, bookloversheaven.com

Creativity and Promotion

Creativity and promotion can coexist, but often butt heads.

As in my example. My publisher is running a promotion for my book, STRANGER OR FRIEND, (link here and book image, right side) and I totally forgot. To my defense, we had a big fire in the area yesterday, there were ashes everywhere, horrible traffic in every direction, and we could see the smoke and hear the water helicopters late into the night.

That aside, my wonderful publisher is running a promotion and the book is listed on several sites, Discounted Kindle Books and  Booklovers Heaven, so I thought I’d get myself organized and mention this wonderful event.

I was told the eBook is offered for $0.99 today, it goes to $1.99 tomorrow and $2.99 the day after.

And now that the bags are almost packed, we’re on our way to Coronado Island, finally.

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image: abcmedia

Do Parallel Universes Exist?

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of parallel universes, although I don’t read nearly enough science fiction; don’t write any. What brought it all back was my outlining the next Zoe Sinclair novel, the research involved in trying to get the story moving in a direction I feel more than know at this point.

After Stranger or Friend, the character reemerges with somewhat of a fractured psyche. We can’t walk though a dark forest, as Zoe did physically and emotionally toward the end of the book,  and resurface unscathed.  

But what does a broken psyche have to do with a parallel universe?

Well, according to physicists, we, the observers create our own reality. There is apparently overwhelming evidence, forcing physicists to admit that the universe is a “mental” construction. So, in real life, a person with a fractured psyche, someone like Zoe, would see the world differently, but maybe not for the reason we imagine.

First, let me take you to Susanna Kaysen’s memoir, Girl Interrupted, in which the author describes her “struggle to transcend across the boundary that separates her from two parallel universes: the worlds of sanity and insanity, security and vulnerability.”

Kaysen details “her existence as a patient diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder in a mental institution where time seems circular alongside a parallel universe where time is linear.” She describes “the reality of her situation and experiences, leaving her readers in a disturbing position of being suspended between the world she paints and the factual reality.”

Which leads to the question:  Does the patient suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder, or is it possible that by having suffered severe trauma she’s able to see into a parallel universe closed to the rest of us, the so-called sane?

The questions are too great to remain unexplored. And yet exploring them only leads to more questions.

I touched upon the idea of dream interpretation in Stranger or Friend, allowing my character to alleviate suffering by ‘dreaming’ of a long-lost relative, crossing into a different universe, if you will.

We often hear stories about people able to access different parts of their consciousness after severe trauma, or the ability to enter another self through transcendental meditation. But is that what it is, or are they accessing something else entirely?

Here is what scientists have to say about parallel universes:

“A fundamental conclusion of the new physics acknowledges that as observers we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality.”

Meaning that through perception we create our reality, and reality does not exist outside our thought process. And there are parallel realities all around, “universes were wars had different outcomes than the ones we know, species that are extinct in our universe have evolved and adapted.”

Physicist Sir James Jeans wrote: ‘The stream of knowledge is heading toward a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter, but the governor of the realm of matter.” – R.C. Henry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University.

I can easily get lost in such complexities, life is stressful enough already, but as writers, as thinkers, we can say this thought boggles the mind and yet, it is still comprehensible… well, almost.

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Images: http://www.flickr.com, galerie.designnation.de