Finishing this book (FOLLOWED) has freed up an incredible amount of head space. Which is great, BTW.  The publishing industry is so weird right now, I’m still deciding what to do next. Just glad to be DONE.

Here’s the two minute overview…(FOLLOWED is an atmospheric thriller with science fiction overtones.)

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CHLOE STANTON, orphaned at 13 and shuffled through foster care never quite belonged. Her life takes on a Cinderella quality when she marries SCOTT, a brilliant neuro-researcher who finally gives her the love and security she has always craved. Her art career flourishes. She lives in a beautiful home. She has everything until Scott’s RESEARCH ASSISTANT turns up dead and Chloe starts asking questions.

Why does Scott pressure her to take tranquilizers? Why is he so secretive about his research? And most chilling – why does she have the same recurring dream of a population of empty, emotionless souls? To find the answers, Chloe has to give up everything she ever wanted or risk becoming one of the gray, soulless people in her dreams – victims of a far-reaching mind control program called Thought Farming.

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Space out. Daydream. Pay attention.

Recurring dreams reccur for a reason.

Imaginations are meant to run loose.

Be suspicious of the word can’t.

Ask what if? And why the fuck not?

Assumptions by nature are used and stale.

Surround yourself with people of strength and good will.

Tell the can’t sayers and complainers to get out of the way.

Know the difference between constructive and unconstructive critique.

One is an energy breeder and one is an energy feeder.

One leads to malaise and one leads to clarity.

Play.

2011, Showcase Winner, Artslant

(Acquired by the Robert Mintz collection)

That means inside and out. Lots of veggies, lots of water, exercise, cleansing breaths.

Who was it that said, throw or give away anything that isn’t beautiful or functional? Thank you.

De-clutter, let go. Exhale.

There’s energy in the space.

After three years of living in a place shaded by redwoods, I’m looking forward to sunshine squares on white carpet!

Some people will see themselves opting into a program that offers a solution or a transformation and they immediately fast forward to the end.  In their movie ending, they are suddenly wealthy healthy, sexy and driving a Porsche. They cross the finish line without taking any action.

These people are suffering from silver bullet syndrome and they aren’t likely to succeed. They may opt into your program, buy your books, or study course and get a temporary dopamine jolt, but they won’t convert into long-term clients because they won’t do the real work it takes to be successful.

When presented with the same plan or system, the successful client plays a very different movie in their head. They see themselves rolling up their sleeves and actually implementing change strategies to achieve the desired transformation. Ready, set, action.

2.     My cat got lost this week. He has never stayed out for more than two hours at a time and when he was gone all day and then all night, I began to fear the worst. I posted a message on Facebook asking my neighbors to keep an eye out for him. I received so many hopeful responses. I figured everyone was in denial. I’ve had two cats disappear off the face of the Earth and I guessed the same thing happened to Dickens. A grim movie played in my head.

On and off throughout the week I cried for the loss of Dickens and all of my losses in life dating back to my canary, Sparky when I was four or five. When we learn about death for the first time the world changes into a very different place. I remember being furious at God back then that this world wasn’t what I had hoped, and this week I felt the same anger all over again.

Maybe when I’m older and wiser, I won’t feel this way, but as it stands, I find death infuriating. I was also angry at myself for not being a better steward to Dickens. I knew the risks of letting him out, and I made a conscious choice to opt for quality of life over quantity.

I checked the shelter. A lady in line told me her cat was missing for two months once. Even the man who worked at the shelter was hopeful. It may seem like an eternity for you when your cat is missing, he said. But don’t give up hope. Cats have a way of turning up.

By then it was day five and not one person had expressed anything but hope, except me. I began to wonder what was wrong with me and I made a choice then to be hopeful.

I put up flyers all over the neighborhood and I walked the grounds calling for Dickens throughout the day and night, but still nothing. Around 3:00 this morning Dickens’ sister burst awake. She sat up like she was expecting something. I didn’t hear a sound so I rolled over and closed my eyes. About three minutes later, there was a spat followed by the thud of a cat jumping onto the deck. It was Dickens and for me a personal miracle.

This week I learned about hope.

This is a place I plan on recording ideas and discoveries that I want to remember.  It would be good if I do this on a weekly basis. That doesn’t mean I will.

1. This week, one of my first discoveries  –  or – “Oh, I finally get it!” moments came listening to an interview with Neale Walsch, author of the Conversations with God series. My Sister gave me his first book before it became popular. Even though she was kind of an atheist; she thought I might like it. I’m lucky to have the sister that I do.

In the interview, Neale Walsch talked about the difference between the words, I want and I choose.

I’ve been intrigued by the Law of Attraction movement along with a billion or so other people. Not the magic thinking aspects of law of attraction, but the notion that things change when we change our internal frequency or “bandwidth” connection. I think fiber optic light channels are an interesting metaphor for our own internal frequencies.  (Some engineers might not think so.)

If you look at the colors around the moon, or the colors around a light bulb in a room full of steam, you’ll see that violet is the color that’s closest to the light. In the visible electromagnetic spectrum, violet has the highest frequency with the shortest wavelength. Red is the color that is most distant from the light “source” and it has the lowest frequency with the longest wavelength. There obviously is no such thing as a wrong color, it’s all good, but it’s interesting to note that the colors that are closest to the “source” are the highest frequency.

Getting back to “I want” versus “I choose” -  There’s a lot of talk of wanting in the laws of attraction writings. Walsch points out that when we say, I want, that’s exactly what we create for ourselves.  For me, when I say, I want, I get a hungry, yearning, vacant feeling inside. When I say, I choose, I get a – “time to get to work” – feeling.

2. Isn’t it interesting that we don’t feel in our heads. We have to be present in our bodies to feel. Our feelings are what tell us when we’re on track within ourselves or if we’re veering off course. It’s good to check-in to our bodies throughout the day and ask how we’re feeling.

3. I think it’s important to notice what themes and ideas keep coming up in a given time. This week, the word persistence has come up a lot. I started another blog geared toward my business and also to “build platform.”

I really love the notion of feedback. I think feedback is one of the ultimate gifts of the universe. I love being open to it, but it’s hard and scary. It’s much easier to go crawl under a rock or the covers than to put yourself out there for feedback.  I submitted a blog post this week that I really worked hard on – two o’clock  in the morning hard. The feedback I received was silence.

I’m in awe of bloggers. It’s one of the most competitive arenas out there for writing. I don’t mean competitive as in stepping-on-heads. I mean competition for eyes and ears. The bar is high.

I’m thankful that I keep hearing this word persistence.

Since I’m learning about book marketing and publishing anyway, I decided to start a blog http://www.makingbestsellers.com to share what I discover and to – build platform. I’m still trying to figure out why I need a publisher if I’ve already “built platform”  but hey, I’m new at this so who am I to argue.

Besides it’s a way to pay it forward and interview interesting people.

One of my first posts is about  pitching agents

One Sunday I decided to finally change the bloody thing. It took less than 5 minutes and afterward something truly amazing happened.
I could see.

Five minutes of effort enhanced my quality of life immeasurably.

What other simple things can I do that will yield such large returns?