Dreams and Goals

Last day of 2012 - and our 29th wedding anniversary! Love is a wonderful thing - it thrives on love. (Love you, honey! :)
I set a couple of goals at beginning of the year - to publish Crystal Warrior and get a handle on social media! To my great surprise I achieved them both - sorta! Crystal Warrior is available on Amazon though it's now titled "Through All Eternity' and I've gained a pretty sloppy sort of handle on Twitter and FB - sloppy cos I still get confused by how they work and what I should be doing! I also started a blog ...!
Better start thinking about my goals for 2013 - the next 'handle' I need to get is why one writes one's stuff in a blog and expects other people to want to read it! I also intend to publish 3 contemporaries I have tucked away in my pc, and finish Crystal Dancer and publish that too by the middle of the year.
What are your dreams for 2013? Do you want them enough to manifest them? Race ya!!!
 Remember - The success of goal-setting depends on how badly you want the dream.

So set goals that are really important to you. Success breeds success.

Have an awesome 2013.

Atlantis Exists - in the Soul of every one of us. : Crystal Dancer - Bk 2. of the Crystal Series

Atlantis Exists - in the Soul of every one of us. : Crystal Dancer - Bk 2. of the Crystal Series: Welcome to my new page for Book 2 of the Crystal Series. Crystal Dancer is the story of Ugo, a small child saved from the destruction of At...

Free on Kindle

For 5 days from Sunday 18th November to Thursday 22nd November "Through All Eternity" will be free on Amazon Kindle. So now would be a good time to get your copy. Hopefully you will feel able to 'like' it or 'tag' it or tweet it or whatever you might be able to do to help me with this promotion.
The absolute tops of course would be a review on Amazon!
Thanks everyone.

When I first wrote 'Through All Eternity' it was called 'Crystal Warrior' and was an ancient story with no modern day component. I changed the name because there were other books of that title around, but even now, it is still 'Crystal Warrior' in my heart.
When I had finished it and killed off all except Ugo in the final great earth convulsions that destroyed Atlantis, I thought the story complete.I gave it to a friend to read and realised that the ending was too horrific when she rang to tell me between sobs, that I'd "killed everyone, even the baby!"
Not sure how the outcome could really be anything else, I revisited and wrote an ending where the child Ugo, still went forward in time and there was no other baby. Gynevra and Taur were able to use their priestly powers to apportate to Crete and finish out their lives there, continuing to build a culture based on love as they had begun to instigate in Atlantis. . . .
Somehow it never felt right and so it got shelved again. But it would never leave me completely. I cannot now remember what gave me the idea to turn it into a time-travel type story but I realised that by so doing I gave the characters a satisfactory way of completing the lifetime so cruelly cut off in 9644BC (or thereabouts ;-). Not only this, there was now a reason for Gina and Torr to relive that ancient life and return to the 20th century with the paranormal powers that would enable them to free Gould and Fran from the strange energy warp of the Bermuda Triangle.
To me it felt much more satisfactory and I hope it does the same for my readers.
I am now using the motivation of NaNoWriMo to write Ugo's story and am really delighted at how the modern day component of his story is shaping up.
Because of course, Ugo is another larger than life hero, 'the king's miracle, a man out of time, out of place'. Watch for him in 'Crystal Dancer'.

Atlantis Exists - in the Soul of every one of us. : The Sisterhood Meets Again.

Atlantis Exists - in the Soul of every one of us. : The Sisterhood Meets Again.: I've completed 16,770 words out of the 50,000 I intend to write through the month of November, spurred on by NaNoWriMo. It's a fantastic mot...

The Sisterhood Meets Again.

I've completed 16,770 words out of the 50,000 I intend to write through the month of November, spurred on by NaNoWriMo. It's a fantastic motivator, tailor-made for the procrastinators among us. Give me a target and a bit of healthy competition and its amazing how focused I can be.
And since I'm on target with a bit to spare, I am really looking forward to the weeknd with 'the Sisterhood' - aka C2C - The Coast to Coast Chapter of Romance Writers of NZ. It is our last meeting for the year, so incorporates a Xmas celebration. We will stay at Paradise Valley Lodge in Rotorua from Friday through to Sunday and indulge in good fun and good food, as well as some inspirational professional advice for our careers - and of course, lots of interaction and chat.
A weekend with a group of women with the same passions, dreams and language as me!
And yes, I'm hoping to manage another 2000 words at least over the weekend.
The characters in Crystal Dancer are shaping up to be very individual and strong in their voice so I'm guessing they're not going to give me any peace if there happens to be any 'down time'!
I give thanks for the magic of my world.

Dawn Latreia

The Atlanteans understood that they and their world were powered by 'energy' and that it was their responsibility to keep that energy strong and healthy and flowing into the Earth grid.
Perhaps I should qualify that and say some Atlanteans understood this. Those who studied the Temple Mysteries and practised the old ways worked hard to maintain the flow of energy. But just like today, there were those who were seduced away from the healthy, `energetic' ways by power, greed, pride and lust.
Part of the old ways was the practice of Dawn Latreia.
In Fyr Poseidyr, capital city of the Province of Poseidonia, seat of the Paramount King, there were twelve hills. On each in ancient times were built a circle of twelve stone pillars, tall and pointed and know as the Needles. They were numbered - 1st, 2nd etc.
The Needles were places of power and each morning at dawn a priestess from the temple climbed to the Needles, entered a state of trance and danced naked while singing the morning hymn of praise and awakening to the pantheon of gods, great God Ra, Goddess Ist and God Asar.
It was an integral part of daily Atlantean ritual though the performing of it varied from province to province. And once again I must reiterate, this is how it came to me. I make no claims to being an expert on the subject! But I do believe their understanding and use of natural universal energy was way beyond anything we understand today.

The Secret Life of a Writer: Crystal Power in Atlantis

The Secret Life of a Writer: Crystal Power in Atlantis: I believe they had electricity in Atlantean times but the source of it was crystals; vast man made towers of pure quartz crystal that could ...

Crystal Power in Atlantis

I believe they had electricity in Atlantean times but the source of it was crystals; vast man made towers of pure quartz crystal that could be programmed to perform a diverse variety of functions. It could be used for good or evil, just like atomic power today.
Fortunately I'm not a scientist who lays their academic and professional credibility on the line by making such a statement! And since I'm only telling you what I believe, the worst you can do is argue that I'm somewhat insane! Well so be it. I know I'm unique within the vast mass of humans who inhabit the earth and I guess that's not so far from being a little odd anyway!
But you can test my theory - or at least prove that crystals give off energy. Acquire a pendulum. A crystal pendant suspended from a piece of fine chain works very well. But most anything (try your wedding ring) suspended from a fine chain or even a piece of cotton will work. I use a crystal pendant hung on a 2 inch(approx) piece of chain from a broken necklet.
Hold the end of the chain firmly between thumb and forefinger and suspend it over a quartz crystal point and see what happens. From hanging perfectly still the pendulum will start moving, backwards and forwards at first, and then in circles which become quite animated and the energy of it can be felt clearly in thumb and forefinger.
My logical mind suspects that the larger the crystal the more powerful the energy it emits.
My imagination takes over and says, what if this energy could be harnessed and channelled as we harness and channel electricity today? Why couldn't it be? Just because currently we are the most advanced civilisation to have lived on earth (apparently; or by OUR estimation) does this give us claim to a higher intelligence than any who have gone before? I think even scientists are beginning to admit this is not so. And since all evidence for or against a civilisation more advanced than stone age man inhabiting the earth in antediluvian times was sluiced from the planet by the Great Flood I can imagine my own reality and state that this is how it was - at least in a work of fiction!
Warning! Creating worlds becomes an addiction...! A bit like playing God, I suppose!
`Through All Eternity' B009MFQUBC takes you back to Atlantis as I believe it was.
Dare to dream, dare to travel--Through All Eternity.

Atlantean Calendar

Atlantis existed well before the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians and others had settled on a 365 day calendar.
The Atlanteans worked on a 360 day calendar with 12 months, each containing 3 ten day weeks. It has been suggested that a pole shift occurred (perhaps at the same time as Atlantis disappeared?) which lengthened the year by five days.
Whatever the cause, gradually the great civilsations of antiquity added the five days.
Atlantean terms used in "Through All Eternity":-
zytur = year        triton = month        tonn = week
So much knowledge literally at our fingertips these days makes us very fortunate. Google 'epagomenal days' for some fascintaing reading.

Atlantis - my Reality

In the writing of `Through All Eternity'  (B009MFQUBC ) I delved into the works of many diverse authors, soaking up snippets that took my fancy and wove them into my version of Atlantis during the 10 years before its demise. I make no claims that I have portrayed Atlantis exactly as it was. I went with my own gut instinct, which is most likely as individual as my thumbprint, and allowed my dreams to become my reality. Yes, dreams too - so many strands went into the weaving of the whole.

(Note to Readers! Your reality may be quite different, as individual as your thumbprint! Neither is necessarily right or wrong. To each of us our reality is our truth.)

I will present some of those snippets which resonated with me at the time (back in 1998 when I was inspired to begin) - I know they resonated because they're highlighted in the books that still line one shelf in my library long after my questing into them is done.

In this post – I take a look at some writings from Lewis Spence in 'The Occult Sciences in Atlantis'. (published in 1978)

This work greatly influenced my understanding of the Temples and the `mysteries' studied there and it is from this work that I took the approximate date of the disappearance of the great continent; 9600BC. Spence states that Atlantis was still in the Stone Age though it did have use of the metals gold, silver, tin, brass, and the 'native orichaculm'. (This last no longer exists.) He surmises that the use of these metals "lapsed for several thousands of years because of the overthrow of scientific knowledge which followed the disappearance of the island." He goes on to present information by which he sets out to prove "that the entire legendary and traditional evidence appears to point to Atlantis as the original matrix of Alchemical lore and practice in its most primitive form."

 

Atlantis never felt to me to be typical of what I think the ‘Stone Age’ was, though since it falls into the Stone Age era that is what we call it. They had technology and skills as sophisticated and more than we have today. They had ‘crystal power’ which was everything to them that electricity and nuclear power are to us today. And the development of their mental and mystical powers were beyond what all but a very few ever attain in our time.

Atlantis, reality or myth, will probably always be an unsolved riddle, as its existence is so far back in time it cannot be proved either way. No doubt it will continue to exercise the human mind because the energetic seed of it exists still in our soul memories and cannot entirely be dislodged or ignored.

It’s rather interesting to say the word, ATLANTIS, focus on it and see where your mind takes you.

What does your gut tell you? Myth or reality?

Which could lead to a whole other discussion - "Is not 'myth' simply 'reality shrouded by the mists of time"? :-))

Here is the FOREWORD from 'Through All Eternity' - available at Amazon.com
B009MFQUBC

FOREWORD:

According to Plato, Poseidon, God of the Sea and his mortal wife Cleito, who settled in Atlantis at the beginning of its history, had five sets of male twins. Poseidon divided the land among his ten sons so each was King in his own province but Atlas and his successors were always known as the paramount Kings of Atlantis.
The portrayal of Atlantis in `Through All Eternity' is the outcome of extensive reading on the subject. For a place believed by the majority to be merely a myth, it has inspired an incredible number of books, both investigative and fictional. Having read many diverse facts, beliefs, and theories on the existence or otherwise of Atlantis, I then delved into my own inner knowing, sourced information from my own soul memories (some would call this imagination) and created Taur and Gynevra's world.
Over thousands of millennia the face of the land changed and the people of Atlantis passed through many eras of prosperity and many more of terrible devastation. The ancient part of the story takes place at the end times of the last era of Atlantis.
It has been said by many that Atlantis was destroyed by the mis-use of power and the exploitation of crystal energy in ignorance of what the energy really was, or could do—much like modern man exploits nuclear power today.
But I say to you, what destroyed Atlantis was lack of love—love of man for woman, Man for Man, and Man for the Universe.
How far have we come in 11,000 years?

I love small town New Zealand! All small towns possess many similar features but the best (and sometimes the worst!) is that most everyone who lives there knows most everyone esle who lives there! There are times of course, when we wish that wasn't so, but there are other times when it's the best - like having a massive family.
Piopio, the small town where I live, has a wonderful cafe - Fat Pigeon, which any Piopio-ite will tell you is the best in all of NZ! It definitely gets my vote. I drink  a moccachino made with soy milk, white chocolate, and a single shot of coffee (now affectionately known as a 'woccachino'!) and the staff had all memorised it and would often start making it as I walked in the door. (I like my daily fix!)  But now they have a special button on the till with my name on it! How cool does that make me feel? Think I'll go down and check it out! What sort of coffee do I want? I'll have a 'Jenny's' thanks! Now you all know what to order when you pass Fat Pigeon on your way to visit! :-))

Tired Blogger

One probably shouldn't blog when tired. Goodness knows what drivel might spill forth. So I will exercise a little discretionary wisdom and 'sod off to bed', as my 'pommy' friend would say! :-))

Interpreting Dreams

What's your best 'dreamtime'? Mine is often when I've dropped off back to sleep after Pete gets up. I will wake again with a dream still very vivid in my consciousness. These dreams usually feel important so I write them down and then think about them. This morning's dream showed me the final scenes of Crystal Dancer, Book 2 in the Atalantean/Crystal Series.
There are many books that give arbitrary definitions of dream symbols but I believe each individual dreams their own symbols and should rely on their own intuition and inner knowing to interpret their dreams - if interpretation is important. (I'm sure sometimes our dreams are just to be wondered at!)
Dreams can be an invaluable tool for a writer. In this morning's dream I watched a young man, whose body was crippled and ugly, sing with such angelic, otherworldly sweetness his listener was reduced to tears that were wrenched up from a deep gut level.
Hugh and Riki in Crystal Dancer are both emotionally crippled in very different ways which prevents them from being together for several years even though their love for one another is real and expressed. Once Hugh finds and understands himself, how can he break through the impermeable crystalline protective shell with which Riki has surrounded herself?
I was beginning to think he would never do it! But now I have my answer.
Thank you to the Angel Guides who paint my dreams.

The 'Sisterhood'.

Is it a coincidence that all my closest friends are writers? Probably not, since writing is my life. It often makes me smile with gratitude when I think on the wonderful 'Sisterhood' I have acquired through a mutual passion for the written word. Today I'm going to a seminar for NaNoWriMo with two of them and we are meeting three others for lunch in beautiful Rotorua before the seminar. No prizes for guessing what most of the conversation will be about. And it's highly likely at least one out of the three of us travelling together will solve a plot point during the journey. We're good like that!
Thank you for my life.

Scary Beginnings -

Another 'ginger' step by a technophobe. I am starting a blog where I will talk about my life as a writer. So this is double scary - exposing my inner self and how I think. Damn. Not sure I want to do this after all.
I'm a toe-dipper at the beach too. You know the one, dip your toe in because it looks so enticing, then run a half mile back up the beach because it was cold or a wave suddenly rolled towards you.
That explains my attitude to social media nicely. So this is obviously enough exposure for today.

Excerpts from "Through All Eternity" by Jen Yates
http://amzn.com/B009MFQUBC

Who the hell was this woman who'd walked into his soul with the ease of someone walking into a garden, but who fit there with the comfort of a damned thorn bush? Who was Jenna Hackville and why did she disturb him so?

His body thrummed as if with the memory of a shared physically intimate knowledge and a burning need to renew that knowledge, while his mind reverberated with the gut-deep certainty of treachery.A treachery which nevertheless, wouldn't prevent their bodies from melding and exploding together with cataclysmic and volcanic force should she make one positive move in his direction. Torr had the harsh conviction the civilisation he'd always thought an integral part of his psyche was but a flimsy veneer, stretched to its thinnest, over a barbaric brigand lurking beneath. There was no doubt he was losing his mind.

The Power of Words.
What comes first, the thought or the word? The bible tells us that 'in the beginning there was the Word'. I have also read somewhere that any creation starts with a Thought. I have often contemplated the randomness of inspiration and how it can be sparked by a chance word spoken or overheard or read somewhere.
The Word provokes Thought, and Thought inspires Creation.
The First Insight in James Redfield's  'The Celestine Prophecy' states that 'nothing is a coincidence'.  In other words, there is nothing random about Word, Thought or inspired Creation. All is part of a Divine Plan.
It is amazing to consider that before any creation, however great or small, there had to be a word - the seed; evoking a thought - the germination; which led to the growth of the creation - the plant.
What word sparked the creation of the pyramids, the space shuttle, the Tower of Babel, the Sphinx?
What word inspired early church fathers to collect the stories of creation and Jesus and put them together to form the bible? What word inspired Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, Jane Austen? What fired the thought processes that led them to create their great works of fiction. We probably will never know now.
I make no claims to being a great writer (though hope srpings eternal!!) but I am often amazed at what elaborate stories can spring from a simple statement or question.
Back in 1998 my daughter, Velani, asked me just such a question - "Do you believe in Atlantis, mum?"
At the time I couldn't answer. But it started me on a quest that has led to the writing of a book which might be more properly called a 'tome', and the planning of several more to follow.
I now definitely believe Atlantis once existed. I acquired a library of books on the subject which expound countless theories of where, why and how and then came up with my own reality.
As a writer does!
"Through All Eternity' http://amzn.com/B009MFQUBC is the first book in the series. It's romantica, past life/time travel, paranormal, sexy - and did I say romance?
It's a journey through all eternity.

I have signed up for NaNoWriMo. Not sure if this is because I'm sensible or desperate. Procrastination is so easy. And strange how writer's can think of so many things to do that prevent them from writing - which they profess to love and are often obsessed by. So why can't I just sit down at the computer each day and write without thinking about the dishes on the sink or the cruddy mat at the back door that needs vacuuming? Why am I so easily distracted by the thought of coffee from my favourite cafe - Fat Pigeon. That's probably my greatest problem right there though I prefer to think of it as a BLESSING! It's the best cafe in NZ and it's in my little village, Piopio! How lucky is that. Damn! See! I've done it now. Time to go get my coffee fix for the day. Have a good one!

Who knew! There are people out there who make me feel quite knowledgeable about this techno stuff and I just might be able to pass on some of the support I have had in spades from those so much more advanced - and - brave than I. Still I feel very humble before a woman in her late 80's who embraces this stuff with a willingness and tenacity that reminds me I've been a wuss! Time to harden up!