Join Us on the TWIST OF FATE Blog Tour

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Welcome to the first stop on the Twist of Fate blog  tour! A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shawna C. Smith on our podcast, and I thought our readers could benefit from learning more about her writing process.   

My Writing Process

By Shawna C. Jones

I like to start a story by writing with paper and pen. When I hold a pen and jot down words in a notebook, my creativity opens up. It’s a freeing experience to be able to write something down, and eventually get into a flow with it. At times it seems to be an altered experience. Words start flowing, and sometimes after reading, I wonder if I actually wrote it, or if it came from somewhere else.

At any time, if I’m not sure what I want to say, I just start writing, and eventually the pen glides easily over the paper. At least for me, this seems to help “prime the pump.” Then later, finding a different way of saying something, or adding more to the picture, can give me an “aha” moment. I was once told in a writing class to not cross anything out while writing a first draft. They also advised us not to write longer than two hours, because you need to process the information you’ve written and let it percolate. Ideas for improvements could show up later that day, or in the following days.

It took several tries for me to write Twist of Fate. It started out as a memoir, but that didn’t work. Because I had so much travel in it, I felt like I was giving readers a tour. And that’s not my story, although journeying to foreign countries was an important part of it. So I decided to focus the story on the characters, and go into less detail about the landscape. I realize this way of writing doesn’t appeal to everyone. And that’s okay. It’s my story.

While reviewing my second try with the memoir style, an editor told me that certain events had to happen before this and that. She said it was a great story, but needed refining. By this time, I’d written over one hundred pages (twice), and I decided to rethink the whole process, and approach it from a different angle. I took out a lot of the travel, or used it as backstory. I removed several characters that didn’t add to the story, and weren’t really necessary. Who needs all those extras?

This new approach took another two tries by long hand before I was happy with it. Then I went to the computer and started typing. Now as I typed, other ways of making a sentence better would appear. Sometimes I would continue typing it as it was, and other times I would stop and use long hand again. Since this book is a memoir, I didn’t want to change a lot of it, but I had two separate journeys going on at the same time. I didn’t know if I could reconcile them without the story appearing disjointed. Somehow, I managed to pull it off, but don’t ask me how I did it. I just went with my soul. In fact, I would say my soul wrote a lot of this book. And sometimes in writing that’s all that’s supposed to happen.

When we get too caught up in the words, we miss something. Too much detail, for me, is distracting. I know some people prefer to have every little detail, rather than using their imagination. I’m not one of those. It will either bore me or put me to sleep.

So all in all, I wrote out my book at least four times. I had it edited three times, and proofread twice, by some terrific people. It took longer than I thought it would take: about ten months. All I know is everyone’s writing is going to be different because we’re all different. We come from various backgrounds and experiences. And guess what? It’s okay. My advice for aspiring writers is to not stop writing. Write even when you don’t feel like it. Write even if the only thing you write is about is the weather, or nonsense stuff. Deep inside you is a story dying to get out. And millions of us want to read it.

Best of luck to all of you writing. Please don’t quit.

Shawna will be awarding the winner's choice of a  $50 Amazon GC, a $50 Starbucks GC, or a crystal from Middle Earth Store in Mt. Shasta  to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour and a $25 Amazon  or  Starbucks GC to a randomly drawn host.

Enter to win a $50 Amazon GC, a $50 Starbucks GC, or a crystal from Middle Earth Store in Mt. Shasta. They will dowse for the right one for you. Value up to $60.00.(winner's choice)—a Rafflecopter giveaway)

Join Us for a Conversation with Novelist Shawna C. Jones

Shawna C. Jones has always considered herself to be a seeker, both geographically and spiritually. Now she has added author to that list with her recently released first novel, Twist of Fate. It is the gripping story of a young woman's year-long trek through Europe and is based on Shawna's own adventures. Next week, Shawna will embark on a new kind of journey--traveling  the blog-o-sphere with the first of two virtual book tours.  We're thrilled to be a host site for both, so check back on May 28 to read more about Shawna's work. In the meantime, tune into our podcast to hear her dish about spirituality, wanderlust, and the inspiration to live the writer's life.

Nashville Author Shares Methods to Help Highly-sensitive People Shield Themselves from Detrimental Energy

Humans are connected in many ways: the air we breathe, our basic needs and physiology, and energetically/spiritually. No one feels the power of this connection more than the energy-sensitive people, known as empaths, who unknowingly pick up on the detrimental thoughts, feelings, and even the illnesses of others and their environment. Many carry this negativity as if it were their own. In fact, some empaths are so burdened with the energy of others, they are no longer aware of what their own energy feels like. Mysterious illnesses, anxiety attacks, hearing voices, seeing shadows, feeling negative, fearful, anger, or having an impending sense of dread,— you name it, they feel it. And most empathic people have no idea where this stuff is coming from.

“Around your physical body, there is a magnetic shield of energy known as your aura. Its purpose is to provide protection and gather energy and information as you interface with your environment. In grade school, we were taught to keep our hands to ourselves. The same is true with the energy field surrounding our body,” writes Nashville author Yvonne Perry in her new book, WHOSE STUFF IS THIS? Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You.“Ideally, your energy field should be kept two to three feet from your body, but many untrained empaths unknowingly allow their aura to extend and blend with the energy fields of others who have lax boundaries around their auras. When empathic people tap into the thoughts or emotional impulses of another person, the intuitive gift of empathy (much stronger than heart-felt compassion) reaches in and absorbs energy in an effort to heal or ‘fix’ whatever is out of sync. In doing so, the empath can become contaminated with unhealthy energy. Unfortunately, most of them do not know how to clear the psychic clutter in their auric field.”

Yvonne is joined by psychotherapist Dr. Caron B. Goode, ED.D., NCC, DAPA to provide a fresh perspective on the psychological aspect of empathy and intuition. “Some of the characteristics that empaths display can also be diagnosed as ADD, agoraphobia, bipolar disorder, or clinical depression,” says Caron. “Most doctors and counselors are not aware that empathy fatigue exists, much less how to treat it, but this intuitive overload is a very real problem to energy-sensitive people.” Caron is the author of  Raising Intuitive Children and Kids Who See Ghosts - Guide Them Through Their Fears.

“Yvonne Perry's book thoroughly explains the process of being an empath in today's world. She provides cognitive, emotional, physical, energetic, and spiritual explanations for the origin of deep empathy, while sharing her own amazing story and the stories of others,” says transformational coach Gini Grey. “This book offers an array of powerful techniques to help empathic people create healthy boundaries, stay balanced, and release other people's energy and emotions from their personal space. This book is a must read for anyone and everyone who is sensitive to the thoughts, moods and problems of those around them.” Gini is the author of FROM CHAOS TO CALM: How to Shift Unhealthy Stress Patterns and Create Your Own Balance in Life.

Yvonne is a graduate of American Institute of Holistic Theology where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Metaphysics. For years she was enmeshed with the dogma of religion that her family and church leaders passed down to her. Before she had a label to put on her empathetic ability, she called herself an intercessor. While praying for others she empathically took on their suffering until it severely challenged her emotional and physical health. Embracing a totally different path and belief system, she now openly uses the gift of empathy to help others heal their lives. See http://WhoseStuffIsThis.com

PURCHASE paperback book, Whose Stuff Is This? Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings,and Energy of Those Around You at http://tinyurl.com/EmpathAmazon. The e-book version is now available for Kindle, iPhone, iPad, and other digital reading devices.