Hey all, welcome to our stop on the Dark Innocence Blog Tour. :-)
Guest Post
Q&A on Becoming a “Strange and Special Creature”
What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve always loved reading fantasy novels. In fact, I started reading F&SF (Fantasy & Science Fiction) as soon as I could read. I always wondered how the writers came up with these amazing worlds and creatures and stories. Never thought I could be one of those strange and special creatures called writers. However, since 1972, I have kept journals in which I wrote my life experiences, dreams, dialogs with dream spirits, poems, unsent letters to ex-boyfriends, and notes on my psychological and spiritual process of unfoldment. Would you believe? I have filled almost fifty 9x11 journals by now!
One night in the late 1980s, when I couldn’t sleep, I wondered if I could write in the dark on my very first, brand new laptop. Half-asleep, I just wrote whatever my imagination came up with. It was so much fun that I kept on writing on those sleepless nights. Well into the first draft of my first fantasy novel, I made the mistake of trying to get some help from a well-known writer’s correspondence program. Their unhelpful advice froze me in my tracks, and that novel languishes somewhere on a disc.
Maybe ten years later, I wrote a short story in my journal for an inner fantasy character, hoping he would stop bugging me. Big Mistake! That little story opened the floodgates. The hero—his name is Kyr, by the way—had quite a journey to go on. The only way he could do it was to take over my life and turn me into a writer!
From one angle, it seems like my whole life was preparation to write Kyr’s story. I had to go on my own healing journey, which started during my first marriage in my 20’s. I found myself spending hours contemplating homicide, but decided getting into therapy was a better idea. Having derived much healing and peace from my inner work, I wanted to help others in this way. So I went back to school in my late 30’s, earned M.A.s in counseling psychology & transpersonal counseling, and my MFT license, and become a guide for others on their healing journeys. I was stunned by how much suffering and abuse people endure, and totally amazed by our ability to recover and heal ourselves with the right help.
Another part of my unwitting preparation to write Kyr’s story was learning to trust the messages of the unconscious mind. First, I learned to work with dreams through creative imagination. (You can see some of my dreamwork and expressive art on www.soulplay.com) Then I delved deeper into working with the dreaming mind through sandplay therapy. Next, I become an expressive arts therapist, in which the creative process is focused on freely expressing whatever you are feeling or envisioning without any regard for art techniques or for producing ’fine art’ &/or pieces to sell. No critiques or even positive comments allowed! In all of these ways, I learned to ignore the inner critic/judge, go with the creative flow, and follow it to its natural conclusion.
When I was finally ready, Kyr’s story burst forth in a passionate, creative outpouring. (see “How My Hero Turned Me into a Writer.”) I had no plan. I just went with the flow and wrote what Kyr showed me. His story started out so dark that I was sure I would never show it to anyone, ever! But it was so much fun to write, I had to keep on going. Besides, it was the only way to find out what happened. So I snuck off to write whenever I could. It was a sort of secret, thrilling literary affair. I was a tiny bit jealous when Kyr fell in love with someone else: Jolanya, the Priestess-Healer called the Kailithana, in Part 7 of Dark Innocence Book One of the Star-Seer’s Prophecy.
After three years, the story reached its conclusion. I realized I had written an entire trilogy, and that it is a powerful story of healing and recovery from abuse. It is in the form of rich and intriguing fantasy story, but it is grounded in my training and experience as a psychotherapist, and in my own healing journey.
I also realized I needed to learn the craft of writing fiction, and that I needed help and support to revise and edit it, so I found a wonderful book developer/editor. I spent the next seven years doing this (with interruptions for family crises). And now, Book One has been published by Rose Press, and is available in print and all e-book formats. Turns out I am one of those strange and special creatures called writers, after all.
Expressive Art, Dreamwork and Gems from My Journals: www.soulplay.com
Dreamworking: A Comprehensive Guide to Working With Dreams by Strephon Kaplan-Williams (available on Amazon) – teaches how to interact with your dreams thru creative imagination, writing & art.
The “twin-souled dark innocent,” Kyr, is a youth born and raised to blindly carry out the Soul-Drinker’s brutal commands. At first, Kyr’s one desire is death, the only escape from the Soul-Drinker’s hellish rule. Just when he is about to get his wish, the secret Circle rescues him. Now he has to choose between the familiar easy path of despair and death, or the hard path of healing, living, and a greater destiny, about which he knows nothing. How can a slave who has known only evil, pain and obedience choose to become a man of courage and compassion, and fulfill the Star Seer's Prophecy?
ADD ON GOODREADS
You can read an Excerpt of Dark Innocence HERE
Rahima Warren is the author of Dark Innocence: Book One of the Star-Seer's Prophecy, a deep, rich novel of the healing journey. With Master's degrees in Clinical and Transpersonal Psychology, she was in private practice as a licensed psychotherapist for over 20 years. In 2006, Rahima retired to focus on her expressive painting, creative writing, and spiritual studies.
In her work with clients recovering from abuse, she was awed by the human capacity to heal, and to reach new levels of forgiveness, wholeness and happiness. She also learned to trust the psyche's own process. This enabled her to allow a dark and mysterious story to flood forth unhindered: Dark Innocence: Book One of the Star-Seer's Prophecy.
Rahima is a third-generation native of California and resides with her husband in Northern California, where she periodically chases squirrels off the wild bird feeders, and deer away from her roses. Her life-long love of fantasy is her parents' fault: they left sci-fi & fantasy magazines with fascinating cover art lying around the house.
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Giveaway
Rahima is giving away prizes, including an e-copy of her book at each blog stop on her tour AND a Grand Prize Giveaway of a Custom Jumbo Tote Bag with your choice of fan art, chosen from here: http://www.starseersprophecy.com/fan-art/, plus other goodies, including a signed copy of Dark Innocence for one lucky winner, shipped to anywhere in the world!
To win a book: Leave a comment on this blog post to be entered to win a book. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments so we can contact you if you’re the lucky winner. This giveaway ends five days after the post goes live.
To win the Custom Jumbo Tote Bag with Rahima’s fan art of your choice, or a signed copy of Dark Innocence, or other goodies, click the link to go to Rahima’s website here: http://www.starseersprophecy.com/blog-tour/ and enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of the page. A winner will be selected on June 21st.
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