“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.”
… Francis Bacon
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Tag Archives: the power of story
Me & the writing of BETWEEN WORLDS …
Awhile ago in what is beginning to feel like another life, I wrote a book called, BETWEEN WORLDS. Sculpted from within the mist and memory of Ireland, it tells a tale of a man many later came to call a saint, and a woman remembered, if she was remembered at all, as a sinner. It is an archetypal story. It is also true.
Like many stories locked within the mists of time, it comes laden with baggage and hidden agendas. Agendas, as other writers might tell you, have a nasty habit of not liking their stories to be told. That is, quite obviously, why they have been plopped usually unceremoniously into the depths of that deep dark place sometimes called (at least in Ireland) – the bog.
It is from the bog that they must be retrieved and that, as you may have guessed, is the beginning of what Joseph Campbell would lovingly call – the hero’s journey.
Thus began my quest.
Did I want it? Not consciously. Did I ask for it? Again, not to my immediate awareness. Did I take it on? You betcha.
You see, there was this woman, like an often fleeting apparition, walking around Glendalough – that’s in County Wicklow – think old monastic city, ancient times, power, and yes sometimes light. She was hard to ignore. As was the energy of the place and the sense of whispers and messages slipping forth from the very fabric of the land – the ‘tell the tale – you must you must’ kind. Perhaps you could have walked away from that. Clearly I didn’t.
I’m mentioning it now because, though I have shared the how-I-got-to-it story to friends, I have very seldom spoken of it to others. The book is not yet well known. It’s self-published, it’s in eBook, it’s on the blog, you have to find it.
I could quite simply let it stay that way. It did after all take many years of my life and I could be forgiven for being tired. But it is a story that begged to be told, and told for a reason most honourable, and I, the storyteller, would be remiss if I didn’t give you a glimpse of why.
… stay tuned please
– book cover by Tannice Goddard – Glendalough photo by Kevin O’Kelly (Ireland)
Let us …
Let us tell magical stories together.
Let us weave life into being.
aliana alani 2013
An Eden Thought for the Day
“…but this is it. This is Eden. When you see the kingdom spread upon the earth, the old way of living in the world is annihilated. That is the end of the world. The end of the world is not an event to come, it is an event of psychological transformation, of visionary transformation. You see not the world of solid things, but a world of radiance.”
Joseph Campbell – The Power of Myth
Two Great Storytellers have left
Two of our great storytellers left us this week. Perhaps different in perspectives, styles and genres, still in their own unique ways they each intricately wove the magic and power of word, and in so doing, captivated our hearts and evoked thought within. Gore Vidal and Maeve Binchy. They will be missed.
In a world that frequently looks chaotic and often profoundly dysfunctional, it may seem difficult, if not impossible, to find a tale within that tells of possibility, of beauty, harmony, and love. To step outside of a world story rife with melancholy and fear is a daring task. A hero’s journey, as Joseph Campbell would have said. Believe it or not, we all carry the opportunity of being heroes. It’s in our genes. And heroes and their journeys come in many packages. Not all are rescuers of damsels in the night or hobbits carrying a magical ring to its fiery destination. Some seem to be here and gone within the breath of a moment, others take a lifetime to travel.
Yet each of us weaves a story, consciously or not – the story of our life as it merrily bumps and puffs along, the story within that calls for us to be who we truly are; to dare to sculpt our world with new colour and new light, and then to open our hearts and love it into being.
Two great storytellers have left us.
It’s our turn, our time, to pick up that proverbial pen and write a new tale, be it epic, short, poetic, passionate, inspiring or just plain full of joy. Make it a walk in the park or a
cargo ship journey along the North-West passage, an idyllic stroll along the beaches of Hawaii, or a candlelight dinner with the person you love. Just maybe it becomes your very own version of Shangri-la. Imagine that.
We are the storytellers now.
So what world will you fashion? What story will you tell? What possibility will you envision?
Remember, every story, every word, every thought, is a ripple in the ocean of our lives.
Tell it well, tell it now, for us all.
The EBook of BETWEEN WORLDS is here
Now you can get your very own copy!
It has been said that some stories have their own timing, a sense of place within the fabric and power of word when they choose to deliver themselves to our world. Such stories can drive authors crazy as we strive, usually vainly, to birth the tale before its inwardly designated moment.
BETWEEN WORLDS is one of those stories.
This, after many moons, is its first wave.
Set in present day Los Angeles California and in what has often been called The Garden of County Wicklow Ireland, BETWEEN WORLDS carves its tale along the pathways of time, casting us back through Ireland’s mystical mists into the sixth century and those precious moments before Glendalough became a renowned monastic city. It tells the tale of a woman who leaves her budding LA world behind to follow an invisible thread connected to the face of a man who has come to haunt her. Instinctively she feels Ireland carries the clues that will rid her of this vision and bring peace back to her world. The upper lake of Glendalough has other plans.
Called a historical romance by some, albeit with more than one twist, BETWEEN WORLDS is really a heart song to and for Ireland, and because everything is interlinked in our world, it naturally becomes a heart song for us all. Like all songs of the heart, it carries the potential for healing, and a key to love.
Be one of the first wave to read this EBook!
It’s a wonderful story whose time has come.
$9.95 CDN (plus applicable taxes)
You can order your copy(s) by leaving your contact details on the comment section below and we will get back to you. Payment is by PayPal. The EBook is available both in Kindle and main stream version (which can be downloaded onto Adobe Digitals Edition software and also thru ibook on your iphone). Each is also available in high or low res. Let us know which version you want.
If you want a taste of the tale before you buy, click on the Between Worlds – Sneak Preview page of this blog, scroll down, click on the pdf link below the book cover, and enjoy.
Word-of-mouth is a treasured thing when self publishing so do pass the word along to anyone who you feel would be interested. Truly it’s a story that deserves to be read.
I hope reading BETWEEN WORLDS will touch your heart. Writing it has definitely touched mine.
…book cover design by Tannice Goddard
Between Worlds – Sneak Preview!
CHECK OUT THE NEW PAGE – Between Worlds – Sneak Preview
I’ve made it available especially for you.
When you get there, ponder the cover image (you’ll know its depth when you have read the whole tale), scroll down and click on the pdf link. It will take you into a Sneak Preview of the land and story of Between Worlds.
I hope it wets your appetite and encourages you to want to read more.
Enjoy!
Aliana
22shangrila 