Q and A

I recently received an email that started with:

“Perhaps you could write [] an explanation of your Journey book[.]”

This is an excellent idea, so I am doing that here. One reader asked:

“Why did you write this as fiction?”

In his mind, the teachings were better conveyed within a spiritual/metaphysical self-help type book. My answer is this: I specifically chose to write fiction (novels) so the teachings would not be directed at the reader. Most of you will probably not agree with all of the points of view in the book; isn’t it better to witness them and decide for yourself what to keep and what not too? Besides, I’m a skeptic myself. I’m not sure I believe everything I’ve read or heard or channeled or wrote.

Regarding the channeled material, I was asked:

“Why don’t you advertise that, btw?”

My first thought was to allow the channeling in Ra to be a surprise. I did advertise the book as an allegory, just not specifically channeled. I have channeled on my blog, so I figured some readers would suspect it. In Scribe, channeling starts pretty early in the story, so no need to be coy about it any longer.

One reader was surprised by the inclusion of sexuality in the book and asked if I had mentioned it to my blog readers. Again, I did not to allow it to be a surprise. My novels are not about sex, sexuality, or homosexuality, but each of these is touched upon.

My novels are meant to be realistic. Even the mystical/magical aspects are very close to experiences that I have had first hand. Yes, I have channeled. Yes I have had premonitions. Yes I have experienced telepathy. Yes, I have had visions. Yes, I have heard—clear as day—non-physical beings…even recently deceased humans. Yes, I have seen unexplained healing. I have tapped into cosmic consciousness even if only with the help of chemicals.

I expect that many people out there have experienced a bit of this or that. My hope is that they will resonate with the experience(s) portrayed in the books and maybe find words to describe them. I also hoped they would then be able to explore further the experiences that interested them.

This question is more about me, but fun to answer:

“Do you have a twin flame out there somewhere?”

There is one person in my life I thought could be my twin flame. I’m not so sure any more. I will say that this man is possibly as different from me as they come. He has challenged me repeatedly. I have experienced strong love, but stronger frustration in the friendship. But I have learned tons from the relationship…tons about life and tons about me. If he is my twin flame, he is my dipole—the yang to my yin, the smile to my frown.

I have taken creative liberty in my books for the sake of entertainment—another reason to write fiction rather than non-fiction, but it is all based on things real.

My books are not autobiographical, but the energetic and emotional experiences are often ones that I have had. I have been in many of the locations, but not all of them. Some characters are loosely modeled after people I know, others came out of nowhere. Many have written their own lines.

“Who was the audience you wrote for?”

This is a huge question! Even though I guessed the majority of my audience would be those who are into the New Age (or New Thought) movements, I didn’t write specifically for them. I wanted Journey to be an introduction to all things metaphysical. I wanted it to be for the emerging New Ager: a person who had experiences that they were maybe afraid to talk to others about. I wanted people to know that they are not alone in their experiences…not just the metaphysical ones, but the human ones…and the unpleasant ones.

When I read my own books, there are times when I cry for the characters. I feel bad for the pain they endure and the experiences in their past that they struggle with. And then there are those characters I wish were in my daily life, because they are bringers of joy.

I suspect that many of you have read channeled books. But have you ever read a story that contained channeling within it? Have you ever read of Tarot Readings that did something other then predict death, which RARELY happens in real life. How about energy work? Healers that are neither freaks nor doctors?

I’ll end with this question:

“Did you know including John’s sexuality would make some of your readers uncomfortable? Was that a reason to include it?”

There are a number of things in my books that can make someone uncomfortable: gay characters, abuse, sexual encounters, and statements that challenge one religious belief or another. In some cases, I did want to challenge my readers and in other cases, I was just being real and drawing from my own experiences…some of which were incredibly uncomfortable to me.

My books are not racy. They are not graphic. They are not arrogant. They are not meant to be gospel. They are meant to teach, to give hope, to inspire, and to expose you to things you may or may not have experienced (yet).

I started Journey in 2006. I wrote most of Scribe in 2011. Scribe takes just about everything to the next level. It benefits from all that I learned in the 9 years from 2006 to now. I can’t wait to hear people’s reactions to it.