G. Michael Vasey's Blog: The Wacky World of Dr. Vasey, page 82

Astral Messages FREE on Kindle all weekend long..

Astral Messages is now FREE on Kindle on all Amazon sites in celebration of July 4th and for the next 5-days. Go grab a copy now.

The Travel Queen

I am just returned from an overnight trip to Prague where I dropped my Mother off for her return trip back to Beverley. She had been here 10-days and it was her 5th such trip since my Dad passed away. My Mum can talk the hind legs of a donkey and if you had a chance to chat, she would tell you how she has travelled the world because of me. And she has.

It all started back in the late 1970′s with trips down to the Midlands to drop me off and pick me up at Aston University. That shifted to Leeds and then to Glasgow as I continued on with my PhD with the British Geological Survey and University of Strathclyde. It became Aberdeen when I started my career as a Geologist with BP. Then, when I was moved down south it was Surrey and Basingstoke visits. In between, we invited my parents for a week away in mid-Wales as well. Then came the “world’ bit. We moved to Houston, TX and then to Dallas, TX before heading back to Basingstoke. Together with Mum and Dad, I discovered just how long a drive it really is from Houston to the Grand Canyon! Nevertheless, we did visit Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, along with much of Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas to boot! Mum always recalls Tombstone with some fondness. I’m not sure why!

The

Of course, I returned to Texas and spent another 17-years there. Ever year, over they came for a month and we would visit Galveston, Padre Island and other beautiful locations. Mum tried new foods and drinks like Crawfish and Hurricanes. The Hurricane was devoured with gusto but then Dad had to walk Mum around the block for half an hour to sober her up!

The Cast

On my return to Europe, the visits continued but now to Brno and Prague and other parts of the Czech Republic. This last trip we spent a day in Vienna.

Yes, my Mum is well travelled. She is even planning a trip to Turkey with her older sister later this year. Not bad for a woman close to 80-years old who smashed her wrist to pieces just 4-weeks ago and still carries a heavy and painful cast, who is half blind from glaucoma and has had monthly injections in her eye to break down a blood clot there, who has bad legs and now has an open wound on one leg that will not go away and who for the last 30 or so years has suffered from debilitating colitis.

She is a brave and adventurous woman my Mum. She is a travel queen and Dad would be so proud to know she still travels albeit without him.

Tagged: Happiness

Independence Weekend Giveaway!

July 4th is Independence Day for some and to celebrate that fact I have set up my book Astral Messages as a FREE Kindle book for 5-days over that weekend. Don’t forget to grab your copy of Astral Messages on Kindle this coming weekend.

Astral Messages uses poems and blog articles from my long standing blog – Asteroth’s Domain – in a discussion of reality and magic. We are all magicians willfully creating our realities and this selection demonstrates how this touches all aspects of our lives – yes, even our socks!

There is a depth and openness to beauty in the poetry, a realisation of the multi-levelled nature of reality and perception in the prose… and already it shadows the thread of magic woven through this little book. Every page gives food for thought and further reflection. Yet this is not a manufactured collection, these are thoughts that have arisen and been written as a response to a moment in time, a mood, a whisper of inspiration… and they show the man behind the words for any who take time to look.

Sue Vincent, author of The Initiate and other books.

Here’s an interesting idea, to juxtapose prose reflections with poems. Of the latter, `A Dream’ and `Life’s Tapestry’ are gems of composition. What is very endearing is the honesty of the writer. In a gesture of great affection he dedicates the book to his father. Gary is not afraid to reveal his fears, loves and his puzzlement about the world.The author despairs of the current evil of `dumbing down’ and the embracing of received opinion. For this sensitive and perceptive artist, ignorance is most certainly not regarded as bliss.

Gordon Strong, author of Merlin Master of Magick and other books.

Tagged: Astral Messages

Songs from Another Era

I started writing poetry or more accurately perhaps lyrics, at the age of about 12. At that time, I had just received my first acoustic guitar for Christmas and had already formed a ‘band’ with Andy Wells, my next door neighbour. Andy has, I think, played around bands ever since in the USA where he now lives and owns a huge collection of guitars. We would sit in our front rooms strumming the odd malformed chord and dreaming in the way only adolescents can dream. Of course, the early 70′s really was a great time for this with wave after wave of new bands coming through and cranking out three chord singles by the bucket load. I particularly loved T.Rex I recall and fancied myself as another Marc Bolan. In the room I am writing this there is a folder of old foolscap papers with scrawled handwritten lyrics dating back to 1972. Precious to me but are those awful lyrics or what and I wouldn’t dream of forcing them on all of you.

I did play in several bands in my teens. My taste in music migrated to Status Quo and I got locked into 12-bar as a guitarist and never really progressed much. I am a competent rythym guitarist but thats about all. My acoustic from Woolworths graduated into a CMI Telecaster deluxe electric in black with a maple neck. I worked two years doing a paper round to buy it and I still have it. In fact, it is behind me. It is the only guitar I have ever wanted.

Where am I going with this story then? Well, my first book of poetry – Weird Tales – published in 2006 contains a few of those early sets of lyrics. I sat and ploughed through the teenage angst and the teenage crushes and actually found a few that I thought were good. The first collection of poetry that I published then contains my work from 1972 through to 2005. Here is one poem from 1972 that if you came for a visit, I could still sing to you with my guitar….

Changing

I feel the cold breath upon my naked face

And the dark shadows in my heart

Watching – with heavy lidded eyes

I realize – that what I see

Is only there for me to see

And life is another mystery

Time lies heavily upon us all

And yet in the future I can perceive

The winds of change for good or ill

Changing – the things living around me

And slowly – I see again all the steamy rain

The pain, and anguish overrides hope

When I re-read this poem this morning looking for inspiration for a blog article, I suddenly realized that nothing much changes at all. Here is a poem written at age 12 that talks about….. reality and life. I was already obsessed with what constitutes reality and our experience of it – even all of those years ago. This is echoed in many of the songs and poems that form Weird Tales including this little ditty that I wrote at college in around 1980.

Gone Again

Gone again

Hardly a moment to spare

I don’t know where life is leading

And I don’t really care

Gone again

Was I ever really there?

Slot machine bingo

Maniacal stares

Readily unfolding

In front of me

Unzip and down to flesh again

Automatic eyes

Lasared to see

Pull another cocktail

Molotov type

Shoving it down inside

Deep inside

Dilation and comforting sensation

Try me

I am on your side

Gone again

Not a moment to spare

God only knows what I am doing

And he doesn’t care

Gone again

Was I ever really there?

Both poems from Weird Tales published in 2006.

Tagged: Childhood memories, Poetry, Weird Tales

Moon Whispers – Free download Finished

The free Moon Whispers on Kindle weekend is over and I thank those that downloaded it or helped to promote it. I was quite pleased with the number of downloads. Now, here is the thing, please do post a review if you downloaded it and, if you enjoyed it, why not purchase the paperback version and share it with your family and friends? The paperback version is beautifully put together by Amazon and looks really good to boot. It is also relatively inexpensive.

Meanwhile, I am waiting for the price of the Kindle version of my novel – The Last Observer – to come down too. In the next few days, it should drop to $2.99 and the same In GBP on Amazon.co.uk. The book has been well received and if you haven’t already seen it, the trailer is worth a look…..

Religions

Given some of the news headlines I see about ISIS (not the Goddess I hasten to add) and their actions which are utterly evil and satanic to the equally despotic and idiotic satanic christian right that wants to deny everyone everything, I dug this poem up for today. It is from my book Astral Messages and it says exactly what I want to say. There are too many MEN who think they speak for God but in reality they speak for THEMSELVES.

To me, religion is the system that allows men to create a God in their own image so that they may control others and impose their own will upon them. In the name of religion, they persecute all who disagree as well as women, gays, and minorities. Religion is the new Nazism of hate and I am not singling out any particular religion.

The reverse of this is to believe in Divine Providence and to seek balance everywhere. Read the Bible or the Koran but read it with your eyes open… you will be amazed at the metaphysical and occult knowledge written there in plain sight but ignored by so many. As Jesus said so many times…. for those that have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. Look and listen.

To follow

Your words we trust

Despite your actions

And the countless billions

That crossed religions

And suffered death or persecution

A man who

Thinks he knows

What God wants

Is a dangerous delusion

Devilish collusion

To further darkness and chaos

Religion

Your dogma

Conform or die

Propagate my lie

Kill the unbelievers

Help make me absolute

Man-made lies

Not God uttered

Satan’s revenge

Death and destruction

Psycho seduction

Kill, hate, maim and persecute

For man

In the name of God

Amen

Tagged: Astral Messages, Poetry

FREE Moon Whispers on Kindle NOW and all Weekend Long

G. M. Vasey:

Just a reminder — FREE Kindle downloads this weekend… Moon whispers

Originally posted on The Wacky World of Dr. Vasey:

It is June 27th and the new moon! To celebrate the new moon I thought I would make Moon Whispers in Kindle version FREE. So, get it while you can on any Amazon site and if you like it, please write a quick review and buy the paperback version – its a beautiful little book and I think my best poetry to date. I hope you enjoy it.

Here is a sample….

Moon Whispers

Breezy, breathless whispers

She speaks to you

Rasping, her voice is in the wind

Leaden overcast clouds scud

Trodden ground wet like mud

She asks ‘see, see me?’

Tho’ you look high and low

There is no sign of her

Raindrops splatter the pavement

And damp is the rising scent

The Moon is sheening silver

Hanging low in leaden dark sky

Reflecting the one true light

But long are the lunar shadows
Following us like the…

View original 67 more words

FREE Moon Whispers on Kindle NOW and all Weekend Long

It is June 27th and the new moon! To celebrate the new moon I thought I would make Moon Whispers in Kindle version FREE. So, get it while you can on any Amazon site and if you like it, please write a quick review and buy the paperback version – its a beautiful little book and I think my best poetry to date. I hope you enjoy it.

Here is a sample….

Moon Whispers

Breezy, breathless whispers

She speaks to you

Rasping, her voice is in the wind

Leaden overcast clouds scud

Trodden ground wet like mud

She asks ‘see, see me?’

Tho’ you look high and low

There is no sign of her

Raindrops splatter the pavement

And damp is the rising scent

The Moon is sheening silver

Hanging low in leaden dark sky

Reflecting the one true light

But long are the lunar shadows

Following us like the scudding clouds

The monthly days slowly lengthen

Tears of crystalline water droplets

As She no longer has anything to say

Ripples of a long gone era overwhelmed her

Caught in the shadow of the Son

The golden orb slowly sails its journey

She rises at dawn reflecting all

Like a mirror to all humanity

And in the ghostly lunar light

Everything can again be put to right

Tagged: Announcements, Moon whispers

Soccer and Role Models

As those who know me well will acknowledge, I do like my football (soccer). I attended my first match back at the age of 5 in 1965 at Boothferry Park in Hull to watch the Tigers and have been hooked ever since. I’m not the only one as the World Cup unfolds in Brazil, millions perhaps billions of others are following the games, the drama and the action. One or two American friends continue to ask what the attraction is and have no understanding of how two teams can compete and draw but my advice to them is to think what that means about the US culture. What does it mean about your culture that you think you have to always win?

There are many who would rather Americans retained their disdain for soccer and left it to the rest of the world. The reason is that they constantly want to tinker with the game to improve it and of course, they want to dominate and win everything. The rest of the world are able to understand that it’s not winning but the taking part that counts. Or do they?

Everyone recalls the hand of God? Diego Maradona stole the game from England for Argentina by cheating. He got away with it and the ‘goal’ stood altering what might have been cheating an army of supporters in the process. Suarez cheated also, stopping a certain goal with his hands on the goal line a few competitions ago. The resulting penalty was saved and Uruguay went on to the next round of the competition through cheating. Now of course, the same player has become the big news story for biting an Italian player.

The Americans, fed with a diet of American Football in particular, look at soccer as a game for wimps. Players are constantly falling, rolling around in agony at the slightest thing, only to get up seconds later and continue as if nothing happened. They dive, cheat and play for a tie. To the American mind trained from birth to compete and win at almost any cost, this is bizarre and what is even more bizarre as that the entire rest of the world is crazy about this game. The World Cup really is a global competition unlike the laughingly called World Championship of baseball for example… which involves only American and Canadian teams and which reverberates across the globe as a colossal yawn of disinterest and boredom. American Football isn’t ever going to be global either. I quite enjoyed the game but for most, its a bunch of over muscled and overhyped fat guys wearing body armour playing in 20 second bursts and taking breaks at every opportunity moving a rugby ball up and down a field. It’s rugby for wimps basically.

But the Americans have a point don’t they? I hate players diving and feigning injury. In particular, I detest the cheating. Diego Maradona is a hero to many people. To me he is simply a cheat. For all his skills on the field he cheated and he should never have been allowed to play soccer again for that. The same for Suarez. Yes, he is a talented and skilled athlete but he is a cheat with a childish temper tantrum problem and he too should be banned from playing. Why?

It’s actually very simple. These are the people our kids look up to. They are role models. Like many modern role models, they are human first but and to me its a big but, but they should be held accountable for that influence. Cheating is cheating. It’s abhorrent and should not be tolerated. Rather than be seen as heroes, these players should be seen as cheats and held up as examples of how not to play soccer – or life.

Tagged: Rants

A Conversation with G. Michael Vasey by Nick Wale

A Conversation with

G. MICHAEL VASEY

Author of THE LAST OBSERVER

Expat Brit located in the Czech Republic

G. Michael Vasey is one of those unique writers you come across on a hot summer day. I have marvelled at this interview, and I’ve wondered what I can really say about it. I like this writer—a lot—and I can’t wait for you to like him, too! His book The Last Observer is a bit of everything, and that is the best way to describe this interview. It’s a bit of everything!

Who do you have in mind when you write?

Me. I write about my interests and things that I am passionate about. I trust that the end product is something of interest to others and that I have something unique to offer – my perspective and one that is entertaining and different.

How do you find “inspiration” and where does it live?

Inspiration often comes to me in a semi-meditative state. So listening to music of the right type can start the juices flowing, or sometimes I listen to meditation music on Youtube as I write. It seems to relax me and open a channel to the creative part of me. Other books can also give inspiration too, so when I am reading something it will trigger a series of questions or thoughts and an inner dialogue. I don’t find finding inspiration difficult to be honest. If you look around and pay attention to what is around you, how can you not be inspired? For example, until recently, I lived in Prague. Most people tramp to work, head down, worrying about the day ahead or wishing themselves miles away. As I walked through Prague to work, I looked up – at the glorious architecture and beauty, history and sheer wow of the city I lived in…. that inspires me.

Have you always aspired to be a writer?

No, but writing has always been a key part of what I do for a living, and I have always enjoyed writing. Being an author sort of sprung up on me when I realized what a body of work I had had published as articles, newsletters, book chapters and so on. Once I got comfortable with the idea, I thought – why not give it a proper go?

Tell me about how you became a writer. What was the first step for you?

Having to write so as a part of my job. I must have written well over 500 articles in newsletters and magazines professionally along with 100 white papers and reams of blog articles. So, it is something I do continually. The step you ask about is probably when I first sat down with the objective of writing a book, and I did that because I was told to in meditation…

Do you have a distinctive “voice” as a writer?

I don’t know to be honest, but in poetry I do try to play with words in certain evocative ways.

Do you think anyone can learn to be an effective writer, or is it an unnamed spiritual gift?

I think anyone who really wants to write can learn, but very few writers are true masters. That is a gift that you are born with.

Is there a book you’ve written that you’re most proud of?

No, as I tend to keep looking forward as opposed to backwards. That’s not to say there isn’t a book I am fond of. My novel, The Last Observer, though certainly not perfect, is my favourite book to date; and my last book of poetry – Moon Whispers – I think is my strongest effort yet. I pick the novel because it has the potential to appeal to a broader group of readers, I think.

On average, how long does it take for you to write your ideas down before you start writing a book?

I don’t follow this approach usually. I plan it in my head and then, after it’s going, I start to write down subplots and themes I wish to develop. In the end though, the books have a surprising talent for writing themselves and surprising even me. I suppose it’s because I write in a meditative state usually and it’s as if it’s not me doing the writing anyway.

What would you say is the “defining” factor in your writing? What makes it yours?

Ah, good question! I think it’s my passion for trying to understand the nature of reality and my practise of magic. You see, I think magic (or if you prefer, metaphysics) has already described the Universe, and science is gradually catching up. What fascinates me is how we create our own reality or our own perspective on reality and how imagination and will can make magic. This provides for a never-ending smorgasbord of ideas, plots, endings and concepts to play with.

How do you guard your time to do what’s most important?

I am a multi-tasker and am always engaged in fifteen things at once. I move my focus from one thing to another and that constant variety keeps me engaged and busy.

What are some of the more common distractions you struggle with, and what ways have you found to overcome them?

There are times when I simply do not want to write. So I don’t.

What kind of review do you take to heart?

Oh, I hate bad reviews and take them ever so personally. It seems to me that there are a few people out there that simply get a kick out of writing deeply negative reviews – like trolls on a discussion board. I can’t help being hurt by deeply negative criticism. On the other hand, we only get better through criticism. It is how that criticism is delivered that makes the difference between something we gain from or something we are hurt by.

How do you decide what your next book will be about?

Well, I decide probably in a moment of massive interest in something or an idea, but then I end up writing something else entirely! For example, on my bio it says I am writing a book about the Fool in magic. It’s a great idea, and I have written a few pages, but I keep finding other things to write about, and I make no progress at all on that idea. I keep it in the bio to remind me that I must/should/will write that book.

Was there a link between your childhood and your vocation as a writer?

Yes – imagination. I had and still do have a very well-developed imagination to the point I can really be where I imagine I am. It is this imagination that runs riot and is the creative seed within me.

As a writer, however, you have the opportunity to self-reflect, to revisit experiences. How does that feel?

Sometimes good but not always….often, the worst of life’s experiences are actually the best – at least for writing.

What motivates you to tackle the issues others may avoid, such as nature and spirituality?

I have been interested in such things since I was knee high to a grasshopper as I wrote in my first book – Inner Journeys. Back when I was 12, I was attending meetings of the church for psychical research and reading Blavatsky… So, I am well-grounded in this stuff and a practising magician to boot. As a result, I guess I see the world a bit differently and want to share the idea that the world looks like you want it to.

When you start a new book, do you know how a book will end as you’re writing it? Or does its direction unfold during the writing, research and/or creative process?

The Last Observer wrote itself, I swear. The ending surprised me and still does.

How do you see your role in impacting and influencing society?

I only hope that I can make people think a bit, wake up and look around and see that not everything is how they were taught. If they do that, then I have already succeeded.

If you weren’t a writer, what would you like to do?

Writing is so integral to everything I do, and it’s not possible to answer this question.

What are the things a writer “must not” do?

You know, I don’t like rules. Why should a writer not do anything? I do feel sometimes that we are constrained by success, but real art is breaking all the rules and having the product mean something. This is why I love poetry – there are NO rules. I hear some people criticising Indie writers as if the only people who should write are Shakespeare and his ilk; but this is literary snobbishness, isn’t it? Everyone should be able to write if they so choose, and if they break rules of grammar but people love their stuff, then great….

What are some pieces of advice that you would give someone on writing well?

I would never tell someone how to write – I think people should write as they wish, and some will deem it to be good and some bad.



Young writers often make foolish mistakes. What is a mistake to avoid?

Answering a bad review… don’t do it. Ever. I did and I learned.

What obstacles and opportunities do you see for writers in the years ahead?

The whole industry is in flux with eBooks, Amazon and so on. Trying to keep up with how to market what you write, how to make money, how to find an audience, whether to self-publish or not? It’s knowing how things will fall out that could present either an obstacle or opportunity.

Could you talk about one work of creative art that has powerfully impacted you as a person?

Yes – a CD by Blackfield called Blackfield II. The music on that CD inspires me to write, and it feeds my creative juices. Every single poem in Moon Whispers was written listening to that CD. In fact, music often is the work of creative art that sends me….

What relationship do you see between imagination and creativity, and the real world?

Imagination and creativity are intertwined like lovers – one needs the other, and together they make beautiful music.

For a writer, it is easy to become an elitist. Have you ever (or do you still) struggle with pride as an author?

Not really – I do what I do and lots of people do the same so there is nothing special about me. But let’s see how I behave if I ever have a real best seller, shall we?

With all your success, how do you stay humble?

Age. I am that sort of age where nothing much impresses me anymore, least of all myself.



Have you ever considered writing fiction full time?

I would love to… will you get me a contract?

Visit G. Michael Vasey’s Amazon Author Page and explore your imagination…

Interview by Nick Wale and published in Novel Reads by Novel Ideas June 2014 issues

Republished with permission.

Tagged: Books, Failure and success, imagination, The Last Observer