The Shining Ones starts in an abandoned church in the centre of Newcastle. I could have invented a location, but reality provided the perfect candidate in All Saints. It’s a beautiful old building – a dilapidated 18th century elliptical church. I chose All Saints because of its shape: the ellipse is aligned more or less… Continue reading Research Notes: Location – All Saints, Newcastle
Previous: Prologue Mist clung to the city like a security blanket, the river a dark gash through a haze of light. Thousands of glowing beads hung in the air as if defying the darkness of space. Behind one of those lights, Ana moved between benches administering first aid. She was at the shelter where she… Continue reading The Shining Ones: Chapter 1 – welcome to the future you never asked for…
I thought this day would never come, but it’s finally here – The Shining Ones has arrived! The story is about a group of friends who hold the key to the awakening of humanity, but they have no idea who they are. It was inspired by the myths that prophesy an awakening at this time… Continue reading The Shining Ones: Prologue – a lost secret returns to the light…
Creating images of the characters that feature in your novel is a great way to help you visualise your cast. You can do the usual checklists and build psychological profiles. You can list their hair colour and height, what they like to eat, how they talk, and so on. But nothing beats an actual image.… Continue reading Creating Character Portraits: Meet the cast of The Shining Ones
Last time we looked at the art of morphing the reality of real locations to suit your story. Sometimes reality gets in the way and it’s easier to make stuff up. Creating fictional locations means you can ignore the facts and get on with the business of telling the story – which is the whole… Continue reading Tweaking Reality: Should you rename locations in your novel?
Describing reality in words is a tricky business at the best of times, and in fiction especially so. Part of The Shining Ones is set in and around Newcastle where I live so I should have no excuse for getting the locations wrong. But it’s not that simple. Some of the locations weren’t quite right… Continue reading Tweaking Reality: How accurate should locations be in your novel?
This week we’re counting down to the publication of The Shining Ones – exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time! And we start, appropriately enough, with its origins. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint where an idea for a story comes from. But others arrive with an obvious genealogy, even if the story eventually… Continue reading Plagiarising Dracula in my sleep
Trust yourself is about how only you can really know what’s right for you and whether you’re doing your best or not. Only you have a direct line to your deepest truth. The original lojong slogan is: Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one. The two witnesses are you and others, but you are… Continue reading Buddhist Writing Prompt: Trust Yourself
Last time we looked at the crises that can happen in reaction to a spiritual awakening on the path towards Self-realisation. In this final post we explore exactly what it takes to transform yourself and to embody the potential glimpsed during your awakening. The following notes are taken from Psychosynthesis by Roberto Assagioli: “We now… Continue reading Phases in the Process of Transmutation in Spiritual Awakening
A blurb can sometimes mean a short review quoted on a book cover, but in this post we’re going to look at the other kind of blurb: the book description. The blurb is your sales pitch, printed on the back of your book or quoted on its sales page online. It’s the second most important… Continue reading How to Blurb: Writing a book description that sells
Get over yourself is about not letting your ego hijack whatever you’re doing, whether that’s mind training and meditation, or writing. It helps to get your ego out of the way and remember who you really are. The original lojong slogan is: All dharma agrees at one point, which means that all spiritual practices and… Continue reading Buddhist Writing Prompt: Get Over Yourself
Last time we looked at the crises that are caused by spiritual awakening on the path towards Self-realisation. In this post we explore the difficulties of maintaining the awakened state and the tendency to fall back to ‘lower’ levels, which can include an experience of the dark night of the soul. The following notes are… Continue reading Reactions to Spiritual Awakening
Jessica Davidson 