The Road Less Traveled

Do you have a curious mind? Want to find out what’s underneath rocks? In dark caves? In forbidden rooms? Me, too. Oh, wait, did you say, No? Well think about this. If we don’t test ourselves, challenge ourselves, go into unfamiliar places, try hard things, uncomfortable things, then we atrophy. And we miss wonderful opportunities for love, life, happiness—even wealth.

As soon as you begin putting up walls in your thinking, nothing new can get in, and that may well be to your detriment. As goes the mind, so goes the body. That’s a coraism. (I decided I needed to start coining my sayings. Ha! Even though that’s been said in different words--nothing new under the sun and all that)

So, with this as my philosophy, I challenged myself this year by taking on a couple of different studies and a pinch of adventure—I love adventures. Don’t you? As a result, I have a new perspectives and new ideas feeding my writing brain and my life.

The first part of 2015, I took on shamanic journeying. The whole drumming, traveling with spirit guides to learn a different kind of wisdom than this world has to offer, thing. If you’re already thinking I’ve got a screw loose, or maybe you think I’m consorting with evil spirits—that’s the kinds of walls I’m talking about. See paragraph #1 & 2. Open your mind! (And read on to learn what else I’ve been up to)

So what did I glean from that? New, fresh ways to view the world around me—and how to look and deal with situations (in life and in writing) in new ways. I saw the walls I had put up around parts of myself, learned new techniques to tear those down and bring into focus the strengths and powers I had hidden in dark rooms (hey, I’m a poet and metaphor is my go-to whenever I get into areas where there are few words . . ..

This was probably why I didn’t blog much this year (I really love Anne Allen’s term, ‘slow blogging.’  (Don’t run yourself ragged trying to blog every week if you have nothing to say that’s useful—another coraism) Sometimes, I feel like I don’t know much. And when I feel like that, I don’t blog. You don’t need to hear my ramblings when I ramble.

Next, I began classes with Tai Lopez on getting what you want out of your life and career—even get rich if that’s what you want. And you know what? It wasn’t a scam. (Go back to paragraph #2.)  I’m learning to view the world differently—relate to it differently. I actually see progress in the way I’m thinking . . . and, it has strengthened my creativity, my writing, and my health.

And, I had two mini adventures this year as well. The RWA (Romance Writers of America) had a conference in San Diego which I attended. It was okay—I learned stuff. 

Doug Richardson, Gene Perret, Jonathan Maberry on panel of 6

But the Central Coast Fiction Writer’s Conference at Cuesta College this past month was totally amazing. The talent was over-the-top! My head is spinning with all the new information. I can’t go into all the speakers that gave me more than my money’s worth, so--

I’ll pick one, Jonathan Maberry (NYT best-selling author who writes horror).

What did I learn from him? I learned I have a bit of the horror genre in me! It’s been there all along and I didn’t recognize it as that. My short stories reflect it (in the anthology, Valley Fever, Where Murder is Contagious, free on Kindle Unlimited right now). I even use the tagline on this blog that I write stories of romance and, “suspense that straddles the edge-whether that edge is the paranormal, a deadly decision or the place where science ends and magic resides.”

How can I be a horror writer if I’m writing Romance and Romantic Suspense? (see that last word—yup, it’s in there—genre crossover. When ‘suspense’ comes to mind, so does Hitchcock). And I even had one short story on line in the erotic horror genre. I surprised myself with that one.

“The more pervasive the paranormal is, the more you fall into horror,” Maberry states. . . and ghost stories aren’t necessarily horror.

Define horror? Maberry points out that when he gets together with other horror writers, even the experts can’t agree on a definition. For him it’s, “whatever makes us afraid and gets a reaction.” 

The horror genre diminished in the 1980s when it began to get into extreme horror; movies concentrating on blood and pain (focused on women and children). Many people were turned off and stopped buying into it and the horror genre tanked. Publishers stopped buying it.

But serious writers then began writing under supernatural thriller, suspense, and crossover fiction (Urban fantasy, dark fantasy, sci-fi—think Stephen King; he writes to the mainstream audience but with elements of sci-fi, fantasy and horror). 

And don’t belittle the horror genre. The Road by Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer for literary fiction and was horror.

Lest I get too far astray, I won’t go on about the horror markets and Maberry’s advice for writers (unless enough people want to know more and tell me in the comments below).

Needless to say, all these experiences this year have affected me and my writing—deeply. And it’s only September. Can’t wait to see what Oct., Nov., and Dec. will bring!

Keep tearing down those walls that keep you from your good.

Were there any walls you tore down this year that you can share?  I’d love to hear about them.

Does Erotica Shock You?

Today I am over on Romance and Beyond, talking about,"How did you know writing erotica was right for you?" In the post I am announcing:

The first book in the DANCE series has a new cover and a new publisher, Black Opal Books.

Dance the Dream Awake

To be released on May 9, 2015

 

Can a past life intrude into a present one to right wrongs and fulfill desires yet unsatisfied?

 

Tessa Harper’s relentless nightmares are driving her to fall apart in her present day life as co-owner of an art gallery in San Francisco. She is experiencing a Mayan sacrifice night after night that defies a modern solution. 

Seeking relief, she decides on a vacation to Mexico in a house by the ocean on the Yucatan Peninsula. On the way she meets three men. Which one can she trust? Will she have to lose the one she’s fallen in love with to find her answers?

The third man, her neighbor, takes Tessa to a party given by the 'loco gringa' and she meets two curanderas, native medicine women. They force her onto a path that shakes up her view of reality and initiates some astounding revelations that get to the heart of her nightmares. 

The seemingly innocuous beads Tessa mysteriously acquired before her trip, a Mayan dig in the jungle, a black market of ancient artifacts and an unexpected love—all have a tie to that ancient past that ratchets up the heat before the dream is danced awake. 

*

The next book in the DANCE series is an erotic love story set in ancient Japan, called Haiku Dance. It will be released later this year, hopefully late summer. 

To learn more about how I came to write erotica, visit  Romance and Beyond on the subject, on Friday, March 27, 2015.

*

Do you read erotica?  Write it? 

In the words of Mae West, "Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often."

Dance the Dream Awake - Snippet

I'm joining the Weekend Writing Warriors today to share a snippet of my novel Dance the Dream Awake:

*

I was flat on my back when I came to with Louisa was looking down at me, her eyes like black pools with no bottom—windows into another time.

“You have something that must be completed, a loose string that must be tied up and imperative to your happiness. We cannot talk now, but soon,” she said while closing my eyelids with the tips of her fingers.

When I opened them again, Nick was kneeling over me, calling my name and patting my cheek. I raised up on one elbow and asked, “What happened?”

“The curanderas were drinking some sort of psychotropic mixture and you barely had a few sips before passing out.”

“Did you pass out, too?”

“No, but it’s been a very interesting two hours.”

*

DANCE THE DREAM AWAKE: Romantic Suspense with paranormal elements.

Visit and see more snippets by other authors at the Weekend Writing Warrior site. 

Is Greatness Relative or a Theory?

Metaphysical books of old talk of the Akashic Record where everything that has ever existed (past and future) is recorded. Those able to tap into it can bring forth information that in their logical mind they could not possibly know. It is believed that Nostradamus accessed this knowledge and was able to write his predictions for events still unfolding today.

But if you don’t subscribe to Nostradamus predictions, how about Einstein, Tesla, great prophets of the world or any number of geniuses who believed they got their ideas in some form of meditation or quiet mind activity?

I was watching the History Channel while making dinner the other night and this subject matter caused me to stop and take notes. On my blog I sometimes hint at my closet metaphysical side. You might have guessed that my mind wanders to those things in the universe that cannot be proved—yet. So when the History Channel updated what science can now prove, I was thrilled.

With my layman’s mind I will lay it out as I understand it. The zero point field—where everything exists—is now more clearly understood. The dimensions (string theory or bubble theory) are connected and sometimes overlap (they may be moving slowly into each other). Maybe when they overlap, we get a view into something so totally other from what we normally know—or maybe a peek into another time.

It is proven that space and time are flexible (Einstein) and that some people can access the grid, the zero point field (the matrix) through meditation, a déjà vu experience, dreams or some form of altered or quiet state—a transcendental moment in the mind.

Within the hidden dimensions may lie the extra-terrestrials who seem to slip in and out of view and maybe travel through time, whether through a worm hole or some other time slip we have yet to uncover.

Maybe it is not so far-fetched to believe that some people can access the Akashic Record-or whatever you want to call the knowledge of the universe.

People who claim to have seen angels, guides, or extra-terrestrials may not be imagining a non reality, but instead may be seeing a reality not yet here or in a different dimension—a form of remote viewing while in communication with some type of other-worldly energies.

Great mystics have part of their being in this reality and in another dimension at the same time in order to bring us the ideas and information we need to evolve.

Einstein’s favorite book, Madam Blavatsky’s Isis Unveiled, is uber metaphysical and had a great influence on him. Using his ‘psychic’ ability he ‘found’ or formed the theory of relativity. He was adept at putting himself in altered state—remaining in that altered space for hours while exploring new ideas (Like asking, ‘if you sat on a beam of light what would you experience?’ His theory, thus gleaned, allows for the possibility of time travel).

He was able to tune into the nature of the universe, and by not limiting himself, saw things in a different, mystical way. Whether it was the Akashic Record, the zero field or some form of bubble theory, he brought the future closer. His 4 papers were done in one year. (Annus Mirabilis papers) 

Einstein had extraordinary gifts, a genius by our standards, but he was not the only one.

Socrates, who was considered strange in many ways in his day, spent his time day-dreaming, caught in the grip of a thought or idea for hours on end. His peers said he had extraordinary endurance-able to access a being who gave him information; a bridge between the physical and the metaphysical realm.

Who else? Leonardo DiVinci. He looked at a candle flame while lying down for hours.

Puccini said his creations came from divine source. 

Brahms believed his works came from beyond; something other than himself.

Tesla-the driving force behind today’s wireless technologies, wrote of powerful visualizations where he could envision machines in minute detail. He believed he was in contact with other worldly beings. He wrote of  ‘. . . a message from another world. It reads 1,2,3.’ And he was obsessed with the number three in his work.            

The universe is far more complex than we think. Einstein was said to have a different brain than the normal man, but did he have it to begin with, or did he develop it through his form of meditation?

Are certain people (geniuses), born at certain times to access the cosmos and give us the needed leap into the future, or is it possible we limit ourselves and so do not achieve our own greatness?

What do you think?

A Peek at the Past

I am posting today over at Sherry Isaac's blog, Psychological Sizzle. 

Check out the incident that led to the writing of my new novel coming out this winter, 
Dance The Dream Awake, about a past life breaking through to this one. 

Connections

Crop Circles and a Mayan messenger

When I began my last blog on the Maya, I wanted to talk about their system of math, but decided it was too long to include in that post.

Then I viewed Kim Griffin’s blog: http://thefitnessmoms.com/2012/01/30/red-strings-connect-us/ “Introducing Mathematical Monday, a time to explore numbers and patterns and their place in the universe.”

It inspired how I would focus on Mayan math for this post. Without giving a long explanation of their system, I’ve included a chart that is self-explanatory: dots=ones, bars=fives and a shell symbol for 0. It is a base 20 system unlike our base 10 system.

These numbers can be seen on many stela in the Yucatan documenting dates of important occurrences (past and future events—like an important battle by a chieftain, a birth date, or the beginning and end of their cycle that began in 3114 BC., etc.)

On July 5, 2009 there was a crop circle that appeared near Silbury Hill in southern England that floored me. I immediately saw the distinctive Mayan numbers within this crop circle. 

I calculated the numbers but couldn’t make any sense of it—I thought it might have to do with the Dec. 21, 2012 end date (which is not the end of the world-merely the end of a cycle and we don’t know what that means; we can only speculate), but it wasn’t. I put it out of my mind knowing that sooner or late someone would figure it out.

Enter:

http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/anasazi/time2010f.html

I will let those interested, go to this site and peruse all the connections the author has made in detail. One connection is the date a comet came near earth around 32 BC and of the comet expected this year of 2012.

http://news.discovery.com/space/will-earthbound-comet-fulfill-2012-prophecy.html (nearly 300 million miles away and barreling toward us. The intruder from deep space, called comet Elenin, crosses Earth's orbit on its inbound leg and again on its outbound swing around the sun later this year.)

Does this indicate that another cycle is closing? And what of the unmistakable symbols in this crop circle for the legendary Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent messenger? Is he returning this year?

Agreed, you will leave this post with more questions than answers, but maybe it will stimulate your creativity like red string theory and the “coincidences” all around us.

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break.

Not limited to lovers (the subject of my novel that dips into that Mayan past) it means all the connections in the universe—so a crop circle in England is somehow tied to the plumed serpent (Quezalcoatl) and the math of the Maya indicating comets coming toward earth, beginning and ending cycles and . . . 

What does it all mean? What do you think?

Fear Can Bite You In The Book

Sometimes I fight with myself at being a perfectionist. Not in all areas, mind you—I’m selective. My house is not spotless—dust isn’t a bad thing I tell myself, after all, the world is full of it and some of it is bound to get in so why waste all my time fighting it. My car seems to be a magnet for dust, leaves and bird droppings. My office is messy—but organized—I know which pile holds what. Tradeoffs. I rationalize that creativity is messy.

But when it comes to my novel, I am never satisfied that it is good enough. Partially because I am timid of what people will think of it and partially because I know it could be better (anybody’s writing could be better). It boils down to fear. My novel is not perfect. Logically I know it will never be perfect—after all the times I have rewritten it and perfected it ad nauseum, I always find something else to improve. At some point I’ve had to say, enough! It’s as good as I can make it and it’s time to get it out there.

           

I am now onto the next stage—building a platform (one of the new key words for writers along with brand, blog and Twitter) and I’m on the lower end of the learning curve. Now we get to the 1^st lesson question (from Kristen Lamb's blog http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/  -see my previous blog for details) that helps define me as a writer:

What kind of author am I? After careful analysis I define myself (at this present moment—because my perfectionist self is telling me I could be clearer, better, smarter, etc.) as follows:

            (Attempting to be) An engaging story teller. I bring the unexpected, the twist, or a surprise at the edge of reality. I define what I write as paranormal; “not in accordance with scientific laws or denoting events or phenomena beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding.” I don’t define paranormal narrowly, as some do, as werewolf and vampire stories (although there’s nothing wrong with those—I just finished reading a fascinating werewolf story myself). My goal as a writer is to intrigue you; weave a tale you can’t put down and get you thinking about possibilities.

           

Some of my favorite fiction writers this year are:

Dan Brown (he pulls you through a story at breakneck speed)

Mystery writers Lee Child & Robert Crais (engaging, sexy protagonists with a bit of humor)

Suzanna Kearsley (historical past life/time shift with romantic elements)

Erin Morgenstern (mystical, magical world).

-All have the ability to grab or engage your attention and keep you reading. The latter two would fit my definition of paranormal.

           

I would love to know what authors grab your attention and keep you reading. Have you read paranormal stories? Do you like them?

* The werewolf series I just finished was by Nicky Charles and are free downloads to your e-readers. The first in the series was not as well written but very engaging. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10394

           

#coraramos #writer #fiction #paranormal #blog