art · Author · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · Horror · writing

Totes!

Ever have a day where you have too much to hold on to with just your hands? maybe all of those 80’s classic horror VHS tapes and Philosophy books are too much to handle at once. You might need to sort a Tote bag!

this is the first rendition, I am not great at digital art. My photoshop skills were never developed. I tend to use analog media for my art. But I am pretty ok with this design. This will make much more sense (once I finish and publish) when you read the Sequel to “Emergence Collective,” “Emergence, Ascended.” I like “easter eggs” in books and games. shhhh………

about me · Author · Emergence Collective · writing

Busy Wednesday

Here is a repost of T.A.Walker‘s AKA “the Bookie”, review of “Emergence Collective.” Seriously give it a listen.


Part 1 (click here to listen)

A fellow blogger T.A. Walker picked up “Emergence collective” and is currently reading it. She will present her synopsis and commentary about it on her audio blog (?) Podcast(?) I highly suggest you check out her blog and see what else she has been reading https://tawalkerfreewriterlife.wordpress.com/

Part 2 (click here to listen)

A fellow blogger T.A. Walker picked up “Emergence collective” and is currently reading it. She will present her synopsis and commentary about it on her audio blog (?) Podcast(?) I highly suggest you check out her blog and see what else she has been reading https://tawalkerfreewriterlife.wordpress.com/

Finale! (click here to listen)

A fellow blogger T.A. Walker picked up “Emergence collective” and is currently reading it. She will present her synopsis and commentary about it on her audio blog (?) Podcast(?) I highly suggest you check out her blog and see what else she has been reading https://tawalkerfreewriterlife.wordpress.com/

Author · Emergence Collective · writing

Emergence Collective…read between the lines (Spoiler alert!)

Emergence Collective… What does it mean to me? If you have read it or you like spoilers keep reading!

As a new writer I found (am still finding) it difficult to convince anyone
to read my stuff and find an Audience. Friends and family mean well, but I
think that my investment in the story and their interest didn’t align. As I
wrote Emergence collective I did not get any real feedback or even
proofreading. To be honest, my editor was the first person to actually read the
damn thing. She did a fantastic job thank you PaulineNolet.com. Her feedback was
reassuring that I didn’t spend all that time writing it, wasted. the idea for
the story was kinda big and I thought deeply about the world I was creating. A
lot of these concepts did not really make it into the story but there are
connections I can make in conversation that would completely make sense and you
would definitely find connections to the story.

What would happen if you could dream up just about anything and it could be
real? what would you do with that power? I wondered that if there are lots of
people that had this ability how would the world change? My first thought was
that people would make their surroundings “customized”. One person
might make a fairyland castle environment and another would pattern theirs with
say Starwars. But how far does your own realm extend to? How strong is your
willpower? your willpower and intention govern the sphere of influence you have
in reality itself. How about what happens when another ascended person enters your
realm? Does there will power change your realm? since they are in your sphere
of influence? What about mutual agreements on world views? do they see a
StarWars environment and you see the fairyland? could there be a merger of the
two? How does this relate to collective consciousness? The reality as a whole
is an agreement of expectations that we all have. Gravity works because there
are enough consciousnesses agreeing on that, it becomes part of the collective
worldview, How does being ascended influence that?

I made sets of rules about this idea and used it as a roadmap for the story
progression as far as the shared environment of the characters.

I use transcended and ascended interchangeably, even though they are not
precisely synonymous. I think it still fits. I still think a lot about the
nature of consciousness. What is it? Where does it come from? One of my
favorite theories is that the human body is like a marionette where our
consciousness pulls the strings outside the body. You cut the strings,
 and the body dies or is in stasis like a coma.

 But where is the puppeteer? In a higher realm, a higher resonant
frequency outside of conscious reality. And our brains act like a filter
preventing us from experiencing that higher realm. It is only when we alter our
state of mind that the filter is removed, and we can experience the true
reality as its resonant frequencies are revealed. Whether it is through strict
meditation or mind-altering chemicals like Ayahuasca, a potent hallucinogen
that contains a chemical called DMT or dimethyltryptamine. Whatever the
catalyst is that allows us to escape the prison of our brain doesn’t matter
once free, and one is perceiving a higher reality, the awareness of the nature
of the universe expands. We start to fully understand our place in it. Learn
that we have abilities that were previously only imagination. Learn to connect
with others on a deeper spiritual level, communicate and express ideas. Travel
throughout the realm and defy the physics of the reality our bodies are trapped
in.

I know this sounds like the ravings of a metaphysical stoner. I think I
communicated the essence of these ideas in the story well enough. But wait!
There’s more; however, I will not bore you any longer. I do explore these
concepts much more deeply in the next book. I think that once you get your feet
wet in the first book, the second will be more satisfying as you explore your
own thoughts on the potential of what could be done if all of this was real. I
would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Emergence Collective · writing

Character snapshot Revisited: The hole

From the feedback I have gotten about ‘Emergence Collective,”  It turns out that “The hole.” Which was (to me) just part of the setting that turned out to be its own Character. I didn’t expect there to be so much intrigue around it. It is fun and satisfying to see reactions and thoughts about my story from other people’s perspectives, which didn’t occur to me since I was focused on different parts of the story.  This character snapshot is not a character, but a place in the story.


Old Willy opened the truck door, which whined and screeched in protest as
the rusty hinges rattled. “Whatcha doin’?” Mr. Winston croaked out the question
while clearing his throat, showing genuine interest in Frank’s contraption over
the dump.   

He turned a little red, embarrassed by his curiosity. “Umm, well, ya see. I
got to thinking is all.” He began to explain. “I have been using this as a dump
for 30 years now, right?”  

“Well… why hasn’t it filled up yet?” He posed the question with increasing
excitement.  

Mr. Winston’s eyes lit up as the thought sunk in. “You know…. I never much
gave it a thought….’ Till now. You know your right!” the excitement transferred
to Mr. Winston. They both sat staring at it silently for a minute or two,
pondering the notion as another old beat-up truck shook its way up the path. A
younger man in his mid-30’s poked his head out of the truck window to have a
clearer view of the scene around the hole.  

       “Is there something I can do?” he asked with concern in his voice.
Not knowing the details of the situation, he offered his services out of simple
neighborly kindness.  

Frank and Mr. Winston did not look up or respond, lost in their own
thoughts. Johnny got out of his truck in a hurry and trotted over to the
hole.   
  
      “Someone fall in?” he asked in an almost scared tone of voice. He
detected that Jonny was getting amped up a bit, broke his trance from the hole,
cracked a smile, and chuckled. “No, no, everything is fine,” he said in a calm
voice, trying to put out the fire in Jonny’s mind “we were just think’n is all;
how deep is this hole?”  

 

Emergence Collective · writing

Character snapshot Revisited: Willy Winston

Characters are like your children. You love them all, and it’s hard to choose your favorite. Willy is one of those (Don’t tell the other characters, but he’s one of my favorites). I like characters that can be equally tough and tender…


Willy turned around to face his friends and make sure everyone was out and
ok. Sandy started to sob and fell to her knees as Jonny put his arm around
her. Frank, still huffing from his sprint, bent over to catch his
breath. Gregory and Daniel looked around, frantic.  

“Where’s David?” Gregory asked in an awkward girlish-sounding
voice. Frank stood up straight and looked toward the tent.  

Sandy gasped. “Oh, oh my God!” she cried, seeing the tent collapsed.  

Gregory and Daniel rushed over to the tent, calling his name. Willy and
Frank followed, quick to help, struggling to find the tent opening in the
darkening light of the sky. Frank froze cold. He looked down, and his voice
turned a chilling tone of horror. “Blood,” he whispered, forcing the
word out of his mouth.  

Willy looked down at where Frank was staring. Fresh splats of blood dripped
at Willy’s feet.  

Frank looked up at Willy. “You’re bleeding, old man,” he said with
a worried tone.  

A trickle of blood ran down from Willy’s forehead and nose into his beard.
He reached up and touched his forehead, searching for injury. “Oh,”
he said with a nonchalant tone as he pulled a toothpick-sized piece of cable
from his head. “Would ya look at that.”  

Emergence Collective · writing

Character snapshot revisited: Barney Derrick

I really enjoyed writing Barney’s Character. I wanted to make a character that you love to hate. I am sure everyone has met a person like Barney.


The sound of Barney’s boots echoed down the quiet hall with a hypnotic cadence. The overhead fluorescent lights seemed to flicker in time with his footfalls. He arrived at the lab and pushed through the door, causing it to bounce off the wall.   Drab faces looked up from computer screens at the abrupt entrance. A soldier rushed over with a handful of disheveled paperwork, trying to organize it into a manila folder before handing it off to his superior. Barney grabbed the folder out of his and studied the file briefly.  The soldier watched as he scrutinized the file, flipping pages, eyes scanning. Barney’s nose crinkled against his mustache, causing the soldier to wince.  He held the folder out for the soldier to take it, allowing the pages to slip out with a whoosh onto the floor.   

“What is this? Is this how I am going to get all of your reports? Is this how you show your respect to your country, to me?”   

“Sir! No Sir!”  

“This report is not even in order! Do you expect me to finish your work for you?”  

“I understand, Sir, no Sir, I apologize, Sir.”   

“Well–What are you waiting for?”  

“Umm …yes, sir,” the soldier said as he scrambled to collect all of the paperwork and organize it all at once.  

“Umm, yes, Sir? That’s how you address a superior officer? An umm? You Sure this is the right career for you, boy? How did you manage to crawl your sorry ass out of basic training?”  he scolded, then turned away so that he could smile without being seen. Ah that felt good, better than coffee, and I’ll never get a bad report from that kid again. He took a few steps before turning around to see the soldier standing at attention, holding the folder in his shaky hands.   

“Sir, your report is ready for your review Sir.” The Airman forced his words out.  

Barney snatched it out of the soldier’s hands. Again, the soldier watched his eyes and fingers do their work.  “That’s better, Airman. You’re dismissed.” The young Airman made his way to his desk and sat down, all the while avoiding eye contact.   

about me · Author · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · writing

The beginners mind

Shoshin is a word from Zen Buddhism meaning “beginners mind”. I have always loved the concept. Looking at the world from the innocence of a child’s point of view, I think, is one of the best ways to approach it. I don’t mean the naivety, but the wonder and openness that comes with that. Anything is possible. I like to think that I have a beginners mind when it comes to writing. I have mentioned before about “My process” (more of “do I have a process?”), But I strive to write to be genuine and original. When I buckle down and write, I tend to avoid reading/listening to other people’s fiction to not be influenced unless it is researching genre, not content or style. Keeping my mind free from influence is a conscious decision, challenging to be sure, but it’s on purpose.

Lucky for me, I didn’t have many preconceptions of what it is to tell a good story or, literally, how to write. Why lucky? Because I don’t have bad habits yet (or that I am aware of), and I am constantly learning and honing my craft.

Emergence Collective · writing

Character snapshot revisited: Mark and Trina

It’s a character snapshot, but these two characters are equally important
together as they are apart, so I decided to lump the snapshot together. I
really enjoyed writing the relationship between these two. I really wanted to
express the kind of purity of love two people could share if they had the
freedom of innocence….


Mark’s beat-up Honda fishtailed around the corner of the driveway and then
skidded to a stop in a cloud of dust in front of the longhouse. Trina had
a white-knuckle grip on the dashboard as if she was holding on for dear
life. “Why do you have to drive like a crazy person?” she shouted, but the look
on her face was one of excitement rather than terror.  “Umm, because
it’s fun?” he said with a chuckle. “Well, here we are. Let’s find the best
cabin before anyone else calls dibs.” 

“Yeah, good call,” she said as she got out of the car and stretched her
back. “This is a cool place,” she said as she looked around, taking in the
layout of the place. “But geez, namaste much?” Mark chuckled at that last
remark. “Yeah, he was the poster child for hippies, I guess. That’s
probably why my dad and Grandad pretended he didn’t exist.” “I think
you might be cut from the same cloth, honey, ya know? A long-hair dropout in a
family of lawyers and doctors. You’re not gonna get rich, but I love ya,”
she said softly. 

He walked over and put his hands on her tiny waist, and pulled her close to
him. “That’s how I know you love me. You’re not a gold digger. He
whispered in her ear, “That makes me richer than any of ’em.” 

“I think this place is making you mushy,” she whispered back. He moved
closer to her ear. “It’s also making me horny.” Then he playfully swatted her
butt. She pretended to be mad and started to push him away but grabbed his
hand and started pulling him to the cabins. “Let’s go find us a cabin, my
‘mushy’ man,” she said and winked at him. He dared not resist as she led
him down a random path. “These cabins are all in good condition. I was
imagining something like sleeping in a dirty barn,” Trina said as she
peered into the window of a pleasant-looking cabin. “I like this one, but I
want something, ya know, a little more private.” “Anything for you,
love,” he said, smiling. “Yeah, I think Uncle Frank had a lot of time on his
hands and kept the place up nicely.” 

They reached the end of the path at a cabin that seemed to be the farthest
from all the others. Mark walked up the few steps to the porch and opened
the door. “Should I carry you over the threshold?” Trina pushed past him
with a smirk. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, bucko,” she said
sarcastically. 

“Well then,” he said with an exaggerated bow, “after you, m’lady,” then
followed her in.