November 2006 Newsletter
Subjects of the Month
THE NEPHILIM
Here you have divine beings, heavenly creatures, lowering themselves to the level of human kind, to come down and mate with the women. This is nothing new to those who have read all the Greek mythology stories and pagan legends of gods and immortal ones coming down to have sex with mortal beings. Their offspring, too, were men of huge stature and unnatural strength. Coincidence? Or are these old tales based on something more than we could understand at the time? Did these heavenly creatures come down and mess with the DNA of the humans by interbreeding? And just where or what are these offspring still said to wander the earth?
Points to ponder, ideas to consider…We did.
NOTAN
Waking God uses the ancient concept of Japanese Notan as part of its philosophical base and its world view. If there was greater understanding of this concept, we believe there would be less religious strife and greater understanding of religious texts!
Notan: Design in Light and Dark by Sharon Himes
“What is dark is not light and what is light is not dark. This is the basis of all design and an important guiding principle of art. It seems so simple but an artist can spend a lifetime exploring the possibilities of light and dark.
“‘Notan’ is the term used by the Japanese to express ‘light-dark’ as an element of design. In the west we use separate terms such as positive space and negative space, dividing the idea of light-dark into separate components. On paper it is easy to see that dark shapes cannot exist without a surrounding area of white. White shapes cannot exist without dark to define it. The two elements are really one. This is an eastern concept of yin-yang that each is what the other is not.
“It is usually the dark aspects of a design that we see first and we are intrigued by optical illusions that seem to switch from one picture to another in our minds. We speak of negative space and mean the white holes in a dark design. In using the term ‘negative’ we are giving it a connotation of null-ness or even sinister aspects. A dark pattern is considered ‘positive’ and therefore dominant when that is not always the case. Sometimes the primary subject is light against an area of dark and thus a positive element…”
To read more about this ancient Japanese concept, and to see more images, visit ArtCafe.
Waking God on Location
The Azores are an island group located off the western coast of Portugal. In an excerpt from Waking God, we tell of the Azores and its connection to Atlantis:
“There had been much debate and controversy concerning the legend of Atlantis. Its location was as much a mystery as its existence. Varying theories put the lost civilization in Cuba, Central America, the Yucatan, Crete, Antarctica or the South Pacific, Sardinia, Bolivia, and finally the Azores. If one followed the works of Edgar Cayce, the Azores were the last remaining vestiges of Poseidia, the last of the sunken remains of Atlantis. It was claimed that Plato’s Timaeus and Critias placed Atlantis west of the Pillars of Hercules and that the pre-ice age Azores fit the bill for the great Atlantean empire that extended its authority throughout the ancient world from Europe to India and to the Americas. It was said that a line of fallen angels, the Nephilim, created a race of pre-humans as slaves. These creatures interbred with Adam and Eve, and the new gene pool and subsequent DNA combinations created modern man. The offspring of the fallen were said to be evil, and great battles occurred between the varying races. The two trees in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life were said to represent the two strains of DNA that compete for dominance over the earth. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent had therefore become surrogate fighters in the war between God and those who opposed Him. Much of the early fighting was said to have taken place in Atlantis, which included not only the island continent, but also its worldwide empire. This, some speculated, was why so many myths and symbols were shared among highly divergent cultures that supposedly had no ancient contact. With vast technological resources, the Atlanteans may have surpassed that of modern civilizations; a theory that flew in the face of modern man’s ego and its archeologists. Yet one idea remained fact: Several secret societies referred to Mount Pico of the Azores in many of their rituals. These same societies claimed knowledge of the lost Atlantis.
“Pico Island was the second largest in the Azores. A part of Portugal, Mount Pico was actually the tallest mountain in that nation and reached over 8,000 feet. Its population of just over 240,000 was predominantly Catholic. Until 1534, the Azores fell under the jurisdiction of the Grand Prior of the Order of Christ. Andrew once again found himself in the belly of the beast. He began to think that Mantrella was indeed twisted. But, he considered, perhaps the old purloined letter trick was a valid means of hiding, especially in the modern age of techno-spying. After all, who could believe where they finally found Bin Laden?”
This Month’s Review
This month’s review is from Katrina Stiles of Alternative-Read.com. To see the full page, visit the Sassy Brit.
"When I first began to read this book, I was actually reading 3 other books. Being a reviewer, I tend to do that a lot. I had put the book down and discovered my 18 year old daughter had taken it and had begun to read it. We both LOVE this book. I like that for once, someone has had the kahuna's for lack of a better term to make people really think about life, their beliefs, where and how we came to be, etc. This book takes you on such a journey...the future, the Garden of Eden and every where in between. I generally get bored of books with great detail but with this one, I soaked up the information as quickly as I could read it. The non-human characters in this book were so vividly explained that I could see them and unlike in other books I have read, I actually connected with the non-human characters in this story. Their appearances aren't just detailed but their personalities are allowed to come to light. I love that. I think I finally found two authors who won't hesitate to say out loud what the rest of us are thinking. Kudo's to them both. Can't wait for the next two! I was asked to add more to this review and after some time of thinking about and going back and rereading some parts, I agree that this is a Spiritual/Religious thriller. I say this because at times, from one chapter to the next, you are taken to so many places and while that may sound confusing to some, I assure it is not. I think for some, they will get this book right away. I LOVE that someone had taken the steps to delve into the unknown and to bring their thoughts and beliefs on paper. I believe that when this trilogy is complete, it won’t be long before we see a movie(s) coming forth. I know that I sure would love to see it on film. OH! I forgot to add, and not to frighten anyone...Thus far, several people that have read this book have had bizarre events occur to them. None life threatening, but definitely bizarre events. Have we been taken closer to the truth than the Universe wants us to? We shall see. Read it for yourself."
News
Phil recently had a booksigning at Mr. Paperback in Lewiston, Maine on Saturday, October 21. Though our public appearances are kept purposely infrequent, we do acknowledge the advantages of meeting with our readers in person.
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Phil's professional impersonator at Mr. Paperback...
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Check out the strategic placement of our book...
Resources for Writers
NEWSLETTERS & BLOGS
There are many newsletters and blogs that are good for writers. They have treated us nicely in the past. The following is just the beginning of the list with more to come! Check them out.
http://starpublishnews.tripod.com/
HoJoNews@aol.com
http://tri-studio.com/ezine.html
http://tjbook-list.blogspot.com/
http://community.livejournal.com/roseshadow/1008.html
www.oncewritten.com
www.writerscafe.org/
www.franalive.com
For Yarnspinners and Wordweavers newsletter, mail request to:
nate@redenginepress.com
FREE PRESS RELEASE SITES
The following is a list of press release sites that we have used to announce events regarding Waking God. These sites are easy to use and they do not send you much, if any, follow-up ads about their services. For most, you must do a simple registry and for a few you can just issue the release. Many offer more advanced coverage for a small fee, but so far we have found that our releases have made it to Google without paying any money. Authors should avail themselves of these free sites. If readers come across others, please share and we will post them in the newsletter.
Newsletters
Be sure to visit Nadine Laman's newsletter for Nadine Laman Books: http://nadinelamanbooks.com/pdf/brag3.pdf or http://nadinelamanbooks.com/news.html.
One of the best newsletters we’ve encountered in a long time is Joyce Anthony’s. To receive her newsletter, contact her at rainbow@velocity.com.
