Sol Luckman's Blog - Posts Tagged "growing-up"

Sol Luckman

When I began writing my award-winning metaphysical novel, SNOOZE: A STORY OF AWAKENING, at the start of 2013, little did I know this paranormal, coming-of-age tale about a boy learning to harness the power of lucid dreams would include important themes having to do with Dewey Larson’s Reciprocal System of physical theory, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s Five Stages of Grief, Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, and Lloyd Pye’s revolutionary theories on mysterious hominids like Bigfoot.







It also hadn’t occurred to me I would ultimately be writing a novel about ascension, enlightenment and unity consciousness—hot topics in the spiritual traditions so many of us die-hard modern-day mystics are drawn to: shamanism, Hermeticism, Tibetan Buddhism, esoteric Christianity, Gnosticism.

I was encouraged by SNOOZE’s early rave reviews to begin submitting the book to contests. In 2014, soon after the novel’s publication, SNOOZE received an honorable mention in the Beach Book Festival Prize Competition. I was especially pleased with this result because SNOOZE placed in the general fiction category and I was eager to demonstrate that this book merits a wide audience.

SNOOZE’s breakthrough came a year later when it won the 2015 National Indie Excellence Award in the category of new age fiction.

Awarded since 2007, the NIEA competition is judged by experts from all aspects of the Indie book industry. This includes publishers, authors, editors, book cover designers and copywriters. Winners are determined based on “overall excellence of presentation in addition to the writing.”

In SNOOZE, the mind-bending tale of one gifted boy’s awakening, we follow Max Diver, aka “Snooze,” along the razor’s edge of a quest to rescue his astronaut father from a fate stranger than death in the exotic, perilous Otherworld of sleep.

The two chapters excerpted below detail Max’s spiritual initiation. This section takes place on the heels of a series of truly otherworldly adventures in the Otherworld, with Max’s twin, Maxwallah, and the latter’s mother, Artemisia, acting as mentors.

In the second half of this excerpt, Max’s telepathic Bigfoot guide, Zana, appears. Portrayed sympathetically as an intelligent yet animalistic humanoid displaying wisdom and a sense of humor, she and her fellow Almasty—to use the Russian term for Sasquatch—play a decisive role in Max’s navigating the slippery reality of the Otherworld.

Read more at ...

https://snooze2awaken.wordpress.com/2...

Reviewed by June Kent for INDIE SHAMAN Magazine

Superlative fiction! SNOOZE tells the captivating “coming-of-age” tale of Max Diver (aka “Snooze”) as he accepts and explores his ability to travel in his dreams and ventures on a quest to rescue his astronaut father.



Engrossing, entertaining and occasionally humorous, SNOOZE also takes a look at a wide range of subjects including levitation, telepathy, lucid dreaming, spirit animals, parallel universes and shamanic-like journeying, giving a wide range of information effortlessly absorbed as you enjoy the story as well as much food for thought should you want it. Fortunately it’s a fair size book, larger than the average paperback at 486 pages—although time certainly “flew by” for me when reading it.

Author Sol Luckman says that (like me) his earliest dreams were lucid ones of flying and these exhilarating dreams still occur for him today. The writing in SNOOZE is equally animated and I enjoyed every minute of Max’s adventure as, with the support of friends, he “awakens” to the life-changing reality of his dreams and accepts who he is.

The book says it’s aimed at “Teen and up” agewise but I’m 58 and enjoyed every minute of it—it’s written in a highly accessible style but sufficiently articulate to keep the most discriminating reader engrossed.

Highly original fiction with more than a dash of the otherworld; well-developed characters, both male and female; excellent adventures; heartwarming conclusion and lots of wonderful ideas—what is there not to like? Highly recommended, a must-read. I’m definitely going to look out for more from this author!

• Read an excerpt and request your review copy at ...

http://www.crowrising.com/snooze