Truth Devour's Blog, page 3

After years of traveling across the globe I finally decided it was time to visit the United States of America. The place where people are always seemed to promote the ideals of ‘living the dream – making it happen.’ I was keen to understand what it felt like to be a part of the community and thus my journey began in New York.

The first thing I learnt when I arrived is that there was a distinct intentional distancing, taking place between myself and the random people I passed in the streets. It made me wonder whether my outlandishly bright orange hair and tattoos had anything to do with it. When I entered into a cafe to buy a coffee, I asked the person behind the counter why no-one seemed to smile. This was when I discovered the ‘New York Game Face‘ was actually a thing. According to the barista no-one walks the streets of New York without their game face on, and most people wear headphones listening to their music while looking straight ahead. It is deemed a necessary requirement to deter the mentally ill and homeless people living among us from interacting, harassing you in the streets.

‘For years I thought the phrase was New York Gang Face.’

I’m not going to tell you this insight didn’t affect me because I knew, it did. Firstly, the issues that are being faced here are no different to other countries I have visited, my own (Australia) included so this is not by any means a slant on what is happening here. What saddened me was that reality of people, the community at large consciously altering their disposition to accommodate to the circumstances as a way of coping with what they face every day.  I struggled with this concept and perhaps for the first five or so days this was all I could see in the reflection of the solemn faces, which passed by. It didn’t make me feel I was welcome.

I’ve been an avid admirer of anything related to artistic expression and in particular, find myself drawn to the street art plastered on the walls of random spaces because to me, it is a modern day expression of cave painting. A mark, a voice done to call out – see me, I exist too. There is some graffiti, driven by political motive, others are simply pretty to look at.  It was when I decided to walk the streets of New York on the hunt to discover its native voice through art that I began to feel the beat of its heart, the people.

“Smile, indiscriminately. Do it because you want to. Magic will happen when you let your soul shine.”  ―Truth Devour

As I wandered through random streets, I found tid bits of graffiti gold on the walls of buildings. I stood in awe at the size of some of the creations, the color, shading detail all managed to be laid down on a vertical structure in an open air, exposed to the element’s environment using nothing but a spray can. It’s impressive.

Instantly I found I was smiling when I came upon another, then another of the art pieces. It made me realize, New York is alive with creative inspiration. The pop up markets, the buskers in the streets hoping you will sling them a buck or two, the layout of the many of the shopfronts themselves seemed to be visual art. I was feeling a sense of kindredness in the peoples desire to be fearless in their creative expression.

Suddenly, everything changed for me. When I walked the streets, people began to look in my eyes. Most who passed by smiled and some would make comments, share a moment of exchange, laughter. I realized the difference was stemmed from within me. I found my comfort of association and naturally began to exude a sense of genuine happiness. Random strangers wanted to be a part of the joy, even if it was for just a fleeting moment. They dropped their guard and smiled in return.

‘Allow people to feel the real you.’

My primary focus for the month I was there, evolved around completing the first draft of my second novel in the Soliloquy’s Labyrinth fantasy series, so I didn’t get to venture out as often as I would have liked. I was told by a few people to keep away from a particular section of Brooklyn where there is a high populous of Jewish people. There were some stories told to me as a deterrent and a clear message that I would not be welcomed. In Melbourne, Australia there is a suburb called Caulfield, which is known by locals as little Jerusalem. Almost everything in Caulfield is influenced by Jewish culture. I gravitate there when I don’t have time to travel and need a fix of other diversity, atmosphere and the likes. It calms me to be in foreign places. The cultural deltas provide me with a reminder that there is so much more to see, learn, experience, enjoy.

Off I headed on foot down to the heart of where I was told I would not be welcomed wearing my bright orange hair up in a pony tail, black sweat suit, orange runners and headphones on to listen to some beats while I checked out the streets.

Firstly, the detail of the architecture on the brownstones in this area caught me eye. The next thing I noticed was how many of the women had babies in prams or were pregnant, it impressed me. Most of the woman looked at me, up and down, some smiled, others didn’t. I had a smile on my face the whole time for no other reason than being pleased to be out and about on a sun drenched blue sky day.

‘People only seem different because we have placed a measure on them to create a difference. Remove this perception and there is no difference. We live, we breathe, we laugh, we cry, we wish, we hope, we are one.’ 

The men looked straight ahead. On occasion I noted a glance but most didn’t give me eye contact, which is no different to what I expected. Although, there was this one fellow who surprised me by walking by, he paused beside me and bopped his head to the song that was playing loudly through my headset. He obviously liked Creed. He gave me a semi glance, smiled and continued on his way. I laughed and nodded my head. Music can be a source of commonality for all. 

The further I walked into the suburb the more I stood out like a sore thumb. I had absolutely no feeling of being unwelcome or alienated for the way I looked. People went about their day. It was a nice place and the smells coming out of their bakeries had my tummy doing flips. It was certainly nothing like the experiences other people had mentioned to me, so I wondered what the difference was.

My answer: I didn’t adopt the fear the stories were born to carry. I chose to explore with no bearing of reference to other people’s experiences. Mind you, I am not devaluing what they had shared either. People have altercations all the time but that is based on circumstances and mostly individuals, not whole communities.

I really like the multicultural aspect of New York. Bright lights proudly calling out the cultural based sections like China town and Little Italy. There is so much pride still held toward people’s origins. New York builds itself into a strength of versatility with the diversity of community, culture and products available. There is a sense of it being supported, encouraged and promoted. It’s the very essence of what excited me the most about being here. I’m glad this was my first stop into the country. It gave me a sense of the celebrations, and the struggle’s people are faced with daily.

Blessings – Truth Devour

All photographs in this article were taken By Truth Devour

Tis the early hours of the first day of the new year 2016 in Brooklyn New York, where the echoes of the people still in the midst of celebration through the streets of Bed-Styvestant can be heard from my fourth floor apartment. I feel the energy of the crowds helping to sustain the excitement. Their dreams, desires and hopes ignited by the stroke of midnight signifying the end of a year and the allure of new beginnings. It fuels their hunger to ensure, this time they get it right, do it better, achieve more, be more, that this year is their year to shine.

I’ve always set new year’s resolutions and am happy to admit that I have rarely achieved everything I have set out to do. In some cases I have shifted the goal for many years before it was completed. In fact, there is one that comes to mind that I deem to be my illusive holy grail, which year upon year is set and not achieved to my expectations. I’m calling it out to you, by hook or by crook, I will align my life priorities to ensure it is achieved this year and whats more I will embrace a commitment to sustain or better myself every year there after.

I often find myself compelled to silence when I start to ponder why it is that I haven’t achieved everything I intended to across a given year. In saying this I accept that I am somewhat ambitious in what I expect of myself and equally resolute in ensuring that I do my utmost to achieve it or as much of it as possible throughout the year. Do my priorities change? Absolutely, they do. Life has a way of trying to enforce its own course which as I find can often collide, smash, pulverize my intentions to meet my goals. So my question to myself is whether this is true or just and excuses to accept less of myself in terms of my goals for any given year?

I’m an incredibly harsh self assessor and relentlessly unforgiving if I fail to be less than who I deem myself to be. It has never been a measure against others. It is always me comparing where I’ve been, where I am at and where I want to be next. Knowing this helped me to answer the question I posed in regards, whether I too lent toward utilizing life circumstances as my excuses for not completing my goals. The answer is no. The only impact ‘life’s unexpected anomalies‘ has held on any of my ambitions, hopes, dreams and desires being achieved have been a delay in achieving it. I never decided it was all too hard, or that I couldn’t do it. I’II prioritize, compromise, whatever is required is adjusted accordingly, but I never give up.

‘If you want it, make it happen.’

The essence of a resolution to me is about taking the time out to talk to myself on a spiritual, physical, mental and heart level to listen. The goals I tend to set are touch points which all thread back into these four states. What I have found across the years is when life inevitably interferes with my plans, if I am required to postpone, reduce, compromise any of my goals, the ones which fall into the physical tend to be the sacrificial offering. This means instead of exercising regularly and building my core strength. I thereby flux in fitness, weight and health. Here’s the kicker, I know it is the one item on the list that needs to be the highest priority because in the absence of being in optimum condition, I enforce a cause and effect on everything else I do. Crazy right?

“I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me.”  ― Hermann Hesse, Demian: Die Geschichte von Emil Sinclair Jugend

When I exercise regularly I eat better, sleep better, feel better and in turn am so much happier, filled with energy and vigor for life. Reality bites, I am only getting older, and I still have a tonne of items on my travel / adventure bucket list that I want to experience in a way that it is a pleasure not a struggle. To me from here on, above all thing’s fitness, healthy sustainable lifestyle is the key. It doesn’t matter what happens, this time, from this year onwards I’m not compromising my goals pertaining to anything that would affect me getting on my desired path to achieving a prime level of fitness and more importantly sustaining it.

‘Nike said it best: Just do it’

If I am feeling the pinch, and time is an issue than my go to from here on is to work less. Even typing the sentence made me smile. What an epiphany it is to realize one of my greatest downfalls in achieving this one golden desire was encompassed by recognizing that I held myself as my lowest priority. I hereby give myself permission to place myself as the highest priority. I deserve to live the life I dream of, and therefore, I shall.

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”  ― Michel de Montaigne

Happy New Year to you and yours. May you be fearless in the pursuit of your dreams, hold the blessing to love the right people with all of your might and never lose sight of your smile.

Blessings – Truth Devour

Imagine a world where everything you were led to believe as real in actuality only forms partial truths, enough to lure you into a false sense of comfort that you are in control of your destiny. Then layer this with the intrigue of seeing what no other can fathom as the one true reality. Now add new paradigms associated  to the mystical concepts of reincarnation, karma, possession, Egyptian mythology and the age old tussle for balance between the pull and draw of good versus evil. If you can begin to imagine this, then you are ready to fall into ‘The Soliloquy’s Labyrinth series’ by none other than Truth Devour

I’ve been sitting in the apartment I have short term subleased in Brooklyn, New York working on the final chapters of the first draft of Insurrection, which is the second book in the Soliloquy’s Labyrinth series. There is always an edge of excitement for me when I am getting closer to the end of capturing the heart of the story. It is a genuine struggle between moments of looking at the word count to see how much farther versus the flip side of becoming so engrossed in the pleasure of the journey that I avoid looking at the word count because I’m not ready to say goodbye.

The best part of my decision to write this series is pertaining to my indulgence of incorporating the elements I personally enjoy exploring in real life. Nearly all my core go to reading involves non fiction topics; arts, science, quantum physics, in particular, holds a curiosity for me, Egyptian mythology, the cognitive reasoning of the human mind, anything medical, some psychology. Please don’t allow me to get started on the plethora of  interests I have around anything paranormal, supernatural from myth to culture based magic, all of which has me tranced and wanting to know more, explore more, participate and play.

‘When you can appreciate that everything you believe you know is subjective, then you begin to arrive at the heart of your truth’

Leveraging my interest into my works of fiction provides one of two things for me. Firstly, it establishes a layer of familiarity because most of the concepts to some degree have been heard of or delved into by people who like to read the fantasy genre. This means that when I add my tilt, interpretation, creation layered over the top, it holds a level of relate-ability thereby encouraging the reader to readily hold the imagery in their mind. This to me is the ultimate stimuli because the reader gets to be entrenched in the journey with the excitement of completely new paradigms to add a wow factor to their day.

Due for release March 2016

“I’ve noticed even people who claim everything is predestined and that we can do nothing to change it, still look before they cross the road.”  ―Stephen Hawking

This classic observation by Stephen is definitely a favorite and a good example of the way people tend to work. The premise being that what they convey as a belief is not necessarily supported by their behavior. To place it another way, we measure ourselves by our intentions but the observers (everyone outside of you) measure you based on their interpretation of what they see, which is a direct link to your behavior.

‘There was a beginning. There will be no end.’

I’m intentionally not providing you with specifics around what the up coming book Insurrection will contain. Honestly, this series is best read without preconception. In saying this here is some of the highlights from the Amazon reviews I have begun to receive for the first book in the series called Illuminarium. These are reader review excerpts with none of the spoilers:

‘Follow the white rabbit: a story of a labyrinth of good and evil.  Illuminarium by Truth Devour, the first of five books in Soliloquys Labyrinth series, is a truly unique novel. Devour takes a charming and innovative story, mixes it up with deep psychological thoughts, and spices it up with her unique signature writing style.’

* * * *

‘Talk about a thought provoking novel to make one reflect on their life. Truth Devour’s Illuminarium is not one of those books where you can sit down and finish it in one sitting.’ 

* * * *

‘This is a top-notch urban fantasy, deeply engrossing and extremely well-written. The flow of the story never wavers and the characters especially Harper are relatable and likable. In addition, Devour has done an excellent job with building this fantasy world. Her attention to detail is notable I was immersed within the first few pages and really had a hard time putting the book down when I needed to get to sleep.’ 

“Its the moments that matter. Celebrate the moments”  ―Truth Devour

There you have it. A snippet of what exists and an insight into what is coming in March 2016. This will be two down with a planned three more to create. If you are an avid reader / reviewer of the fantasy / thriller / paranormal type genre and want to be stimulated by something fresh, thought provoking and new, then you know what to do.

The e-Book version of Illuminarium is set at the price of .99 cents USD.

Purchase links available here: http://truthdevour.com/soliloquys-lab...

Take a chance and above all enjoy the journey.

Blessings – Truth Devour

How remarkable it is for me to be a global traveler in a day and age where I have access to the thought genius of technological designer’s birthing concepts such as the easy to use platform called AirBnB. It’s the Mecca for opportunity, where non technology savvy laymen can make their underutilized space available for travelers to enjoy. 

I’ve been exploring various countries and cultures across the globe since the age of seventeen. My mandate when I plan my trip is to primarily have ‘no plan’. The only exception is knowing where I am starting from and usually booking accommodation to cover the first couple of days partly because it looks suspicious to immigration if you don’t and secondly because it can take me a few days to assimilate with my new surrounds.

I work so hard to get to a point where I can take time off that I don’t wish for it to be inhibited by anything that would set me in a repetitive mode. If I want to sustain routine, I may as well remain at home where I’m trapped in the cycle of early to bed, early to rise, work, return, do it all again, mix it up with some social time with family and friends. You know the drill. The reality is that my holiday is a break from everything. I get to align the adventure to satisfy my present mood, desires and taste. Hence booking a place in a resort months in advance where I am stuck on a package deal with cramped complimentary tours, doesn’t personally work for me on any level.

My usual mode of operation when I travel is literally to go scope out the neighborhood, settle in a nice coffee house or cafe’ where I suspect there is a large portion of locals. I order a beverage, then sit and listen. It’s rare for me not to find someone who speaks some broken English. This is when I introduce myself and set to asking them where they would recommend that I visit not as a tourist but as a resident. It’s through these conversations and my decision to follow through on some of their suggestions that I have a collated plethora of wondrous memories.

‘Most people enjoy helping people on their travels’

This is where AirBnB comes in. I’II confess that I’m somewhat of a late bloomer to the discovery of this platform. Initially when I was told about it, I was skeptical but very curious. My skepticism I must call out wasn’t related to the company or its service. The caution was targeted at the quality of the accommodation / integrity of the hosts it may or may not have attracted. I’m no fool and have been around the traps long enough to have seen many a scam developed by people who ought to try and leverage their ingenuity to a greater cause than ripping innocent people off. Rant aside, I downloaded the app, joined and began to search.

What I saw made my toes wiggle with excitement. (Yours do too right? You know, when you’re excited about something?) Okay, back to it, let me just say when I saw offers to sleep on a sofa, pitch a tent in the yard, live in a tree house, I was salivating. This added a whole new dimension to my adventures. It provided the opportunity for diversity, flexibility and most importantly location, location, affordability and did I mention location?

“AirBnB provides a service that has stimulated people to utilize their imaginations.”  

I spent countless hours looking at various offerings on the site and decided to settle on first trialling the service when I flew over to Japan. The initial part of my trip held purpose, specifically to spend some time with my dear friend whose precious IVF baby was about to turn one. Post this I knew I wanted to head into the mountains, so I could focus on writing my next novel.

‘Traveling feeds my soul’

Needless to say the place I selected was indeed remote. It presented in the search I made for places in the Kyosan Mountains but in actuality, it was still in the Osaka prefecture. The place was promoted as a temple for monks in strict training. Reality, it was a run down house with a bunch of occasional drunk monks who slept way past the break of dawn. The only thing I felt was accurate related to the statement that the facilities are rudimentary and the views were lovely. In truth, I didn’t go there to meditate with monks or participate in training. My mind was set on having a nice quiet place to write my book, and this is exactly what Le Petite Temple provided.  During the day, the monks went off to whatever their day jobs were while I had the run of the place in complete solitude. I cannot begin to explain the joy I felt experiencing the views while I wrote my book, all for a small dime in comparison to the other more mainstream places I looked at.

“Be adventurous, be flexible, be joyous”  ―Truth Devour

Currently, I’m in staying in another AirBNB sourced place in Brooklyn, New York, while writing yet another novel. (Relentless, I know). So here I am in a shared apartment with my roommate who as it turns out is responsible for the creation of a live theatre based parody of Point Break, which has been running as I understand it for well over ten years. Why am I telling you this? Well, I’m glad you thought to wonder.

Jaime needed to rehearse some lines for an up coming production and asked if I wouldn’t mind taking time out from my work to play one of the characters. From the moment, I agreed we set to clearing the living room so it could be converted into a makeshift stage. The wigs and costumes now at the ready, we commenced our first stab at rehearsing the scene in Point Break where the surfer girl saves Johnny Utah from the gnarly waves, and then he approaches her to request lessons. Firstly, I have to say I was playing the role of Johnny, and secondly I am shockingly bad at executing accents, so bad, in fact that I think I could make it into a kind of thing.

Random stranger: “Hey what do you do?”

Me: “I do accents {pause} really badly [looks at nails el casual] Yeah, its kinda my thing.”

Here I am across the other side of the world, living in a complete stranger’s home reading my lines with an atrocious accent to help Jaime rehearse a scene from one of my all time favorite movies. I seriously laughed so hard as I felt my competitive side get the better of me where after several goes, I persisted with wanting to do it one more time because I could feel I was getting it. I wasn’t at the stage where I could do a call out to Keanu to say I’m executing his role with complete justice, but I was definitely giving it a red hot go. Honestly, it was a brilliant, fun break from my work and something that I had never done before. That’s the point right, to hold the opportunity to be present to the moments, to unleash the potential to experience life not just the way I do but the way others do too.

Three cheers with thanks to AirBnB and all the other entrepreneurs who are striving to develop the next big thing. I commend you, encourage you and volunteer to be the one who indiscriminately promotes you on the things that work well and quietly email you to let you know of anything that needs reconsideration.

My life is richer for using the service.

Blessings – Truth Devour

I didn’t imagine in my wildest dreams that not one but three of my books would become nominated finalists in the McWood Publishing ‘We Said it: Literary Reviews – 2015 Readers Choice Awards’.

My decision to begin publishing my works was made in early 2013. By the end of that same year I had written and published two fiction novels of my Adult Contemporary Romance Trilogy labelled the Enigma Series. I knew once I started that this was it for me. All those years of searching, experimenting with a multitude of creative pursuits lead me to the one passion I could make a career out of and feel completely satisfied in doing so. The results of my work are the rewards you reap by choosing to read but the journey to creating it is the ultimate experience for me.

I love to immerse myself into the worlds I create. A space where its okay to have a mottle of voices, characters, personalities evolving as though part of my life. I guess in a sense they are for the time they occupy my thoughts. What I enjoy most about writing fiction is the realty that I am expressing a story in a realm of my making. No rules need to apply. If I want the sky to be purple while the expanse of all the lands are depicted in a spectrum of orange hues, I can. Anything goes providing the story is entertaining.

Its such an honor to have my works nominated as a finalist for this award. The voting is now open to the public to execute the verdict on which cover / title will be the face of the 2015 Readers Choice Awards.

Voting is for the month of December 2015 only with the winner announced February 2, 2016.

There is a fabulous line up of finalists to choose from. If you would like to take part in the vote, you can via one or all of the following channels:

Pinterest Link: http://bit.ly/1NT89A5

Place a ‘heart’ (like) on the cover & then pin it to a board in your pinterest profile.

Twitter Link: http://bit.ly/1NpCtRy

Go to the twitter account @TsBlogging find the tweet that references a book cover you wish to vote for, select the heart button and retweet it.

Facebook Link: http://on.fb.me/1Uzvjg8

LIKE the Facebook PAGE, then go to the photos page to select one the book covers to like as the vote.

 

“If it feel so good loving the wrong person, imagine how wonderful it will be when you love the right one.”  ―Truth Devour (Enigma Series Trilogy)

Enigma Series – Nominees

 

“Life is rarely the way you imagined it to be but precisely how you needed it to be.”  ―Truth Devour (Soliloquy’s Labyrinth Five Series)

‘Wantin & Illuminarium are .99 cents on e-book Sale’

The first book in both my series are reduced to .99 cents to encourage those who haven’t had a read to go ahead and do so. Its practically four times cheaper than a cup of coffee, contains less calories and is guaranteed to exercise your imaginations. Take a chance on me.

Go here to learn more:

Enigma Series: http://truthdevour.com/enigma-series/

Soliloquy’s Labyrinth Series: http://truthdevour.com/soliloquys-lab...

Blessings – Truth Devour

To love with purity holding no regard for return of favor is a skill. To find another who naturally has the same capability is a universal collaborative blessing.  True love actually exists.

Occasionally there comes a time when I cross paths with someone who manages to reach in and touch my heart with the story they were generous enough to tell about themselves, encompassing their life experiences, hopes, dreams, fears. I treasure these moments as threads of magic. They replenish my soul with hope of what exists but may not be regularly seen in this world consumed with an unhealthy focus on war and terror.

Recently I had the pleasure of talking to a beautiful soul who told me about her relationship with her grandmother. It began with her expressing that she missed her best friend, her grandmother had passed and the loss she felt every day for her absence pulled on her core. I had never held a close relationship with any of my relatives nor had I met them given my parents had migrated from Eastern Europe to Australia where I was born. When I listened to the way she spoke of this relationship it held me captivated by the pure love that was exchanged between these two.

It was clear from what had been conveyed that this lovely soul had experienced her fair share of trauma from the full spectrum of lifes offerings where relationships turned unsavoury to health challenges. Rather than holding to this as a reason to be bitter she embraced an acceptance of that which she could not change and channelled her focus to working on herself.

‘Never loose sight of your smile’

Every weekend she took her grandmother out of her aged care facility to anywhere that allowed them to walk together arm in arm.  She spoke of how her grandmother made reference to the indignity of aging and how she insisted back to her grandmother that none of it mattered, she is still a beautiful woman who is treasured dearly and nothing could ever change that. I smiled at the words and asked  to see some images. When she opened up the camera app in her phone it was filled with photos of her and her grandmother. Many of them were spectacular but the two I have shared with you in this post are the ones that made me realize that this person wasn’t just saying she loves her grandmother, she truly loves her grandmother and her grandmother loves her. It is undeniably present in the glorious moments captured between them.

Loves unspoken exchange.

While I stared at the photo of them holding hands I listened to her explain that in her grandmothers village where arranged marriages were standard practice, she was paired up with the boy who she was already in love with. On the day that she passed from this life the family gathered outside while her body was being carried toward them. She watched her grandfather chase after his wife, making the people holding her stop. He reached in grabbed her face with both hands, kissing her while saying loudly over and over how much he loves her.

“Love and allow yourself to be loved, there is no greater offering of exchange.”  

―Truth Devour

Unashamedly I released a multitude of tears as the image of this taking place occurred in my mind like the best laid out scene of an old black and white crackling with noise movie reel of classic love. The romance of what she described held me in awe of her grandmothers ability to stimulate so much love toward her and most importantly how the essence of the energy continues to live on.

‘Love the way you wish to be loved’

This beautiful exchange of experience came to me when I was in a space of personal exhaustion. There was a multitude of elements of my life which were attempting to pull me in all directions, some I chose to yield to while others I set to simply ignore. My own experience of love is on an eternal pathway of glory in terms of my discovery of its essence to exist coupled with the need to somewhat feel compelled to fight for my right to be present to it.

“Pure love holds a vibration that helps to heal the world.”  ―Truth Devour

This story for me stood to be a reminder that love exists in places and spaces across the hearts of millions around the globe. It provides me hope of there being more of these stories out there in unlimited numbers. In essence, that we are all in one way or another, enjoying a depth of interconnected relationship with one or many people whose life-force makes your soul want to shine brighter simply because they exist. Let us all strive to achieve this for ourselves and each other within our lifetimes.

Blessings – Truth Devour

Hi Everyone,

The 2015 Readers Choice Awards are open for public voting and close at the end of DECEMBER so its now or never. Please take the time to vote for me if you want to and can. :-)

Here's how to VOTE for: Wantin, Unrequited or Illuminarium

Pinterest Link: http://bit.ly/1NT89A5

They need to place a 'heart' (like) on my cover & then pin it to a board in their pinterest profile.

Twitter Instructions: http://bit.ly/1NpCtRy

Go to the twitter account link above, find the tweet that references one of my books, select the heart button and retweet it on your account.

Facebook Link: http://on.fb.me/1Uzvjg8

Like the Facebook PAGE, then select one of my book covers to vote.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Smiles - Truth Devour

I’ve been writing voluntarily since I was knee high to a grass hopper and was often perplexed that after countless stories, I am still not lost for ideas. Thirty plus years later and I find myself in a position where I feel the pressure of time escaping my ability to capture all that is within me to tell. 

My career as a budding writer only began upon the turn of chance in 2013, so little is currently known of my full works. I’m still in two minds as to whether I will release the other stories that have preceded my decision to write for public consumption. Time and desire will be the final adjudicator on this.

The experience of prepping my work for publication has certainly placed me in a state of awareness about the importance of having independent eyes assess my work. Initially, I wasn’t certain that I needed an editor. The reality was quite the opposite as I soon found myself recognizing that I had been so entrenched in my writing that I had become blind to my own errors. My age old trick of carefully reading the words out loud to myself still had me defaulting to reading between the lines. Especially when I cycled through the same story multiple times.

Originality is critical when writing. I want to maintain my interest in the story I’m producing and obviously the reader wants to be entertained. This is where I have leveraged off the use of various tried and true writing tools. I’m never without access to a dictionary, thesaurus and these days a grammar checking application. As I said in the introduction to this post, I have many a story, what I find I’m struggling with is ensuring that I maintain a sense of originality in the wordsmithing of my pieces. It’s a fine balance between maintaining a consistency in delivery without boring our united senses with word and descriptive overuse.

‘What are the right writing aids to use?’

My choice to use the word ‘right’ in the question posed above is tongue in cheek. There is no right or wrong, at least that is my perspective. The tools available should be measured by how they fulfill your needs. I’ve researched some of the grammar, spell checking applications currently available on the market. It’s clear there is no singular application, which is considered 100% infallible, especially when it comes to the application of grammar. In saying this the increase in uptake of the self publishing realm has driven a burst of new software to support people in their writing endeavors. I am currently using WhiteSmoke 2012 to challenge my grammatical skills and generally sanity check my work along the way.

Personally, I find the new age of apps being frequently developed very exciting. My iPad is filled with hundreds of writing based concepts. When I am taking some downtime from developing my novel, I go online to search for the latest writing gizmo or idea because off the back of this, I find my mind expands to leverage ideas for improved, planning, marketing and writing.

Here are a few of my favorites in no particular order:

iTunes Applications







Decision Map
Mind Meister
Index Cards
Sticky Notes
GoodReader
Evernote
iScrumboard




Mind Genius
Blogsy
Biography
Connected Mind
Writers List
Storyist
Total Recall

“No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination.” 

― Edward Hopper

Go forth and do your research. Find the applications that peak your interest, download them and experiment. I personally feel that my mind has broadened with ideas, my vocabulary is consistently expanding and my grammar is improving. The only area where I am still falling short is my type to spelling ratio. Old habits die hard. My digits often seem to shift slower across the keyboard than my mind, hence auto correct is kept busy fixing my habitual errors. The word processors these days are great, but I do find having it default to auto fix removes my need to be accurate.

‘Does automation make us lazy?’

I’m leaning towards a resounding no, and this is strictly speaking for myself in regard to the way I choose to use the applications I have at my disposal. Lord knows there is no such thing as perfect, and thankfully I am not the personality type, which strive towards this (although some who know me would argue otherwise). I’II profess to being a geek, sure no problems but a perfectionist, nope. My view is that if I am aware, I have spelt it incorrectly, (which more often than not I am), then auto correct can do its thing. I aim to continually learn along the way and do my best to get it right without aid, but am grateful the technology is there to be my virtual wingman on my fictional journey.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

― Ernest Hemingway

Passion, dedication and an endless willingness to be the humble student are the role I execute as a writer. My mind is a labyrinth laden with ideas, imaginings, learning, which I leverage to create my own flavor of fiction for reader’s consumption. This is where I want to focus my time so it stands to reason that the more proficiency I hold in the craft and utilize the technological tools, which support the execution of the craft, the more time I will have available to focus on what I dearly love to do. Tell stories.

Blessings – Truth Devour

Is the you that is you known by few and the you that is you only seen by you any less truer than the you of all you’s?

I felt Dr Seuss inspired and thought the opening to this post could use a little creative magic energy from the essence of a person who chose to be who he was, making no apologies along the way for his very unique style, view and approach to things.

Did you know that the first of the Dr Suess books were rejected over 27 times for publishing and in some instances he was told the idea’s were not suitable for children? It makes me smile on two fronts. Firstly the publishing house assessors who made the comment were making a judgement call on behalf of all children across the globe … hmm, yep, ok. Secondly in a sense they were almost right if they only made the statement that the books are ‘not’ only suitable for children, they are fabulous for adults too.

As a writer I tend to observe the world and for the most part more often than not I see things from a very different perspective. It may be the way my mind works or simply the fact that I am practiced at watching because I look to my surrounds for creative inspiration. What I have noticed along the way is that people default to presenting themselves differently depending on the environment they are placing themselves in. Its a curiosity that has me wondering why people feel compelled to alter who they are.

‘How many social masks do you wear?’

I remember as a blossoming teen my friends took me aside feeling the compulsion to ‘coach‘ me on the proper social etiquette associated to the interaction with boys. My eyes rolled as I listened to them banter on about a list of deal breaker behaviors. They even pulled out a teddy bear that they all took turns in kissing. Yes, I was in my own personal hell and no I didn’t kiss the bear.

When I did eventually consent to going on a first date with a person who shall remain nameless, we went out to a nice place to dine. He chose to take me to an overly priced, up market French cuisine restaurant where we wouldn’t be leaving the table without a hefty $300+ price tag for two. Typical of me I found my own way there and attended in my prized cherry Doc Martins, Jeans and a clean T-Shirt with a farmer Ted shirt overlay. He was well presented and I guess initially a little disappointed that I had not made an effort to dress up.

The atmosphere was lovely but I felt an air of pretense as I observed others dining that night. Much to my amusement I received glances from many woman who had made the effort to get dolled up. When the first of the meals came through I picked up my fork to begin to eat and was quickly told by my date that it was the wrong implement to use. He raised his spoon and then demonstrated how to eat the entree. I watched, nodded my head and proceeded to eat my meal with the fork. Part way through the entrée he asked me why I insisted on using the wrong implement. I said I would be happy to answer when he could tell me why it was the wrong implement. The results of the conversation had me in stitches of laughter and eventually he too could see the funny side of etiquette rigidity.

The truth is that he was getting his jocks bunched in a knot about some rule that ‘someone’ created on how to eat. I see no sense in this. I could appreciate a guideline or suggestion but a rule, pfft. What a load of hogwash. Eat however you feel comfortable and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The reason this example sprung to mind is that it depicts the social pressure people attempt to impose on one another for classification and conformity. Does it really matter how I dress to go out to dine or what implement I chose to eat with?

“A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.” 

― Ezra Pound

How many times have you heard a person say, ‘I like it when my partner goes away because it gives me a chance to be me, to do the things that ‘I’ want to do.’ Once again it is something which holds my curiosity. It appears that people have embraced a natural placement of rules for roles in various circumstances. Eg: father, mother, husband, wife, friend, worker and so on. I personally fail to see why the person who they truly are is not present as a foundation of consistency and strength across all their functional roles and responsibilities. Isn’t life less complex and more rewarding when you choose to be you?

‘Are you aware of your delta of persona variance and what drives you?’

There is an element of simplicity in my approach to interacting with the world that holds true to a well known statement made by the grand man himself:

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” 

― Dr. Seuss

I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. I evolve as a person as I understand more about myself and how I feel. What I can say for the most part is that I am truer than true in presentation of me to you and happy to be so, all the way through.

Blessings – Truth Devour

I’m never going to understand how people can think its okay to put a creature that is born with the precious gift of flight into a tiny cage for their own occasional amusement. It begs the question, why do people feel compelled to dominate, entrap and control? The even better question is: Why do we allow it?

On my fifteenth birthday I went out to a local supermarket chain to apply for a job. A week later I was being trained to work on the front end check out counter and by the following week I proudly sported my lime green uniform complete with a badge that highlighted the words ‘In training.’ When I received my first pay cheque I considered what I should spend it on. Yes, my intention was to spend the first cheque on spoils and there after ensure all other payments were placed into my savings account.

After much deliberation on the possible choices I found myself in the local pet store. I purchased every finch they had together with a handful of the turtle doves. I took the birds, the bags of seed to feed them and headed home. Instead of going inside the house via the front door I went through the gates into the back yard. I spread the seed on the grass area where the dogs didn’t have access before slowly opening the boxes to let the birds gain their first taste of freedom. I watched in silent awe.

‘If you knew you were set to be reincarnated as a bird and the bird you caged became your human, would you treat them differently?’

I know there are people who are going to read this and feel that I had and have continually been very irresponsible by purchasing and releasing cage born birds back into the wild. In some cases I would agree if I had selected birds which aren’t native to the area I lived or even the country. I’ve only ever freed the one’s I had seen already living successfully in the area. The reality is that my experience has shown me that not only do the birds flourish, they come back to visit. Instinct is a wonderful thing. People underestimate what a driving force it is. Regardless, I come from a mindset where people chose to capture them, cage them and raise them in unnatural circumstances so I am choosing to give them a chance to taste the freedom of flight. Sure, some may die but they all get the chance to be free and best of all some actually get to truly live.

“The soul is like a caged bird, it waits for the right person to open the door and set it free.” 

― Belinda Taylor on “Soul”

Its disheartening to know that we still live in an age where people argue around the entitlements of who can get married to whom. Child labour, sex slavery, countless homeless, famine and genocide continues to exist in this ‘progressive‘ day and age. There is a real struggle that forms a continuum across the centuries, which demonstrate that not much has changed. A war may have ceased in once place but others find fuel to ignite. Are we able to migrate from place to place freely across the globe? No. Can we provide aid directly to those who need it without political interference? No. We are subjected to the terms and conditions of the governing laws placed to ‘protect’ the interests of the ‘people.’

‘Can you now see the cages too?’

There has to be a better way for us to come together with the intent to help one another. It boggles my mind the amount of money that is allowed to be wasted on political campaigns to gain favors in polls. Seriously? Why can’t the approach be simple. Feed, house and clothe your ‘people.’ Here is a radical thought, how about all the political houses unite to form a leadership brains trust that focuses on actually finding sustainable solutions to the immediate problems. There has to be simplified approaches already thought of and available which could be leveraged to enable the citizens to better help themselves.

I’II never stop freeing birds, unto my last breathe I will be committed to being a participant in the need to unlock the cage doors. We all deserve to live in a better world than this. Let’s free ourselves from the binds. It all starts and ends with you. We too are entitled to fly.

Embrace the right to freedom, become an enabler.

Blessings – Truth Devour