Theresa Crater

April 4, 2017

Visionary Writer Dana Taylor

Please welcome Dana Taylor, 2014 winner in the Indie Spiritual Book Awards. Dana writes visionary nonfiction.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

At this point in life, I’d say I’m a spiritual adventurer with a good sense of humor. I was blessed with a long marriage and two daughters, who are now busy raising their families. After my husband died suddenly four years ago, I had to start a whole new, single life. I’m now living in Hawaii and loving it. Besides the tropical weather, beautiful beaches, and green volcanic hills, I love the spiritual freedom here. I take classes in energy healing, Hawaiian traditions, and meet people from all over the world.

I’ve been a Reiki master for a few years and have been fascinated by what I call “supernal living” or multidimensional living. Prayer and meditation has become a daily practice that has opened up awareness of energies and spiritual connection. I follow my intuitive guidance and see what adventures each day might bring.

Please tell us about your latest book.

Supernal Adventures: Exploring the New Normal of Multidimensional Living grew out of a series of notebooks I kept over the course of ten years. In 2005 my friend, Paula, was healed through Reiki energy healing of a supposedly incurable, miserable disease called RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome). Rather than simply taking that as a “miracle,” she and her sister, Sue, and I decided to explore energy healing, quantum physics, alternative medicine and related subjects to learn more about what actually happened to Paula. That began a remarkable journey and amazing experiences for the three of us. As a writer, I felt compelled to record what I witnessed in journals. Over the course of time, I realized we had been exploring many areas or esoteric study–energy healing, past life therapy, pre-life planning, channeling and several more. Supernal Adventures uses our personal experiences captured in the notebooks as the thread to explore these subjects that may be new to many readers.

Does this book fit into a series? What is the focus of that series?

Yes, this is book two of the “Supernal Living” Series. Book One, Ever-Flowing Streams: Christ, Reiki, Reincarnation and Me is my personal spiritual memoir. My own startling Reiki healing forced me to develop a whole new world view. We’re living in a time when people are breaking through old thinking and seeking spiritual growth. Supernal Living books are part of the growing genre of visionary writing.

What’s next for you?

I’m sure Hawaii will be a major influence in the next book. My journaling continues with experiences, poems, and vivid impressions. The next book hasn’t quite yet risen from the depths of my psyche, but I’m sure it is starting to take form at some level. In the mean time, I am enjoying the Aloha spirit.

To learn more, please visit my website, Supernal Living with Dana Taylor

Purchase Links:

Supernal Adventures: Exploring the New Normal of Multidimensional Living http://amzn.to/1SjNCFR US

http://amzn.to/2mOYodz UK

Ever-Flowing Streams: Christ, Reiki, Reincarnation and Me

http://amzn.to/1a0dW63 US

http://amzn.to/QRsLuA UK

March 21, 2017

Visionary Fiction Writer Rea Nolan Martin

Please welcome Rea Nolan Martin, Visionary Fiction author and contributor to the Huffington Post. You’ll find her books enlightening and entertaining!

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I live on the banks of the Hudson River overlooking Manhattan. Thanks to the vision of John D. Rockefeller, our home abuts 20 miles of protected parkland. Even though human activity abounds across the river, on this side we entertain a menagerie of wildlife on our portico every morning. It’s an inspiring place to write, which I’ve been doing here and at various other locations through four decades, 5 dogs (current one named Spirit), two children (now young men), and one husband who have all made space for my overactive imagination. I am also a lover of music, physics, world religions, and a deep, personal spirituality which I nurture daily through prayer, practice, and the writing of Visionary Fiction.

How did you become interested in Visionary Fiction?

Like most visionary authors, I had no idea I was writing Visionary Fiction, per se. I just wrote about the experiences that informed my life. My first published book, The Sublime Transformation of Vera Wright, is about an ordinary woman in her sixties, a beautician, who answers her pastor’s simple suggestion to surrender her life to God. What follows is a carnival ride through the spiritual realm, complete with levitation, bi-location, teleportation, lucid dreams, and all the terror and hilarity those experiences infer for the average person. Vera is squeezed through her experience like toothpaste, which for me at least is a critical element of successful storytelling. By the end of her harrowing adventures, she is transformed into something entirely different. Transformation is the reason I tell stories, and also, I believe, the reason for our existence. Some of us enter into this sacred contract willingly and consciously, while others, like Vera, have to be squeezed through a tube.

My next book, Mystic Tea, is about a loosely held-together group of nuns on a monastery in upstate NY, who have gotten lost in belief systems that no longer apply. Through the alchemy of a recovering teenage addict who finds her way to the monastery, they find authentic spirituality that redefines their lives personally and collectively. The juxtaposition of this wild teenager with the older cloistered nuns provided me with months and months of comedy, as well as eye-popping opportunity for personal growth.

The Anesthesia Game, Visionary Fiction book # 3, is about a teenager with a critical illness whose treatments subject her to weekly anesthesia. Instead of sleeping under this influence, however, she is instead able to slowly expand her awareness into other realms. Through this perilous practice, she is eventually able to identify the ancient source of her illness, as well as the karmic conflict that has besieged her family for generations.

My most recent book, Walking on Water contains 32 inspirational essays, a collection of insights designed to illuminate a spiritual path in a confusing world. Some of these essays were previously published in Huffington Post.

I found out about the burgeoning (yet ancient) genre of Visionary Fiction when my second book, Mystic Tea won the Independent Publishers’ (IPPY) gold award in 2014. (The Anesthesia Game won the same award in 2016.) The VF designation made complete sense to me once I accessed the VFA (Visionary Fiction Alliance) website and saw the other books and authors identified in that genre. Personally, I define VF as a powerful means of interpreting the new world order, providing it with, among other things, a unique and much needed vocabulary. VF sees the world through an expansive lens concomitant with the rapid spiritual awakening of our times. Before VF I defined my books as Metaphysical, Spiritual, or Mystical. But Visionary is more precise, since some aspect of every story I’ve written has been prescient, manifesting a critical aspect months or years after its writing. And like many VF authors will no doubt tell you, the writing of these books is more than a little hair-raising for its creators. As our characters are pushed and pulled through the cosmic tube, so are we, forced like bulbs into early blooming as a result of our attempts to awaken others. There’s a price for going first.

If your book were chocolate, what would it be?

Organic dark chocolate with a jalapeno cream center. Lots of twists and surprises, including humor, which I think is unexpected in this genre, but shouldn’t be.

Does this book fit into a series.

No. My characters like to go it alone.

How did you prepare to write this book?

The central character in The Anesthesia Game is a critically ill teenage girl with a sweet nature and strong connection to the mystical world. Many years ago, one of my sons was extremely ill, and I was able to draw from that experience enough to create authenticity in the clinical (and family) environments. None of the book is remotely autobiographical, however. I just believe that an experience as deep as that cannot be adequately conjured through academic research. Since I knew the harrowing path it took, I felt it would help others if I expressed its essence in easy-to-absorb storytelling form, instead of a lecture.

How does this book fit into your real-life interests?

Aside from the particular experience of my son’s illness, I have an odd penchant for acquiring lots of medical information, both conventional and unconventional, and storing it. Some of it was acquired through years of intensive caretaking, but at this point in my life it would be foolish not to admit that I have a somewhat photographic memory for medical information. (A past life?) This would also apply to physics, metaphysics, and spiritual traditions. This affinity, combined with a hearty storyteller archetype, explains me and my career.

What are you working on right now?

I’m currently writing a story about two elderly sisters in a confounding situation surrounding their family funeral home. They are cracking me up. Enough said.

LINKS:

www.reanolanmartin.com

www.facebook.com/reanolanmartinauthor

https://www.amazon.com/Anesthesia-Game-Rea-Nolan-Martin/dp/0991032225/

https://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Tea-Rea-Nolan-Martin/dp/0991032217/

https://www.amazon.com/Sublime-Transformation-Vera-Wright-ebook/dp/B009NNHP9O/

https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Water-Rea-Nolan-Martin-ebook/dp/B01EQM864E/

March 7, 2017

Visionary Fiction Writer Maighread MacKay

Please welcome Maighread MacKay, an author and Podcaster from Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Writer’s Community of Durham Region (WCDR), Visionary Fiction Alliance (VFA) and Sisters in Crime, Toronto (SINC).

Her publishing credits include three books for children: Bedtime Treasures, The Mysterious Door and the Crystal Grove written under the name of Margaret Hefferman. Stone Cottage was published in 2015 by Solstice Shadows Publishing. She was included in the 2015 Christmas Soup for the Soul: Merry Christmas edition with her story “Being Santa”. Stepping Stones, an anthology of inspirational parables released March 25, 2016 from Solstice Publishing. A new story, “Once Upon a Midsummer’s Eve” is included in the Solstice anthology of Let’s Have Fun, released June 21, 2016. Her story, “A Unique Vessel” was included in the Chicken Soup for the Soul, Curvy and Confident anthology, released December 27, 2016.

How did you become interested in Visionary Fiction?

Ghosts, spirits and things that go bump in the night. Ancient mysteries and the riddles of our vast universe. Questions – lots of fascinating questions about the reality of our cosmos. Are there other dimensions or planes of existence? Are they inhabited? Do our parallel universes ever converge? Angels, Spirit Guides. Are they real? Can we communicate with them? What about other entities such as the Fae, Unicorns, or Dragons? Could they exist? What happens when we die? Has the soul that inhabits our body been here before? Why would we come back? What about animals? What happens to them when they die?

These questions have led me on a journey of investigating Christian Mysticism, Yogic Spirituality, Native Theology, Wicca, Celtic Shamanism, Quantum Physics, the Realm of the Fae and many other related topics.

How do you define VF?

To me, besides telling a good story, VF enlightens and encourages readers to expand their awareness of greater possibilities. It helps them see the world in a new light and recognize dimensions of reality they commonly ignore.

Please tell us about your novel?

Stone Cottage asks the question: If you could plan your life before you were born, what could that life look like?

The story deals with reincarnation, past life regression and pre-birth planning and how these could really fit into an actual life. Although I have read numerous accounts of these things, I wanted to write a story about how they could affect one’s life. That is not to say Stone Cottage is the definitive answer. It is, after all, fiction, but I am hoping that people will enjoy the story and maybe think “huh. I never thought of it that way.”

Does this book fit into a series?

My novels are not really a series. Each can be read individually, but two of the characters appear in both Stone Cottage and my new novel Murder at Mother’s.

How did you prepare to write about the book’s specific area or field of study?

For Stone Cottage, I did a lot of research. The setting for the story is Toronto, Canada. One of the time periods is the 1850’s, so I went to museums, libraries and various historical places to get a feel for the area at that time and to get an accurate description of habits, dress, speech etc. Also, I investigated past life regression by having a session myself to accurately get questions asked and to get a feel for the experience.

What are you working on right now?

I have just completed the first draft of a new novel, Murder at Mother’s. It is a good old fashioned murder/mystery told from the ghost’s point of view. It deals with a soul’s unfinished business, what could happen after death and gives a different paradigm of what on earth is called hell.

Website:

http://mhefferman.ca/author/my-blog/

Buy links:

http://mybook.to/stonecottage

http://mybook.to/stepstones

http://mybook.to/midsummerseve

http://mybook.to/bedtimetreasures

http://mybook.to/themysteriousdoor

http://mybook.to/thecrystalgrove

My Author link:

http://author.to/maighreadmackay

February 21, 2017

Visionary Fiction Writer Margaret Duarte

Please welcome Margaret Duarte, who has a brand new book out just for us to read.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I’m the daughter of Dutch immigrants. I’m the sister to seven brothers and two sisters. I’m a wife, mother, and grandmother. I’m a former middle school teacher and ceramicist. I’m a housewife and bookkeeper. I’m the daughter, niece, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, cousin, friend, wife, and mother of California dairy farmers. And I’m a writer.

How did you become interested in Visionary Fiction?

My “Enter the Between” novel series welled out of me with no consideration to genre. When the flow slowed to a tickle and I began the revision process, I was forced to eye my work through the viewpoint of editors, publishers, and marketers—which led to a brick wall with a sign: No admittance without genre ID. I went on a hunt, using a new lens of perception, one focusing on such mainstream genres as women’s fiction, magical realism, and speculative fiction, but no genre fit what I’d written. In 2002, I came across an article written by Hal Zina Bennett titled “Visionary Fiction: Rediscovering Ancient Paths to Truth.” Hallelujah! His definition of VF so closely matched my writing that I believed my novels had finally found a home. Then came another piece of bad news: only one traditional publisher, Hampton Roads Publishing, considered visionary fiction a viable book category. When I consulted Writer’s Market for publishing opportunities, VF was rarely listed as something agents and publishers were looking for. Most mainstream publishers were just plan prejudiced against reading anything that called itself visionary fiction, certain it would be ‘religious’ and that the author would sermonize. Which led to the creation Visionary Fiction Alliance, but that’s another story.

How do you define VF?

In its simplest terms, VF is what John Algeo calls “a modern and sophisticated version of the fairy tale.” And, according to W. Bradford Swift, what separates VF from other speculative fiction is intention. Besides telling a good story, VF enlightens and encourages readers to expand their awareness of greater possibilities. It helps them see the world in a new light and recognize dimensions of reality they commonly ignore.

Please tell us about your latest book.

The second book in my “Enter the Between” visionary fiction series, BETWEEN DARKNESS AND DAWN, became available in print format on Amazon February 2017. The book’s description is as follows:

A powerful tale of miracles that occur when individuals quit fighting for airspace and come together in shared exploration; BETWEEN DARKNESS AND DAWN weaves together earth-based spirit traditions of medicine wheel and magick circles as nurturing containers for collective and personal transformation. Marjorie Veil is running again. But this time, she’s not running from herself. She’s running to embrace her past so she may move on with her future. A future that includes a man and an orphaned boy who both love her. But in order to build a life with them, she must have the strength to defy the expectations of her over-protective adoptive mother, and she must be steadfast in deciphering the veiled messages coming from the Native American woman who died giving her birth. Marjorie’s quest is the story of the soul trying to break free of its conditioned restraints to live a life of freedom, courage, and authenticity, and focus on what is really important in her precious present moments. The award-winning author of the Enter the Between series, has conjured up a tale of transformational healing, arising from ten years of research in contemporary paganism, holistic theory, quantum mechanics, and transpersonal psychology, that takes readers deep into the depths of consciousness to the unified field underlying physical existence, where separateness is an illusion. BETWEEN DARKNESS AND DAWN, visionary fiction that heals, empowers, and bridges differences, is for anyone interested in seeing the world in a new light and recognizing dimensions of reality they commonly ignore.

If your book were chocolate, what kind would it be?

A dark chocolate truffle with a white chocolate center.

Does this book fit into a series? What is the focus of that series?

BETWEEN DARKNESS AND DAWN is the second in my four-book “Enter the Between” series.

The focus of the series is spiritual and emotional freedom. The engine I use to carry that focus is the concept of “The Between,” a scary place that most of us don’t enter willingly. Instead we’re catapulted there by a life-changing event, which in fiction is called the inciting incident. Like the fictional hero, we enter “the between” kicking and screaming and confront obstacles and tests we aren’t prepared or equipped to handle. We face-plant over and over, or so it seems, until we finally surrender to the new circumstances of our life-journey and decide to go with the flow instead of against it. Then it’s amazing what we learn and how we change.

The following quote succinctly encompasses my definition of “the between.”

“The shortest distance in the world is between you and yourself. The space in question is tiny. Yet what goes on in this little space determines nearly everything about the kind of person you are and about the kind of life you are living.” ~John O’Donohue.

How did you prepare to write about the book’s specific area or field of study?

My work encompasses at least ten years of research into contemporary paganism, holistic theory, quantum mechanics, and transpersonal psychology, which takes readers deep into the depths of consciousness to the unified field underlying physical existence, where separateness is an illusion.

How does this book fit into your real-life interests?

Maybe because I’m the daughter of Dutch immigrants or one of ten children raised on a farm. Maybe because I went to five different schools by the time I entered fifth grade. Maybe because I was raised Catholic by parents with deep faith. Maybe because I married a Portuguese immigrant with fixed ideas about a woman’s place in the world. Who knows? I craved spiritual and emotional freedom and my search for such “freedom” showed up in the form of fiction.

What are you working on right now?

Right now, I’m working on BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW, the third book of my series, which will be released early 2018.

Links to my books:

BETWEEN WILL AND SURRENDER: https://www.amazon.com/Between-Will-Surrender-paranormal-transformation-ebook/dp/B019GIVLNG

BETWEEN DARKNESS AND DAWN: https://www.amazon.com/Between-Darkness-Dawn-paranormal-transformation/dp/0986068845

website: http://www.margaretduarte.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/margaretmduarte
Author page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Margaret-Duarte/105184816224977
linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretduarte

December 16, 2016

Free Christmas Mystery

The Star Family is a free Kindle download December 16-18.
Won best fiction in the Indie Spiritual Book Awards.

A secret spiritual group
A recurring dream
A 400-year-old ritual that must be
completed before it is too late

Jane Frey inherits a Gothic mansion filled with unexpected treasures. A prophecy claims it hides an important artifact – the key to an energy grid laid down by the Founding Fathers themselves. Whoever controls this grid controls the very centers of world power. Except Jane has no idea what they’re looking for.

“The Star Family . . . explores the esoteric aspects of a progressive Protestant sect called the Moravian Brethren and weaves their history into a fascinating piece of speculative fiction. What if the Moravians had continued to observe some of their controversial practices in secret? What if their rites and music have played a role in withstanding the malignant forces that threaten to overwhelm modern society? What if one woman who discovers her true ancestry could oppose dominion of darkness through music and erotic spirituality? What if a town in North Carolina holds the key to bringing harmony to the world? Readers who enjoyed The Historian and The DaVinci Code will enjoy The Star Family.”

Dr. Craig Atwood, Moravian College, Director of the Center for Moravian Studies

November 27, 2016

Justice and Mercy: Finding the Balance

The recent US election results have created a storm of reaction, ranging from let’s revolt, even violently, to let’s all be kind to each other and hope nothing bad happens. These are two expressions of the two spiritual forces of Justice and Mercy. Two unbalanced expressions.

On the Kabalistic Tree of Life, Justice and Mercy are represented by the polarities of Geburah and Chesed, on opposite sides of the tree at what would be shoulder-level on a human. These spheres are high on the tree, above Tipareth at the heart, the place that represents the enlightened and sacrificed God, so you can see that the energies are big and cosmic, and balancing them can be a challenge for us mortals.

Geburah is often represented by the sword, sometimes the flail in Egypt, while Chesed by the shepherd’s crook. Geburah is Cosmic Justice, creating boundaries and limitations, restraint, passing fair judgment. It is the sphere of might and strength, giving us the ability to tear down old patterns that don’t work anymore and rebuild something that is more functional.

Chesed is grace, benevolence, and compassion. Chesed is the wise and good leader, the desire to embrace all of creation in loving kindness. It is the comforter, the restorative, the silver lining. It is the boundless outpouring of Divine Love.

The mistake spiritual people make is thinking we should always go with the crook. We should be the kind shepherd who gently guides the sheep who are straying, that we should always give mercy, understand extenuating circumstances, give people the benefit of the doubt. If it doesn’t work, we chastise ourselves that we are not merciful enough, that we should curb our anger, that we should act like Buddha or Jesus. But remember Psalm 23, “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” These are images of Geburah first and Chesed second. The two go together.

Think of William Blake’s two poems that are about a similar balance–“The Lamb” and “The Tyger.” After the sweet lamb, he writes about the tyger, and asks the ultimate question: “Did He who made the Lamb make thee?” Of course the answer is yes.

But Chesed can become imbalanced just as Geburah can. Justice is imbalanced when it is too harsh or done for personal gain. Imbalanced Geburah is violence for its own sake, punishing too much, choking off the life force, limiting for personal gain rather than correction.

Too much Mercy can lead to an imbalance as easily as too much Justice. Mercy is imbalanced when it is emotional weakness, gullibility, giving to someone who is manipulative or exploitative. We see bullying but we’re afraid to confront it, so we don’t speak up. Or “Johnny, this is the tenth time you haven’t cleaned your room, but I know you don’t feel like it, and last time your foot was hurt, and the time before you had homework, so I’ll overlook it. Again.” Johnny ain’t never going to clean his room this way, right? Johnny needs some discipline. That’s where Justice comes in.

Do we beat Johnny? Do we ridicule him? Do we throw him out of the house so he’ll learn his lesson? No. That’s imbalanced Justice. We set limits and boundaries. We create consequences. We help him learn by using balanced discipline. Good Geburah is just this. Balanced discipline.

Our own behavior trying to be merciful in the face of bullies and tyrants can take a toll not just on our health, but on society. Even the world if you live in the country that has as much power as the US does at the moment. When we’re constantly stuffing our feelings, trying our best to act in a certain way to assuage the bully, to point out that, for example, industrial waste is killing the animals and perhaps the corporation might feel compassion and act responsibly pretty please, do you have much chance of success? Most likely not.

Yes, but we’re supposed to always be positive, to always be nice, to always act with compassion, never to be violent. Right?

I’ve discussed this idea in another post. Acting enlightened is not the path to enlightenment. An enlightened person is constantly in touch with that One Consciousness and acts under the guidance of cosmic law. Because they directly experience that we are all immortal, that everything is the One, they don’t feel restricted by what is happening here in the created world. Yet, do they always act nonviolently? Do they always appease?

No. Jesus kicked butt in the temple and threw out the money lenders. Did he act against cosmic law? No.

Arjuna is frozen at the start of a battle in The Bhagavad Gita. Should he fight and incur karma? Or should he sit the battle out and allow his family and friends to be slaughtered, thus incurring karma? He turns to his chariot driver, Lord Krishna, for advice.

Krishna’s advice? “Established in Being, perform action.” That means, gain enlightenment. Establish your consciousness in the One, and from that cosmic perspective, perform action that will be in harmony with creation. In the end, Arjuna does go into battle, because going into battle is the right thing to do in those circumstances.

What about us poor slobs who aren’t quite established in Being yet? Do we get to sit on the sidelines and meditate, not acting since we might make a mistake?

No, we do not. We act. We set limits. We do what will bring society back toward balance. We study Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.’s techniques of nonviolent action. We do our best.

It’s OK to feel angry. To feel depressed. To feel desperate. But we do need to act. We might make mistakes doing it, but we can learn from them. And when we go home from the march or hang up from the call to our congressman, we meditate. We do ritual. We move closer and closer to becoming established in Being.

Best of luck out there, kindred. We’ve got quite a job ahead of us.

November 15, 2016

Visionary Fiction Writer Jodine Turner

Please welcome Visionary Fiction writer Jodine Turner, the mother of the genre!

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve been writing stories since I could hold a pen. However, my first career was in healthcare, as a nurse, then a Ph.D. therapist. I focused on alternative healing, holistic healing, and also did energy body work. When I became ill in my thirties, I needed to stop working. My own healing journey brought me back to my real passion – writing.

How did you become interested in Visionary Fiction? How do you define it?

I became interested in Visionary Fiction when I couldn’t find a suitable category for the fiction I was writing. While researching genres, I discovered Visionary Fiction and found it to be the ideal fit for my novels. There wasn’t much written about VF, and very few books were labeled as VF. So I decided I’d do some more research and write an article describing the genre. I wanted to promote this fabulous genre to readers and publishers, and create a place where other VF authors could find resources, information, and networking.

My article exploring VF was published in Writer’s Journal, May 2009 issue. In November 2011, I posted that same article at Goodreads. That drew together other VF authors enthused about the genre. We started a web-ring, which grew into the present day Visionary Fiction Alliance. The Alliance is now thriving and growing, proving to the world that VF is a genre today’s readers yearn for. My original article is now called ‘the article that started it all’ (for the VFA), and can be found on our VFA website. http://visionaryfictionalliance.com/the-article-that-started-it-all/

Defining VF was a complex process. I came up with a definition in my article. Then a group of us at the VFA developed and expanded a working definition that can be found on our site http://visionaryfictionalliance.com/what-is-visionary-fiction/ I still often refer to a description from my article that perfectly sums it up for me: “Visionary Fiction speaks the language of the soul. It offers a vision of humanity as we dream it could be.”

Please tell us about your latest book?

My latest published novels are the third and fourth books of my Goddess of the Stars and the Sea series: Carry on the Flame: Destiny’s Call and its sequel, Carry on the Flame: Ultimate Magic

I published these last two novels with a small press that wanted to jump on the Young Adult genre bandwagon and market the novels as YA, since the protagonist was 17 years old. This was a lesson learned for me, because the books are definitely VF, not YA. I recently got my publishing rights back, had an incredible artist redo the covers, and republished the novels myself.

In these novels, Sharay is chosen by the Goddess to help humankind move through the fear and dark times of today’s world. Born into a lineage of priestesses in modern-day Glastonbury, England, Sharay’s way is blocked by her jealous Aunt Phoebe, who uses black magic against her to steal her fortune and magical power. When Phoebe commits Sharay to a psychiatric ward and accuses her of murder, Sharay struggles with the temptation to fight Phoebe’s vengeance with her own. It’s the elder, eccentric wizard Dillon who sets Sharay on the Celtic ‘Imram,’ a quest designed to awaken her magical abilities as a priestess. And it’s Dillon’s grandson Guethyn who shows Sharay how to open her heart in the Beltaine Ritual, the ancient Celtic ceremony of sacred union.

Hunted by the police, stalked by a demonic Tracker conjured by her aunt, and torn from everyone she loves, Sharay must learn to transform her hatred for her aunt in order to continue her Imram on her own, and fulfill her destiny to prove that the power of love, both human and divine, is the ultimate magic.

If your book were chocolate, what kind would it be?

Rich dark chocolate. Delicious and satisfying, containing the whole complexity of the cocao bean!

Does this book fit into a series? What is the focus of that series?

Yes it fits into a series but all of the novels are a stand-alone read as well. The focus of the series is the Goddess of the Stars and the Sea – the evolutionary force of embodied love – and Her priestesses down through the ages. The essence is about what’s demanded of our hearts and souls when we finally choose to embrace our personal destiny and have to come face to face with our authentic truth, our deepest pain, and our darkest secrets.

How did you prepare to write about the book’s specific area or field of study?

Most of my novels take place in Glastonbury, England, aka the legendary Isle of Avalon. I lived in Glastonbury for 13 months (also met my husband there!) and experienced its mystery and magic firsthand. Immersing myself in Glastonbury catalyzed many mystical experiences and meditations which inspired the content of my novels. I also traveled to Scotland, particularly the Orkney Islands, which features heavily in my fourth novel.

But most of all, my training as a consecrated priestess informed my writing. For 25 years I studied and practiced in the Western Mystery Tradition, an earth based spiritual system of living consciousness encompassing Kabballah, Paganism, and esoteric Christianity. Many of the visions and meditations I experienced influenced the development of plot, characters, and story scenes in my novels.

How does this book fit into your real-life interests?

My novels are a natural extension of my passions: embodied love; the craft of writing; the mysteries of magic and spirituality; the deeper meanings of life on earth and of the unseen realms in between so-called reality. I express these passions in the art form of words and story. I flesh out my stories based upon my experiences as a priestess and a Ph.D therapist, mixed with the imagination of my creative Muse. And I endeavor to embed my stories with gems of esoteric wisdom in an engaging, entertaining, but never proselytizing way.

I also discovered a practical way to teach the more spiritual things that I write about in my VF adventure stories. I found this practicality through a spirituality of embodied love called Adorata, which is a path of sacred union of the feminine and masculine principles within us. I am now an Adorata Practitioner and teacher, which complements my novels, in a pragmatic, down to earth way.

What are you working on right now? OR What’s next for you?

I am excited about my work in progress, The Hidden Abbey. I just finished my first draft and am in the revision stage. I write first drafts with heart and abandon, then go back and apply the craft of writing to sculpture my words into the art form of a novel.

The Hidden Abbey is set in both the 16^th and the 21st centuries, tracing the story of a young headstrong priestess, Marissa, from the mystical land of Avalon, and her secret lover Michael, a monk at the Glastonbury Abbey. As King Henry VIII sets out to destroy the Churches and Monasteries of England in 1539, the two lovers become embroiled in a grand plan to save the most sacred talisman of the Divine Feminine at the roots of mystical Christianity. When their grand plan is thwarted and their love is star-crossed, they are reborn in the 21^st century and given one more chance to fulfill their shared destiny.

Jodine Turner is an author of Visionary Fiction and magical realism. She is also a therapist and a consecrated priestess. While living in Glastonbury, England, the ancient Isle of Avalon, Jodine began writing The Goddess of the Stars and the Sea series, about priestesses who had lived in Avalon throughout the ages and today.

Jodine’s series is a dark and edgy saga of a young priestess who’s reborn during three different critical junctions in history in order to help humankind move through fearful and bleak times – the demise of Atlantis, the Dark Age’s suppression of the feminine, and today’s turbulent world.

Buy Jodine’s Books.

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October 25, 2016

The Animals in My Fiction

My pets have a way of creeping into my novels. Even pets I wish I had. My cat Wizzie is in two. That cat had the key to my heart. He appears as Malcolm in Beneath the Hallowed Hill, keeping Megan company on her first few nights in Avalon and escorting her to an audience with the Morgan. He is a healing, reassuring, and somewhat regal presence.

“Malcolm followed Megan to her cottage, hopped up onto the middle of the bed and proceeded to groom himself. She had to push him over to get enough room. ‘Goodnight, my lord.’ He regarded her out of his round, yellow eyes, then turned his attention back to his bushy tail.”

In The Star Family, he appears as Marvin. I don’t know why I kept giving him “m” names. Here he is a member of the animal family that Jane inherits along with the English Tudor house. He is still himself, “an enormous black long-hair complete with ear tufts.”

Wizzie has left us now, although I feel him from time to time. Here he is next to his properly shredded corner of the stairs.

He lived most of his life with our calico Arwen, who is his companion in The Star Family as well. In that book, she goes by the name of Suzie B. In this scene, Marvin and Suzie B inadvertently reveal a secret passageway while in the midst of a midnight hunt. Jane has been awakened by strange music:

“She walked over to the windows that faced the front of the house, but they were closed also. The other set looked out on the backyard. Closed. A half-moon lit the new garden. The rose bushes looked like a pencil sketch in the muted light. Suddenly Marvin burst from the walk-in closet.

Jane screamed.

Winston barked.

Suzie B ran in from the hallway to join him.

A tiny, dark shape dove under the bed. The cats followed in hot pursuit.

‘You scared the crap out of me!’ she scolded.

The mouse made a dash across the floor and squeezed behind the chest of drawers. The cats took up positions on each end, tails twitching, ears perked, ignoring her. Then she realized the singing had stopped. The car must have driven away.

How had a mouse gotten up here? Steeling herself for more rodents, she walked to the closet and nudged the door open the rest of the way. She’d expected it to be stuffed with Miss Essig’s old clothes, decade after decade of fashion, but instead she found bare wood. Except for a shadow in the corner.

Her hand groped for a light switch, but slide down a smooth wall.

‘Winston,’ she called.

Loud breathing announced his presence.

She swung her hand over her head. A string brushed her fingers. She tried to grab it, but missed. On the second attempt, she captured it and pulled. Harsh light from the bare bulb flooded the closet. She closed her eyes against the glare for a second, then squinted.

The dark shadow in the corner remained. A panel stood partly open. She’d thought the wall was just that—a solid wall. But there was an opening. Winston sat in the doorway, his head cocked. The singing had started again, softer this time. It was coming from behind the open panel.”

Here is Arwen putting Wizzie in his proper place.

Winston is the bulldog I always wanted but never had. He has a bit of the boxer who was my childhood companion. His name was Mugs. Very imaginative name, don’t you think?

The hounds in Beneath the Hallowed Hill have never been tamed by any human hand. They are the fae hounds of the Wild Hunt.

The Egyptian Mau cats Vivienne and Merlin in Under the Stone Paw are also a combination of pets I’d like and pets I’ve lived with. I’ve always thought Egyptian Maus were beautiful and would be nice to have as friends. These two are reminiscent of our old Siamese named Persephone. She passed before we adopted Wizzie. She was one Queen Bee, let me tell you. She had a daughter named Ting Li, a tortie whom Persephone bossed around heartlessly. So much for mother love. That must be why there are two Egyptian Maus in Under the Stone Paw to match those two little loves.