Is Confession Good for the Soul? Maybe Not.

Although, it's great for the State.

The inscription for War & Grace is:

Not with false guides, nor with false gods—Voltaire

I chose this quote because among Melia's adversaries are a priest who invests in structural hierarchies and a princess who yearns to be a despot. As leaders in different countries, they could fill the bill of "false guides".

Voltaire came to my attention when I read a fabulous book: Passionate Minds by David Bodanis (which I highly recommend!) while I was writing War & Grace. A literary trickster, Voltaire played a significant role in dismembering the Roman Catholic Church/Bourbon Monarchy oligarchy in France.

Plus, he became an avid gardener!

"We must cultivate our own garden." — Voltaire

So ... back to my original question. Is confession good for for the soul? Maybe not. Although, it's great for the State. Since the beginning of time, human factions (whether they're nominally religious, nation states, monarchies or political parties) have been in search of information about rival human factions.

1. Sun Tzu (544 - 496 B.C.): The Art of War author touted the strategic advantage of foreknowledge. "Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men." That would be confessions from "(1) Local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies."

2. The Roman Catholic Church: "It is almost impossible for us nowadays to grasp the sheer power of the Church in medieval Europe. ...Where there was a priest, there was an intelligence agent of Rome ... For over eight-hundred years Rome monitored, checked, steered, and often dictated European policy based on its control of information ... the Church reported everything to Rome. That was what it was for. That was its job. The Catholic Church's intelligence service rested on four pillars: the power of the confessional; a virtual monopoly of literacy and learning; good communications and the Inquisition." — The Puppet Masters by John Huges-Wilson Eww!

3. Sigmund Freud: Cultural Dildo and author of (the gothic novel?) The Interpretation of Dreams performed a great service circa WWI and WWII for those concerned with obtaining otherwise private information about other human beings by shifting the confessional from the church to the psychoanalyst's couch, thus removing the religious stigma and easing us into secular-approved -encouraged admissions. Just as icky!

4. Now we have Social Media where confessions are made voluntarily, publicly, and the mechanisms themselves are financially subsidized (personal computers, smart phones, tablets, etc.) by the confessor. "Businesses that make money by collecting and selling detailed records of private lives were once plainly described as "surveillance companies." Their rebranding as "social media" is the most successful deception since the Department of War became the Department of Defense."—Edward Snowden

So let me reframe the question. Can false guides or false gods exist without the individual's confession?

"If every living creature in the Whole could harmonize minute by minute, day by day"—Anton snorted his contempt—"with the invisible energy permeating the Whole, there would be an evolution in consciousness, a single leap into a new age. I find it difficult to believe you of all people subscribe to such a ludicrous belief."

"I do," Melia said.

An enraged Anton responded: "There must be order and control. Documentation and research. Leadership and discipline." — War & Grace

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In a time when the Realm of Faerie and Planet Earth exist in symbiotic union, the epic journey of a young half-faerie woman will transform the future of both worlds ...

My name is Melia Albiana and I stand on the edge of the abyss.

Before I leap, I exhale a breath out of time.

The beauty of the Whole unfurls before me—its intricacy, its complexity, its endurance, its mystery, its majesty.

I am filled with awe.

The universal awareness passes and I am left with the poverty of my personal legacy.

I will die young.

I will die broken.

I will die grief-stricken.

I will die lonely.

And I will die a monster.

I will also die consumed by love.

Whimsical and edgy, Daughter of Light is an epic fantasy with an intriguing cosmology and well-developed characters for readers of all ages.

Bye Bye, Facebook!

I'm officially off Facebook today. Once you delete your page and/or account they give you two weeks to think about it. I confess, I didn't think too much about it after I did the deleting a couple of weeks ago.

I don't hate Facebook. I just don't really get it. I'm super private. You probably think I'm not, because of various and sundry details I divulge here and there;) But I rarely share things when I'm "in the midst". I just can't. I'm incapable. When I'm deep in the throes of something, anything, good and/or bad, I don't really want to discuss it, post it, update it. I WANT EXPERIENCE IT. Half the time I don't even know I'm "going through something" or "what I think about what I'm going through" until I'm out on the other side!

What would have to tell?!?!?! BwbwuBwbwuBwbwu! Boy, that would make for an exciting post:D

So, when I say I don't get Facebook, I'm just confessing that I don't get how to use it. I've never felt comfortable there. That's why I finally decided to leave. Although, EVERYONE has told me that as an author: YOU MUST HAVE A FACEBOOK PRESENCE!

Oh well.

I DO, however, want to say THANK YOU to all the Facebook users who supported my page and showed up as I bumbled along there for almost two years! THANK YOU!!!!!

If you want to keep up with me, I'm hoping to blog more in 2015, send out an occasional newsletter, and I love Pinterest! You can also find me tweeting on occasion.

Heidi's Enchanted Readers

Do you believe in magic? Fairy Tales? Happily Ever Afters?

Are you a blogger, an avid reader, or someone who just likes to make new discoveries?

Did you answer "Yes" to at least two of the above questions?!?

You might have fun joining Heidi's Enchanted Readers. It's a Facebook group that the lovely Tanya Johnson of Tanya's Book Nook is putting together. THANK YOU, TANYA!!!! <3

The point of this all? To have fun and spread the word about my 2014 releases!

There's going to be quite a few:

The Girl Who Believed in Fairy Tales: A collection of Three Short Stories—wait til you see the cover!
Half Faerie: The Daughter of Light, Book One—it's at the proof readers right now!
The Tree Hugger: A Dystopian Fairy Tale (awesome!) and retelling of Han's Christian Andersen's The Dryad. This is going to be one you'll want to talk about!
Cupcakes & Kisses: A yummy paranormal romance I'm collaborating on with Billie Limpin. We're having a blast writing this, and  it's going to be a fun, fun read. I guarantee it.
Half Mortal: Daughter of Light, Book Two. Very excited for this one!!!! More Melia! More Ryder! More Flora! Plus Pressina and Plantine return...
And possibly, another Fairy Tale retelling...

What do you have to do to join?

Just fill out this form: The Magical Enchanted Form

Then you'll have to read my books... and write reviews... ! I know, there's always a catch;) But you'll get review copies!!!! And have the chance to win swag!!!!

Where else can you get a groovy Half Faerie bracelet that doubles as a terrific cat toy?!??!

Or what about a cool pink and blue Happily Ever After bracelet? You know you want one!

 
 Plus there will be print editions to be won and who knows what else?!?!?

The only thing I know for sure is I'd love to have you join!
xo Heidi xo

Flora is in the spotlight at Digital Book Today

Flora gets the spotlight in a Guest Post at Digital Book Today.

Indie Life: Keeping it Real

Being genuine. Keeping it Real. 

How to do that in an online, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Google + world?

I have spent a year trying to answer that question for myself. What I have learned is this: By jumping into the river and swimming, I begin to discover things. As I'm paddling and floating along, my heart and mind connect to things that turn me on, make me feel more alive, and help me grow my way of seeing myself, others, and the world around me.

Those are the things I retweet, share, and comment on. It feels good. There's an impulse to be random, formulaic, and mechanical, and I have experimented with that. For me, it might involve some time savings, but it never feels quite right.

I struggled a lot last year with my website and blog. Having blogged in the past, I knew what a time suck it could be. I didn't want to start up anything I would come to resent, or worse feel disconnected from. Like I was just going through the motions, or just doing it because everyone says I need an author platform.

There were a lot of false starts. I kind of went off in this direction and that one; I felt kind of stuck and uninspired. As the year wore on, I was reading a lot more and then I picked up Leaf Storm by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I fell in love with the stories in it and wanted to chatter about it. Out of all that, Eating Magic, my stream-of-consciousness eating journal, inspired by the Alice Hoffman quote: Books may well be the only true magic was born. 

I get more regular traffic from Eating Magic than anything else I've experimented with, and the truth is, I would continue with it even if I didn't get the traffic, because I love it and it's a lot of fun to write.

Russell Blake is a successful indie author who I follow on Twitter.  He made a comment on his post New Year, New Hurdles & Opportunities: They are singularities. He was referring to John Locke, Amanda Hocking, E.L. James, John Grisham, and Hemingway. He meant their particular road to success is not repeatable. So what are we to do if we can't mimic, copy, or follow behind in their footsteps?

It seems, indie authors--and authors--who experience break-out success don't follow any set rules; they follow their passions and find their own way to keep it real. I know that's the key to accessing the excitement that fired me up to take this journey in the first place.

So every now and then I ask myself: Are you keeping it real?

What about you? Does being genuine feel important to you as an indie author?

New Beginnings

During my social media organic growth phase in 2012, things became rather sprawling. I ended up with multiple urls that were a challenge--even for me--to keep up with, much less maintain.

When someone suggested that I take a look at this, it took me a bit, but finally, I got her point. Well, after my husband who is a whiz bang system architect and application programmer broke it down for me. Then I realized it was kind of brilliant.

The truth is: It FEELS like I fiddled with my website(s) for an entire year, probably because I did! But towards the end of the year, I figured out these are the things that I love:

Twitter,

Eating Magic, 

my Goodreads friends, and

being an Indie Author.

Facebook…I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

I also figured out this is who I am:

A reader and a writer. A writer and a reader. A reader and a writer. A writer and a reader. Okay, I think you've got the point.

Thus, I would like to welcome you to my new streamlined and integrated website where my Eating Magic blog posts will be intermingled with other stuff. Like new releases, cover reveals, contests, giveaways, blog hops, and all the other potpourri of a wordy person's life.

To celebrate this rebirth I'm hosting an exclusive event for my Goodreads friends!

I'll Tweet Your Link!

Just leave your twitter handle and the link you'd like me to tweet as a comment on this blog post before noon, Sunday, January 27; I'll come up with a zesty tweet and shout it out to my 1200+ followers. And if you follow me, I'll follow you back.

If you don't have a twitter account, I'll still tweet your link, I just won't be able to mention your twitter handle in the tweet.

Have a great weekend!