Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Guardians of the Rasselas: an off the grid sci-fi fantasy romance

A pre-Christmas visit to one of our favorite fishing spots caused a bit of a shock when we realized the water level had dropped significantly since we had visited it two years earlier. Where we'd previously launched the boat was now bare gravel. The last figure I saw recently said the lake was down 38 metres. Last year this wilderness area only got about 2/3 of its normal rainfall. Of course, like everything in my life it got my imagination going. A novella demanded to be written before I could continue on with writing my fifth novel. So here it is: "Guardian's of the Rasselas".

In a world run by those driven by greed a few brave souls still work on the side of the planet and its inhabitants. Long ago Eleni's family were entrusted with the guardianship of the knowledge and sworn to keep it secret. Unbeknownst to the rest of the family Eleni's brother Yiannos has inherited the role from his psychic grandmother. But all is not well in their small family. Eleni opts to avoid the dubious pleasure of Christmas with the family by camping out at her favorite lake only to be faced with a shocking discovery. Having dropped his retail addicted wife and cousins at the airport, to do even more shopping, Eleni's father JJ realizes the time has come to make a life changing decision. Eleni's discoveries at the lake will change all their lives. And while Eleni and JJ might not be the guardian it is their affinity with stone that will reawaken more than just a parched landscape.

Guardians of the Rasselas is a novella set loosely within the world of the Left Hand Adventures series but it can be read independently. It contains adult references, diverse sexual relationships and some Australian slang.

Available in paperback or ebook: Amazon, Google Play (shortly), Smashwords and other vendors as it is distributed.

A Short Introduction to the Sattvic Diet: A diet for the mind, body and soul. A way of life

http://www.amazon.com/Short-Introduction-Sattvic-Diet-soul-ebook/dp/B00TM8R8K6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8


When I initially conceived of this booklet I was thinking more about the recipes for some of the vegan dishes mentioned in my series of novels Left Hand Adventures. First up I was going to call it Simon's Cookbook after one of the main characters in the series. I soon realized once I started writing it that it had potentially a much wider audience. Being vegetarian by choice and variously allergic or food intolerant to gluten, mushrooms, most dairy and a range of preservatives, colorings and other nasties I've had to develop my own recipes over the years. Mostly because no one cookbook seemed to address all my needs.

Having had to manage myself, even while tripping around New Zealand, Japan and some remote parts of outback Australia, I've acquired a keen interest in finding what I can safely eat when away from home.

More recently, delving into genetics by getting my 23andme test done gave me a springboard for learning about myself from another point of view. Along the way I learnt about obscure things like the methylation cycle and how some genes regulate it, or don't if you have an unfavorable mutation or two.

Mix all that with a life long interest in yoga and relaxation as a path to well being and a happy mind and you have what I've summarised in this book. I'm hoping it will be of use to others like myself as well as those wanting to pursue the ancient Sattvic diet which probably not coincidentally most of what works for me fits within. In some ways I could kick myself for not following this regime sooner but then maybe my learning path was meant to be. I've tried as much as possible to keep any yoga dogma to a minimum and provide references for those wanting to research further.

You can find the booklet on Kindle, Google Play, Smashwords and for those who want a paperback version these one of those available too, at as close to production cost as I could make it.

If you have a recipe you think should be included in a future addition please let me know.