15 Books Later

15 Books Later

by | Oct 28, 2019 | Scribing

Fifteen books later, the book I started first has finally been written – and narrated.

It’s now off for typesetting as this blog gets published. The day after the book is done and it’s now kind of out of my hands, it’s almost like missing an old friend and there is a strange sense of loss.

I have been researching genres though and am delighted to zero in on Metaphysical and Visionary Fiction, where you find books like The Alchemist and Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Rather than my usual rush into a new project rapidly, I am treating myself to a breather. New plans kick off on the 1st November when we may be in, or out, of the EU – or more likely, one foot in and one foot out – which mirrors where I am with the book which is written but not published.

On which note, we’ve decided to go for a publication date of 10th Jan 2020, which is the first Full Moon – the timing of which appears often in the book.

Lessons Learned

  • The process cannot be rushed (even for a time bender)
  • The book is much richer in its third draft with intertwining plot lines
  • Audiobook production is the best proofreading process
  • The timing is impeccable with more and more ways to promote a book these days
  • Pre-marketing on the book’s progress and a pre-order date are key to warming up readers (and listeners)

 

What’s Next?

  • Being Soulful – a series of meditations to accompany the book
  • Getting beta readers and listeners
  • Long overdue rationalisation & streamlining of my old online courses
  • Creation and re-creation of said courses (and new ones) for online apps and a new and wider audience
  • Restarting The Zone Show podcast

 

Other News …

  • Being 999 – a meditation I recorded ages ago now up on Insight Timer & making waves
  • An Extended Akashic Journey – elongation of an old favourite also up on the app
  • More short stories from The Germinatrix also up on the app and pending release …
  • … the audiobook version of that book happening by stealth
  • Honoured to lead an 80 minute live guided meditation and awakening in Bristol this month
Small Steps Big Steps

Small Steps Big Steps

by | Sep 30, 2019 | Expanding

Soulwaves : The Audiobook

This month has been consumed by audiobook production – slotted in around loads of family support.

At 100 chapters and just shy of 100k words, there is no short cut. I am managing 10 chapters a week and am 70 chapters in at the time of this blog.

So it will be finished by mid to late October and the book will be out, at last, well before the end of the year. I can recommend the process to all authors. Not only do you get the audiobook from it but also you find errors not found by any proof reading process and, for a complex plot like this one, inconsistencies that need ironing out.

Enlightened Conversations

In the run up to publication, I’m slowly restarting the Zone Show podcast and also being interviewed myself.

Here’s a couple of conversations from this month.

… more coming soon.

Authentic Living

by Tom Evans chatting to John Siddique

Timeful Reflections

Writing this blog and this whole production process around this novel has caused me to reflect.

Why has this project taken so long when other books have just popped out in weeks or months? This one has taken years.

Is it just because it’s my first novel and I am learning my craft?

Am I still harbouring a fear or imposter syndrome?

Is all driven by some kind of divine timing?

… if you are an intuitive or a channel, please leave any insights below by way of comment.

Taking Hands off the Wheel

Taking Hands off the Wheel

by | Aug 31, 2019 | Scribing

Artwork by Siri Stiklestad Opli

The month of August has become a big handle turning exercise. September augurs more of the same.

The reason being is that 35 of the 100 chapters of Soulwaves are now narrated. I make no bones about it, it is a huge task and big ask, with no shortcuts.

While it might sound like a lot of hard work, it does feel I am taking my hands off the wheel and coasting down hill to a glorious destination. Apart from anything, I am really enjoying reading my own book back and remembering things I’d forgotten I’d wrote.

Reading a book out loud is simply the best and most thorough way to proof read a book. Here’s why:

#1. If I can read it out loud, a reader can’t read it ‘in loud’. It won’t scan well.

#2. I am spotting forward references I set up in earlier chapters I wrote many months ago that I can pick up and develop subtly in later chapters.

#3. You spot errors even the best editor/proof reader may not have spotted. I’ve found loads and suspect there are more.

August also saw two weeks off with some family support commitments. Due to ongoing support commitments, I plan to have the next third of the book narrated by the time I blog next and the final third completed by the end of October.

This will lead to print and ebook production in November which in turn means publication should be early December.

One of the tricks I use, which is also one I use in writing, is to record the very ending words first. This is the poem I wrote many years ago to describe the essence of what a Soulwave is. It wraps up the book but there’s no spoiler alert as it gives nothing away about the actual ending. Merely it describes how Soulwaves are the fabric of the Universe.

You can listen to it free on Insight Timer …

Soulwaves : A Poem on Entanglement

… also, you can listen to two new meditations on the app this month and a new short story from The Germinatrix and a musical mindful podcast.

Take Your Hands Off the Wheel

Count Your Riches

Moderating Your Mindberg

Mindful Beats With Tyson Baird

p.s. if all of this output seems quite a lot in just one month, it’s just an example of what happens when you take your hands off the wheel

 

Two Million Listens

Two Million Listens

by | Aug 5, 2019 | Expanding

Several blogs ago I set my stall our to post once a month as a bread crumb trail of what was going on in my life – the original purpose and format for a blog perhaps.

Something happened at the start of this month which means I should break with this tradition and sneak an extra blog in – my meditations on Insight Timer hit the 2 million listens mark, after three years.

What does this mean?

Firstly, what was something I played and experimented with has gone mainstream. People seem to enjoy each new meditation I post.

Secondly, I have hit a groove where there is no limit. I post two to three free pieces of audio a month – a meditation, a podcast and a short story. The sales revenue from Insight Timer courses mean I can relax and release more and more free stuff, which in turn helps with sales. After 15 years of pretty continual content creation, I have found my metier.

Thirdly, it means I can really devote the time my forthcoming novel Soulwaves requires to create a Big Splash.

Eternal thanks to the team at Insight Timer and all those souls who helped me get to this milestone.

See 1 Million Listens for some more background on the journey …

Re-tyre-ment

Re-tyre-ment

by | Jul 24, 2019 | Chatting

Now I should state that I am really not a fan of Formula 1. To me the prospect of watching paint dry is more compelling.

That said, I am a big fan of analogy and metaphor and the concept of taking a pit stop and changing tyres for a new road ahead seemed to be very fitting to this point in my path.

My pit stop has taken more than a few seconds though. This one has stretched from May right through to the beginning of August as two events unfolded. First, my editor has been going through my novel Soulwaves and the manuscript has now been batted back across the Pond and is in my hands. Second, we at last sold our house in Surrey and can now move full time into our new eco-home.

The observant will note that the timing of these two events cannot be coincidental … especially as it means I can retire, put my slippers on, watch day time TV and play golf when I want to (the eco-house happens to be on a golf course) …

… I could alternatively move up several gears !

Space and Time

An excellently detailed edit has given the novel a new depth and expansiveness. The space I have had away from it has given a new objectiveness. Authors often fear the suggestions of editors, perhaps because it reminds them of homework at school being marked. I have been relishing receiving the perspective of another human being and plan to take it all on board PLUS being I have a new found confidence to push the boat out still further.

So this new re-tyre-ment means that I can really devote myself full time to making the novel the best it can be. I have been fortunate to stumble across, by accident, someone who has made a cover I am really proud of. Now it’s time to make sure the inside of the book comes up to the same quality.

… as both space and time are themes I play with in the book, this only seems fitting.

What kind of tyres do I need?

Formula 1 teams bear a few factors in mind when selecting their tyres in a pit stop. They think about the conditions ahead, is the track wet or dry? They consider how many laps there are to go, and if they can possibly avoid yet another pit stop. They might not even fill the car entirely up with fuel to make it lighter.

For me, I know the road ahead and am fortunate that I am not in a race. The book has taken many years to form and if it comes out by the end of this year, I will have achieved more than I ever thought possible.

So the next few laps, probably until the end of August, will involve me editing the edits. For this I will need ‘wet’ tyres that help me stick to the track and not come off the rails. Going over five chapters a day is my aim.

Another pit stop will be then required, as I slip into a new gear. September will be the month of audiobook production – also the best proof read an author can do. If I cannot say a sentence out loud, the reader will not be able to read it ‘in loud’. This will need ‘dry’ tyres as it involves a lot of handle turning and consistency and the road is pretty straight and long, with no corners, just a beginning, some re-fuelling stops and an end.

October will be a time to pull in and hand the files over to the production team for publication. A new vehicle will be assembled with a whole range of new capabilities. This vehicle will have no wheels – it will be self-powered and able to levitate – much like the spacecrafts mentioned in the book.

Like the chariot in the Tarot, I will not be the driver, but the passenger, and will allow it to take me to new pastures in bounty-full lands. My hands will be off the wheel.

 

Cogs Are Turning

Cogs Are Turning

by | Jun 30, 2019 | Timing

This month I did something I have never done before in the middle of a big project. I took a month off. Well not exactly, I packed up a house I’d lived in for 20 years and had a week’s holiday on a wide beam 64 foot long canal boat on the Kennet & Avon.

Part of the reason for a break (or is that brake?) from the project is that Soulwaves is being edited. I did however get a new iPadPro and used iMovie to create the trailer below for Soulwaves.

So I took a dose of my own advice, taking the foot well of the gas has given time and space for so many doors to open – and to open fully wide.

Onwards & very much upwards … more on this next month 😎