Creativity comes from 'the Knowing'.

The art of meditation is learnt through experience. Although there are many and varied techniques, the end principle is the same. How it is achieved is directly the result of the individual's nuances. Some people are auditory and require mantras, music or tones. Others are tactile and utilize the focus on the ever present phenomena of sensation. Others are visual, and may use a candle, focus point or allow visions in their 'mind's eye' to come and pass without attachment. I am not here to teach you meditation. Google will return millions of results if you need to find a technique. I encourage you to explore any and all techniques until you find the one that suits you. Exploration of the techniques will lead to the discovery that there is no one and only way. The path you will find is individual and always changing. Evolving as you do in your daily life.

Know this — it is the destination that is important and all forms of meditation seek to achieve the same result. To quieten the mind. To focus on the stillness. The place from where all true inspiration originates.

But to really hear the silence. To touch that place of tranquility, where burst of genius illuminate in flashes of awe, you must first learn to silence your own mind. You have to stop the chattering and randomness. Minimize the distraction that surrounds you on a daily basis. Only you will know the best way to achieve this. But it must be done.

This is why I call meditation Tuning. You have to adjust your own frequency. Align it with the silence. Tune in to the vibration of the universe itself.

One of the first concepts that touching the stillness teaches you is letting go.

Let go of your past. It doesn't exist any more. There is nothing that can be done to change what is written and set in stone. Let go.

Let go of your manifestations of ego that cause angst and suffering. It's all an illusion, the image you present to the world and that is presented to you by all the people you encounter. None of it is real. Let it go.

Let go of thinking. Allow yourself to just be. Very hard to do, or even conceptualize for most of us. But that is the end game, it is the final destination. That is what mystics and yogis seek in enlightenment. To live every moment through intuition, permanently existing in the tranquility of inner stillness. For there, within the silence, is the knowing.

It takes years to find it, and sometimes it is very hard to keep on the path because there are so many things that distract us, compelling us to abandon the way. But, every now and then — for the briefest of moments, you touch it and it gives you insights.

I had an epiphany yesterday. That desire initiates all cause and effect. Desire drives the actions of all life in nature. The desire for food, warmth, shelter, love, reproduction. When achieved, there is satisfaction.

Satisfaction is desire, realized. It completes the circle. There is balance. An constant equilibrium to this concept. For a desire to be fulfilled, it must return to a point of satisfaction. Desire is the cause, and satisfaction is the effect.

Herein lies the problem with humanity, and the obvious imbalance that comes. It effects everything we do. Humans are not satisfied because we are surrounded by open ended desires that bring no satisfaction.We are taught to externalize our satisfaction, creating desires that serve only to impress others. There is no benefit to oneself. It is a desire based upon the extended ego. Your image, how you think the world sees you — the mask you wear when you go out into the world. The pretender. Vain, boasting and manipulative. The sins of humanity; greed, lust, envy are all manifestations of the ego where the externalization of satisfaction is never realized or achieved. They go on and on, pushing us further out of balance with everything around us.

To understand what would really satisfy — you must look within. Remove the ego from the picture, and truly understand yourself and what it is that you want. What are your desires? But, I think more importantly, what is the final satisfaction of your desires?

Work this out, and the circle will complete. There will be balance. It is the satisfaction, not the desire where you will find happiness.

Back to school | Back to work — New directions

The end of the school holidays signals time to re-motivate myself.

I am back to the 1 a.m starts. I know — are you crazy? I hear you say. But, I can assure you, it is the only way. If you really want something, you have to go for it. Find opportunity, not excuses. Do whatever it takes to ensure progress. Build momentum and let inertia carry you through.

Book two is fully outlined now and I am pretty happy with it. I guess the proof will be in the reading and what the readers think. I have had great reviews for The Elemental Cloudy, and I have even had some steady sales over the last few months. I just wish I could get the story into the hands of more people. But, that is the trick isn't it. Right now, I am lost in the noise with the other ten thousand writers.

I wasn't going to continue with this blog until I saw the numbers recently. Somehow I have had 300 hits since I checked many months ago. I don't know how you find me — but somehow, you get here and you read what I have to say.

So I had better start putting something more interesting up for you to read.

I'm not going to bother with the writing process anymore.... who cares about that?  Too many people are already doing that anyway. I suspect the end product is of more value to the reader anyway. Nothing new there. I can't talk about the new book too much. That would be spoiling it for you.

So, I have decided that I will write about is a concept in one of my earlier posts. Destinations of the Imaginaut.

Where one adventures into the depths of imagination, inspiration and intuition. Seeking the elusive mind spring that bubbles concepts which can then be bound into stories that inspire. It is these stories that become timeless and endure beyond our short lives.

You see, I meditate. There — I said it. I admit it... and... I do it a lot, although I like to call it Tuning. I find it  intrinsic to my writing process and it brings great value to the rest of my life. I have come to the definitive conclusion, that the source of creativity comes from the silence. The stillness within. And it can be found inside each and every one of us. You just have to stop and listen.

So that's the direction I'm going to take. Next time we speak...

I have returned

Well, I'm back. Sorry we haven't spoken for some time, but I didn't really have much to say. I had a whole bunch of life stuff to take care of. Nothing really interesting, just — life stuff. Christmas, new routine with the little girl now in pre-school, family staying etc. I actually have three days to myself every week, but you know it never really works out that way does it. I still have to take care of the domestics and the school runs for the kiddly-winks. I can see why writers lock themselves away in isolation for several months to produce work. It's the immersion, I am sure of it. Total focus and zero distractions. Perhaps it's why writers are mostly eccentric or become socially awkward (and half mad).

I am well into writing book two — "Cloudy Days". 15,000 words; about three chapters. I spent months planning the story out. Making it tight, answering more questions, but raising others. You have to do that when you're writing a series. Keep the interest, and introducing more hooks.

"The Elemental Cloudy" has had only good responses and feedback so far. I just wish I could get it in the hands on more people. The long game takes patience. Just write more books, that's the only thing I can really keep doing.

If you are still out there, I'll keep you posted.

Social media - tool or a trap?

After I published my first book, I investigated several ways of marketing it. One of the first suggestions I was given was social media. I was never a Facebook fan, and I didn't want to begin. So I turned to do other sources. I began to sign myself up on to writers forums, Twitter and Google+. I immediately found a number of people willing to share their circles with me. I instantly became part of a writing community.

I spent a week there. Watching. Reading. What were the writers, who were just like me, talking about? Very little actually. Mostly I found collection of anecdotes, new asinine discoveries from various strange parts of the Internet or just general postings regarding trivial activities in their lives. You could spend hours, trying to find some gem, some insight, but I don't think that it is worth it. Not for what I am trying to achieve.

From what I have seen with social media, it's nothing but a massive distraction. It's a kind of vanilla voyeurism. As bad and addictive as an online computer game; you know the type, the ones that destroy lives. Or maybe like some inane reality television show people rush home to and avoid talking to their family to watch.

You know it's funny because in my book the rulers of the world use distraction to keep people away from the path of self discovery. They use distraction in all different forms, be it religion, politics, sex or the media. It's a great illusion to keep people from finding their true potential. From actualising their dreams and ambitions. To become who they really wanted to be, if they just focused.

So, once again, I return to the advice that holds true in my mind; write as much as you can. Quality comes from quantity. The more you're write, the better you get, and the more inclined people would be to read your work because you provide choice and people see that you have experience.

I can't be distracted. I have too much that I need to do. So that I can be, who I want to be.

Social media, is a trap. A trap of distraction. And it's not for me.

300,000

300,000. That's not the number of books that I have sold, that is the ranking my novel is currently sitting on the Amazon website.

It's very daunting, and somewhat depressing to see a number like that. I know that in the month that I published my first novel, 10,000 more books were self-published by authors trying to have a go at writing.

I have joined forums, I am doing social media, and I lurk on writer's blog that all say the same thing. Writing is a long hard game. And most say, don't expect to make a living from it.

I listen to a lot of things — but I refuse to 'hear' that.

In a bit over two years my wife will finish her Ph.D. in literature. At that point, if I have not been able to make reasonable money from this writing gig — then I will have to do the unspeakable. I will have to go and get a job.

That threat to my lifestyle is motivation enough for me to work as hard as I possibly can and get as many books as I can in the time period that I have left. I believe that three a year is possible; maybe even four (once my little girl gets into pre-school).

I have an endgame. And the timer is ticking down.

The good thing about this blog is that I will be able to look back at it in years to come and see if I was right.

So future self — did I make it?

New Version 1.01

After some great feedback I decided to make some changes to the novel and remove references to children begin used as 'sacrifices' that seemed to be the sticking point for people.

My intention was to invoke an emotive response from my readers and so they could identify with Cloudy's new role. The effect worked, but in a way that was detrimental to the rest of the story. Ah, the wisdom of hindsight. It has also shown the importance of Beta Reader in this process.

There is still violence and blood sacrifice to demons, it's just the the victims are now over the age of eighteen. A far more suitable age to have a blade raked across your throat it seems....

So if you bought a copy before, email me and I will be happy to send you the revised Ver 1.01.

Price Point

I have joined a couple of forums where writers of eBooks hang out. It is inspiring. It is depressing. The path I have set out on is not going to be easy. There is a lot to learn – especially about the business end. The pointy end. Publishing.

After reading a dozen excellent debates and looking to experienced writers for advice, I have decided to set my novel’s price to the seemingly acceptable price point of $2.99.

Ultimately, I just want people to read my work. The research conducted by some established authors shows that people are willing to pay $0.99 for a short, $1.99 for a novella and $2.99 for a full-length novel.

So, if that price point is right for you, let me know. Perhaps I will find out by looking at the numbers. I’ll let you know what happens.

UPDATE:


I spent some time rewriting my book description to make it more edgier and intriguing. Enough to tempt people to just take a look inside and see if they like my ‘voice’? Only time will tell.

It’s come up pretty well.

In fact, if I didn’t write it, and hadn’t already read it a gazillion times during the editing process – I’m pretty sure I'd buy it!