The bad and the good

Well yesterday I was expecting a package which never arrived and the lovely tracking information says it was delivered. I am hoping it will all come out well Monday. I have phoned the post office yesterday but was informed they would not be able to speak to the driver again until Monday. I am hoping either he scanned it and forgot to put it off his truck or that it was delivered to the wrong person who will see they are the wrong person and either bring it to me or return it to the carrier on Monday and he will bring it to me. Needless to say I will be phoning the post office again Monday morning to see if I can get this all fixed up.

Now the good news. I've just put up Awen's Path Episode 18 Featuring Jamie Woodhead author of The Reaper which is available on Kindle, Nook and at www.oaklightpublishing.com feel free to check it out. I've also updated my webpage at www.davidduir.com and cleaned up one of my cafepress shops a bit so I am at least able to keep myself busy.

Working, Writing, Podcasting OH my!

Well I have been spending the last couple of months since my vacation working, writing, and working on my podcast. I've started work on a couple of writing projects both non-fiction and fiction. I've been working my day job and for Oaklight Publishing on a daily basis and of course trying to get some wonderful guests on my podcast.

Most recently on my podcast I had a great guest Paranormal investigator and author Debi Chestnut. It was a great episode and I had a great time interviewing her. Today I had an interview for a podcast I will release next Sunday, early am eastern time with Philip Carr-Gomm. Philip to those who may not know him is an author, psychologist, educator and the Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (http://www.druidry.org). It was a wonderful interview and I am sure that any who listen to it will enjoy it. Feel free to check out all my other episodes too.

Starting from Debi's interview and until the end of the month the podcast is holding a contest. To enter all you need to do is e-mail awenspath@cox.net and tell me you wish to enter. Of course some feedback on the show might be nice but not necessary.

I am going to be trying to blog a bit more while I work on my writing and podcasting and working, not to mention chasing around an active three year old and meditating when possible. With luck some things will pick up and others slow down and balance be achieved as needed.

This week and Beyond

Been a great though busy week as stated in my previous post. This week I've had the chance to interview Raven Digitalis for this Sunday's (12-5-2010) Podcast and that went absolutely awesome with some great conversation. Working today on other guests as well as ideas for the show etc.

Along with the work on the Podcast I've been working on some writing as well as with some other stuff on the publishing and marketing sides of our other books. Today Trinity of Wisdom by Mark Knight went live on iBooks and is now available for iBooks in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France and Austrailia. Its just great knowing that all this is happening these days with my publisher, Mark's Book is great and I am still so excited that Rosa's book Taking 1960 got picked to be shelved at Barnes and Noble. If you don't see it at your local store but want it please feel free to request it, I know they plan on starting with a store or stores local to Rosa.

My day job goes on as it does and I keep enjoying the time with my friends and family. Its going to be a great holiday season I can see that now. With luck I'll have some more writing out there in one form or another sooner or later. Lots of work with Kindle, Nook and iBooks. It should be a wonderful time as the year ticks on. I am so enjoying life these days with the Podcast and writing and my wonderful three year old. I am so looking forward to all the great guests we're going to have coming on the show even if I am not sure who are going to be yet. So far its been a great learning experience and I am hopeful that others find it this way while listening. If this contest goes as well as it seems I will most likely be holding more perhaps future ones with other prizes from guests or sponsors of the contests but who knows.

Spirituality and life keep me going and I enjoy it all the time. The wheel of the year keeps turning round and I can't wait to see what it will bring with its turning. Learning from other's views on spirituality has been quite nice indeed and I really am finding it to be a great source of inspiration in my life. Hoping to get some feedback on the podcast some time.


Well until next time....

Been a busy week

Its been a busy week with Thanksgiving and all. Yesterday I posted the new episode of the Awen's Path podcast featuring 2 wonderful UK artists and friends, Seawitch artist (www.seawitchartist.com) and Lusete (lusete.deviantart.com). They were great guests and I interviewed them both early last week thankfully as Wednesday I came down with a bad cold. The bad cold has turned into an infection which luckily now I have medicine for and hopefully will recover quickly as I have to interview next weeks guest (which should be a good one) tomorrow night. I especially hope my voice recovers or I may come across a bit rough in the next one.

With the holiday and all and some time off work it was pretty good other than the being ill bit. Hoping this week will be a really good one.

Continuing on Awen's Path

Well the podcast is now officially in its third week and seems to be gaining strength and hopefully listeners. Haven't had a ton of feedback yet but it is just starting after all. This week for my third episode I was honored to have Damh the Bard aka David Smith a brilliant pagan folk musician on the show. It was wonderful talking to him and went a little over my usual one hour time limit but what the hell it was fun. The show is exciting and upbeat I really loved doing it and it seems to get more fun with each podcast. I did on iTunes mark this podcast as explicit due to the single use of the word shit. I know it doesn't seem excessive but I did want to make sure it passed all their parental guidelines for sure. Well I am extremely excited because there are tons of wonderful guests coming up through the coming months. It should be a real hoot and a great learning experience.

And everyone go check out Damh the Bard's website at http://www.paganmusic.co.uk its a great site and showcases all of his work and where to get it.

iPad Day 2

Ok everyone. I am loving the iPad. The games and such are addicting and its great for video, though I must get myself a case for it and some screen protectors because I want it to last a while. I am going to be playing with the Pages word processing app soon and will let everyone know what I think. I am really liking its functions and finding it to be really easy to use. I think it will be very helpful to my writing as well as just a nifty toy to play with.

With practice I think I will get really good at using it. Its quite an interesting bit of machinery. As I mentioned I have the bottom of the line WiFi model and not one thats both 3G and WiFi so take that in account when reading this so I have no idea how the 3G works. I plan to work on it and perhaps in future I will get one of the more fancy, larger memory units. It really is all about what you want to use it for and where you want to use it. For now, at least, the WiFi suits me just fine.

So Far I give it 5 out of 5 stars. I will let you know if any of this changes.

Wake Up Celebrity Author Info (Would ya Help please?)

As some of you may know, my second book “Honoring the Sacred Earth: A Path to Spiritual Awakening” has been placed on the Wake Up Celebrity Author Page. The Wake Up Celebrity Author page is a place where you can review the book based on criteria listed on the site such as Cover Art, Title and the Summary listed. This is helpful input that can help with future writing as well as the marketing of this book.
This is also a contest and all your votes would be greatly helpful. Your reviews are given in the form of votes rating the criteria and allowing for your personal comments. If you’d be willing to do this I would greatly appreciate it. The comments are helpful especially if specific.
Just click the link below and then click on click here to leave your vote. It asks for a name and e-mail address (to stop duplicate voting) and they also offer free e-books for the vote. Please feel to vote and encourage your friends to do so, it would be a great help.

If you are one of the people who has looked at this and voted already due to my facebook and twitter announcements etc I just want to say thank you very much.

http://www.wakeupcelebrityauthor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=17:spirituality-and-religious&id=119:honoring-the-sacred-earth-a-path-to-spiritual-awakening

Thanks.

Yours Under the Trees,
Dave/Duir /|\

Sorry for the long pause

Well its been a while since I've written here been a hectic month with work and preparing for vacation. Well I'm on vacation now and in fact starting the journey home slowly. Currently I'm visiting friends in TN and going to go see some sites. Then its off to Maryland Pennsylvania and Home. I'm still working hard to promote my books and my website and hoping that sales will pick up a bit. I'm also thinking about future writing and of course still planing to start work on a fiction that will be co-authored by upcoming author Rosa Sophia who's first book Taking 1960 will release on August 13th.

I'm enjoying this little break from my day job and feel my stress levels lowering significantly. I am hoping that once this vacation is wrapped up I'll be able to post on a regular basis again.

Wake up Celebrity Author Contest

I've entered the Wake Up Celebrity author contest... My direct link is http://www.wakeupcelebrityauthor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=17:spirituality-and-religious&id=119:honoring-the-sacred-earth-a-path-to-spiritual-awakening.

Please feel free to go there and cast your vote and tell all your friends about it and that they should vote too. Its a nice contest for newer authors like myself as it helps with exposure and should I win it would be some great promotional help for the book. Please cast your vote and of course vote on others if you wish as well and please do encourage your friends and family to do the same. I know I'd really appreciate it and if you vote for anyone else as well I am sure they would appreciate it. (though more votes for me please lol).

Thanks a ton.

Been a while

Well the holidays are fast approaching. I keep plugging forward. The second book is going forward and the first stage of editing has started and with luck it'll be wrapped up in a couple months. Lots of work to do there. I've been so busy with the holidays and the last minute shopping and wrapping as well as yesterday and today's snowstorm. Its going to be a really fun cleanup. Well as they say if you don't like the weather in New England wait 5 minutes. They're calling for sleet on Christmas and rain the day after so we should have white just until Christmas... then probably flooding, it'll be a hoot! But Yes it should be a White Christmas so time to play some Bing Crosby.

Lots of cleaning left to do. We have friends and family coming over both Christmas Eve and Day so we gotta get the place sparkly. Then I get to work the day after Christmas setting up sales so it should be "wonderful" (please not the sarcastic tone in wonderful). Oh well Until next time!

The Second Book

Well the first book "Under an Expanse of Oaks, A Druid's Journey" is fresh out of the box and moving forward. We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks. I have two people reviewing it soon so I'm a bit nervous about that.

The second book is now much longer than the first and if it keeps progressing at the rate it has been its first draft should be done by the end of the month. Then it will be time to start the editing etc. My guess is if everything goes right it will be ready by the spring. It should be really great as it has a broader audience than the first book.

Well back to life. More writing to do then bed to get out to the day job tomorrow. Its great though and everything is moving really fast and I'm liking it.

Today

The pre-holiday cleaning keeps going on around me. I'm still working on book two and watching my 2 year old but now we've moved downstairs so my wife can clean the upstairs before hosting our Yule dinner with family. It should be a hoot and I am looking forward to the house being all spotless and shiny again... with a 2 year old and working most of the time I barely get to see it in such a state. And we get to keep it that way for a week or so before the day comes... Yay! Should be an interesting venture and I always wonder if Freddy will comply with our wishes.

Though writing has been very fruitful lately with lots of work getting done. If my pace keeps up like this I should be done with my first draft by or before January first. We shall see.

Setbacks

Well it looks like the book has had another setback or two with the formatting. Apparently they've changed the guidelines again. I am hopeful that they will get it fixed expeditiously, and will keep everyone posted as I can. Its getting a bit frustrating but hopefully it will be worth the wait for everyone. I am anxiously awaiting the official launch of "Under an Expanse of Oaks: A Druid's Journey" and I will keep working on non-fiction book number two which is rather relaxing to write and very fulfilling.

With any luck my "official" writing career will start off soon and with any luck people will like what I have written. The book seems to be getting shorter though as they wanted a smaller font size this time. Well we shall see. At least I know I like it as does the one reviewer that has read it.

Writing

Finding inspiration for writing I have found comes easier the more you do it. I find that the writing actually inspires me from time to time to write more and brings my ideas off into uncharted territory where it finds interesting bits of info to include. All in all its pretty fun and with the quotes I've chosen for my second non-fiction my sources of inspiration are vast. So far I've quoted the bible, Einstein, Anne Frank, and Mother Teresa. Each quote building upon the last as well as inspiring me to write what fits in that section.

Yay SMS works

Though I can only do short posts with it, I am happy SMS posting is set up. This will be great for short messages when traveling or when my computer is not available to me... like at work. It should be a great way to add content to the blog etc. I am glad that now I can keep in touch at all times. Well with any luck sometime today or tomorrow I'll hear that the book is live and available and I will be able to fully launch it. Until then I will just keep working on book two and getting the contest ready to be all settled by the 30th.

Nature

It is my firm belief that we need to listen to the natural world around us. Not only does the Earth itself speak to us when we are quiet and open ourselves to her communications but also the divine whispers to us on the breeze. The divine does interact with us and help to guide us especially when we need it most but only if we listen. Deity likes to whisper the guiding words... Not that Deity can't scream at us... oh it can and does when necessary but usually it whispers.

By connecting with nature we can find ourselves, we can help rebuild what we have destroyed as a race. We need to look towards nature for the answers we seek. I firmly believe that nature has all the answers we need written in it, not in words but in its very existence. We need to look at how things were and how things will be.

We are learning we all know the chant... Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... it is but a part of what we can do and we can all take many small steps to help our world to heal. We must do this, we must act. What will happen if we don't... who knows but I know one thing for sure... we will not be part of it. The Earth will go on and will heal itself, the question is if we will be allowed to stay to see it if we don't help to fix what we've damaged or destroyed.

Things keep moving on

It finally looks like I'll see the light at the end of the tunnel with "Under an Expanse of Oaks, A Druid's Journey" as it looks like the cover art is fixed. Should know for sure if its totally accepted tonight or tomorrow. Also I keep working on book number 2 (the non-fiction) but I'm not going to tell anything about it until its either done or nearly done. So keep watching for little tidbits. I did finish researching the quotes I wanted for it and I may share some of them here and there over time. I've been thinking of adding a bit more and updating my cafepress shop (www.cafepress.com/oaklight) and some other things. With any luck the book will be available by next week and finally everyone who's been wanting it will be able to get it, including the people who want to review it.

I keep working, writing, thinking and playing with my dear son trying to keep everone happy lol. We had quite a giggle tonight. I looked at him (he's 2) and said "your cute" to which he said "I know" lol. If it weren't true I'd call him conceded.

Interesting times indeed

Well today I managed to get my Bookmarks fixed and in process at the printers. I also found out that they are closing in on finally fixing the cover art for my book so the paperback will be available very soon. I will definitely be happy when that comes out.

Also a friend of mine who helped me design said cover George Rix is currently protesting the consumption of Shark Fin Soup by the Chinese and I am fully supportive if his tongue-in-cheek method of propaganda against it while bringing this extremely important issue to light. Here is a link to his blog http://sharkfinsouptheyellowperil.blogspot.com/ check it out!

I am happy that Freddy is growing like a weed and so is his vocabulary. Hopefully everything will happen for me soon and hopefully George will be very successful in this protest!

Today's Thoughts

We keep moving forward waiting for the proof to come in so the book can go live. I'm excited and anxious about it. I'd especially like to get the copies because I've had some offers for reviews. Marketing has nearly consumed all of my free time the last few weeks so it will be nice to see how I've done. Between the videos and sites I belong to, plus a few ads here and there and my contest I seem to at least be generating some interest in the book. I hope it all works out and I hope that those who read it, end up liking it or at least some part of it. I sometimes worry about the length because it is short, but somehow I feel it makes it more approachable. While doing this I've also been thinking about some follow up books and those would be lengthier. I guess for my first go its not half bad. Lots of work on both ends of the writing it seems. I definitely have a deeper respect for my favorite authors now.

Book Status

Well the book is still coming soon. We're waiting on a few snafus from the printing company but it should soon be available for purchase I will be sure to let everyone know once it is and where it is. Thank you all for your interest in it and your patience. I am also excited because a couple of stores have contacted me and want to carry it. Its really exciting indeed.