Tag: Visionary Fiction

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Visionary Fiction Writer Margaret Duarte

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

dsc_0195Please 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.

image-2-21-17-at-8-33-amPlease 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

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 image-2-21-17-at-8-33-amfarm. 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

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Visionary Fiction Writer Jodine Turner

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

jodinePlease 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.

awakeningMy 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?

Mdestinys-cally 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?

Yeultimate-magics 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 16th 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 21st 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.

Visit Jodine’s website   Blog  Facebook  Twitter   Linkedin

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Visionary Fiction Writer Robin Gregory

Robin Gregory starts off my series of interviews with writers of Visionary Fiction.

robinPlease tell us a little about yourself.

My professional background includes lay minister, journalist, and infant massage instructor with at-risk mothers and babies. I studied Creative Writing and Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Stanford University. I love foggy afternoons and English tea and listening to difficult jazz with my hubby.

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

I found VFA through my alliance with author Rea Nolan Martin.

I suppose my best working definition of VF is that it rises from a basis of human evolution, whether individual or collective. It is more of a literary category, in that characterization and themes involve multiple facets of experience, and deep regard for transformation.

Please tell us about your latest book. moojie_ippycover-copy

The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman is visionary YA, written in the form of magical realism. Part moral allegory and mystical adventure, it tells the story of a disabled orphan boy who has unusual spiritual powers. At St. Isidore’s Fainting Goat Dairy, he befriends outcasts from an alternate universe, and embarks on a series of trials and misadventures. Determination to belong to a family fuels his self-mastery, and leads to one last terrifying trial.

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

Great question! Definitely dark semi-sweet chocolate with blood orange flavoring.

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

Maybe. The idea of Moojie learning to “transmigrate” to the Light-Eater’s galaxy is stalking me.

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

First, I spent 35 years exploring spirituality, mysticism and self-realization. Ha! When the time came to put some of what I had realized into a fictional story, I needed help with background and characterization of supernatural extraterrestrials called the “Light-Eaters.” In some ways, they are fashioned after the Annunaki in the ancient creation text The Kharsag Epic. I relied also on information from The Golden Age Project and a book entitled, The Genius of the Few, an in-depth study of Kharsag Epic, written by Christian and Barbara Joy O’brien.

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

Writing the book over thirteen years caused me to reflect daily and stay focused on what kind of world I wanted to realize for myself. Like most everyone, I’ve had some pretty tough challenges, one of which was raising a son with multiple special needs. The book has been my constant companion in the process of surrender, transformation and awakening. It’s as much the story of Moojie’s awakening as my own. I was hoping to offer it to others for the same reason, as a companion.

What are you working on right now?

Right now, I’m learning to balance marketing and promotion with working on the big screen adaptation of Moojie Littleman. By grace, the acclaimed producer, writer/creative director, John Crye (The Whale Rider, Memento, The Passion of the Christ, to name a few), has taken a serious interest in the book. We’ve come up with a working treatment, and will be meeting soon to decide whether or not to bring in a pro screenwriter for the rest. Working with him has been an amazing experience, and a privilege. Also, I’d like to get the audio book done before moving on to the sequel!

WEBSITE: http://www.MadMysticalJourney.com

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/The-Improbable-Wonders-Moojie-Littleman/dp/1942545002

BARNES & NOBLE: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-improbable-wonders-of-moojie-littleman-robin-gregory/1122692771?ean=9781942545002

 

 

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Higher Consciousness and Visionary Fiction

I’ve been blogging recently about higher states of consciousness. What’s that got to do with writing fiction? One of the accomplishments of Visionary Fiction as I see it is to subjectively explore what higher states of consciousness feel like. It’s all well and good to understand that these states exist and have some concept of them intellectually, but the real point is to achieve them ourselves. Lot of visionary fiction imagines what that’s like.

As Jodine Turner puts it, “In Visionary Fiction, esoteric wisdom is embedded in story so that the reader can actually experience it, instead of merely learning about it.” I asked some of my fellow Visionary Fiction Alliance writers to send me excerpts and here they are. Some of these books may appeal to you. I haven’t read them all myself yet.

1001From Michael Neer’s The Elixir of Freedom: “The trees bowed down till the golden amber stopped right in front of Ravi and Verda, like a giant pendant adorning the trees. This had to be it, Ravi thought. The Heart of the Sun!   The amber Heart hung like a jewel between them and the Sun. They looked through the Heart towards the sun. Waves of light stretched across land and space. They could see no end to the waves. They were infinite. Objects – trees, mountains, even the sun itself – were there – Ravi could make out their shapes—but it was like they were melted into one ocean of light. It was just one. Unified. Complete. Full. Immense.”

11527544From Gerald R. Stanek’s Sonoran Ruminations:  “She said she told Peter what she told me; how she’d been staring at the circle, and pretty soon she could see the wall behind the circle, and then she could see outside the wall, and she could see the whole city, and the whole desert all around, and the whole big valley, and the whole continent, and the whole planet, but she could still see the desert and the city and the wall and the circle and she could hear every sound and it was like she was everything and everyone else just as much as she was herself, and I said ‘I know’, and I smiled and rocked the baby.”

516jz4nsbelFrom Stefan Emunds:  “Without warning, I enter into a lucid daydream. I find myself standing in front of a noisy river, but it’s no ordinary river – it’s the river of my thoughts and feelings, the stream of my internal dialogue. The river is deep with strong currents. I dip my foot into the cold water. Crossing the river seems like suicide, and I almost give up, but then the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt across the Jordan into the Promised Land comes to mind. Is there a deeper, psychological meaning to this story? Then it occurs to me that I have neither the Ark of the Covenant to herald me, nor the Living God by my side. How can I part these waters? “The original meaning of covenant is promise,” the voice whispers into my right ear. ‘I promise that you will find your true self on the other side. Go ahead and cross.’”

6167dsewqllFrom Bob Fahey’s The Gardens of Ailana:  “As morning rose around her, Paulette carried no memories. This was joy without hope because the concept of hope held some belief that something was broken that needed fixing; something was ‘less’ that one wished could be ‘more’. There was no thought, no yearning for things to be different. Paulette had no concept of differences and moments. She had lost herself in the essence of sweetness.”

 

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The Power Places New Editions

I’m happy to announce that new editions of the Power Places Series have been published. They have new covers and the second book is freshly edited.

CoverFinalMD-UnderTheStonePawA forgotten family legacy.

Six crystal keys.

One shot at unlocking the secrets beneath the Sphinx.

Anne Le Clair, a successful, young attorney, has always managed to remain free from her family’s gothic past—until now. When she inherits her eccentric aunt’s antique necklace though, she finds no escape from its secrets. Anne is immersed in a crash course of forbidden wisdom, secret societies, and her family’s own legacy. She soon discovers that her aunt’s necklace is one of just six powerful “keys” that, when combined with the other five at the appointed time, unlocks the legendary Hall of Records. However, another group, the shadowy Illuminati, is working behind the scenes to uncover the same powerful secrets—and make them their own.

Katherine Kurtz, author of the Adept series, says “ . . . one of the best esoteric novels of the past decade.  Crater knows her way around Egypt and its mysteries.  Evil Illuminati, ancient artifacts, and conspiracies abound. Surpasses the Da Vinci Code.”

CoverFinalMD-BeneathTheHallowedHillThe Illuminati have opened a hole in time

And now one of them is stepping through

Anne Le Clair travels to Glastonbury with her fiancée, Egyptologist and mystic Michael Levy, to investigate a house she inherited from a mysterious aunt…only to find trouble waiting. One of Avalon’s sacred twin springs is failing. Together, Anne and Michael try to restore the water flow, but discover there is much more at stake: the Illuminati master Alexander Cagliostro has activated an ancient crystal tower, tearing a hole in time which threatens much more than one sacred spring.

Meanwhile, in ancient Atlantis, Megan, priestess of the Crystal Matrix Chamber, flees the destruction of her world carrying with herself a vital artifact.

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Jodine Turner’s The Goddess of the Stars and the Sea series – guest post by Theresa Crater

Jodine Turner’s The Goddess of the Stars and the Sea series – guest post by Theresa Crater.

Excerpt:  Jodine Turner’s Visionary Fiction series traces the reincarnations of a priestess specially called to do the work of the Goddess of the Stars and the Sea, an Ancient One who reawakens when humanity is ready for a dramatic shift in consciousness. The first novel in the series shows us the fall of Atlantis and the rise of Avalon. In The Awakening: Rebirth of Atlantis, Geodran is promised to this special Goddess even before her birth. Her mother, High Priestess Jaquine, has lost babies to miscarriages and does not want a repeat performance. The Goddess of the Stars and the Sea claims Geodran as her own in return for bringing her to term.