To write is one thing. It conjures images of warm drinks and views out the window gazing at a mystical rain from a plain, uncluttered desk, perhaps with something as freaking laborious as an old-fashioned typewriter.

Ummm, no.

Writing is hard. It demands you sit your butt in a chair for long periods of time, rain or shine. Stephen King called it butt glue. And hot drinks are downright dangerous. (Ask me how I know.) Writing demands you reveal yourself in one way or another, even if you write fantasy. It can lead some to drink, and actually kill themselves, like it did Hemingway and so many others masking mental illness. For me, every time I write a book, I gain a solid 20 pounds, as if this extra weight will protect me from the fear of knowing what my Soul demands, and what people will think when I put it out in the world, never to retract. There is no hiding in writing, at least if you want it to be good, and it can be both terrifying and exhilarating simultaneously.

And there’s this other piece, too, about input from others and how to balance that. How can you hear your own voice and trust it, the Spirit running through, when you have so many rules and memories boxing you in from your early school days, not to mention your social media beckoning you not to watch “The Social Dilemma”? There are also writing groups and partners and agents and editors…the list goes on. It’s hard to hear yourself write. I’m just ITCHING to get back in the classroom, preferably second grade before the walls go up, and give young writers the confidence to write their authentic truth without being afraid to flow confidently like many adult writers I know struggle with.

I love playing with words, stringing together thoughts, getting in flow, and painting pictures with my words. I love sitting with friends and sharing stories, not ones they’ve repeated over and over, but fresh ones that just happened. Those are my favorites. It could be something that was just said at the grocery store, or on the drive to the next town. I really just love the energy behind all aspects of story and sharing the wave unfolding. But that’s stories, and stories are different than books.

How is it that one book takes 15 years and thousands of hands that touch it to come into being, and one book takes 9 months and only 3 hands that touch it which is what happened with SHINE? Writing is just all over the place, and publishing – well, that’s a whole different thing. It’s damn near impossible to birth a traditionally published book in less than two years from the date of sale. 

SHINE was really my first book that took the principle of flow to the field and threw it into play. When Covid Season started, I signed up for every class and retreat that was now being offered online. As an avidly curious learner, I was ecstatic about the global offerings in play. I signed up for a weekend workshop (in Sedona via my big red writing chair) just for fun and was going to free write which I never give myself the luxury of doing. Hell, I had time, right?

In fact, I was on a writer’s strike, never to publish again, as I felt like my creativity was usurped in the whole process. In case you don’t realize, writers make very little money on most projects, and the people making money are the people surrounding the writers. They make that money by taking the creative work the writer did, and many cases “enhancing” it in some way, and then making it a violation of contract for just about anything the writer wants to do with it. It’s annoying, and it’s wrong. So that’s why I started my writer’s strike.

It didn’t last that long, though, because my friend Haumea, an expert at block zapping, said during a few days we spent in San Francisco together, “do you want to just zap that block?” and so we did. I am forever grateful because I feel like what flowed out will help the world – or at least those who read it, who will in turn help the world. Win/win.

I wrote SHINE over a weekend, rewrote it over the next four months, and then dove into a determined effort to get it self-published by year end knowing absolutely ZERO about self-publishing – and honestly almost secretly doing it after being told repeatedly by traditional publishing it can hurt your career. But, hell, I wasn’t going to write again anyway so it wasn’t worried about that anymore, and bigger than that, I got a clear message from Spirit that there was a time stamp on this project. I also got a clear message that I needed to come out of the closet on my own spirituality no matter who thinks what (yeah, Southern Baptist root voices in my ear telling me I’m going to Hell) and be who I really am. So, out came SHINE.

She arrived on December 10 in ebook form only because we could just not get the colors to match at the launching place and I really, really wanted them to match. I couldn’t understand why it was so hard to accomplish this, but with an ever-growing distribution list on the 82-long- message email thread back and forth, my perfectionist gave up the fight. As I sat and looked at the two contrasting covers in frustration, I thought, “Hunh. One’s light and one’s dark, just like I say in the book – both get to be in the room.”

In the end, it didn’t matter. The next day, I opened my laptop to see this.

Whaattt?!? This was amazing, because over that workshop weekend, SHINE flowed out in a dream. And I love dreams, and talk about both dreams and nightmares in the book. And all the time. And to anybody who will listen. Both/and. I learned about having a Street Team, those who belong with you on this journey and will help the work along in the launch. Some did, some didn’t, but those that did made up for the others. The energy they brought to the launch helped propel me confidently forward and I’m so grateful.

Day 3, this. That damn Lucid Dreaming Workbook knocks me out of first chair, but never mind because each day I opened my laptop, I’d find myself #1 in a new category. And honestly, I love Lucid dreaming so I’m okay with sharing that spot.

It just kept rolling out like this. As I type this, I had #1 Bestseller in 4 Categories. The reason that is important is not just for the ego nod which does drop in for a minute, but rather that visibility of these words, Spirit’s words, can now so much more likely reach a larger following. On this day, the last night of Hanukkah, 4 days before the Winter Solstice, and 8 days to Christmas, SHINE has found a home in this world, and I feel it will make it brighter. 

Never give up on your dreams. Never dim your light, because it makes someone else uncomfortable when you do you. Never.

If you want to buy the paperback, go here.

If you want to buy the ebook, go here.

If you do buy SHINE for yourself, or a friend, and if it gives to you what I hope it will, I would love it if you would leave a review to help other readers discover it on Amazon or Goodreads. A great review from a happy reader is the best gift an author can get.

Shine, Sweetheart, Shine!