Lada Ray's Blog, page 94

Prosperity and My Chinese New Year Spread

Today, I’m continuing my series on the Chinese New Year of the Snake Celebration. As you start the new year, so shall it go. That’s why the Chinese pay so much attention to having a very prosperous and bountiful holiday table. This year, I started my Chinese New Year Celebration in the Catskills, and then, continued it in New York City, including a visit to the New York Chinatown. The pics for the Chinatown are to follow, but today, I’d like to share with my wordpress friends my Chinese New Year prosperity celebration.

The table should be bountiful and include dishes like auspicious fish, rice, lots of colorful and healthy vegetables, fruits & cake, and some high quality tea!

The centerpiece on my table: auspicious pink salmon, a wonderful symbol of prosperity.

Salmon is garnished with green peas for health, growth and money, as well as colorful fresh red peppers for energy.

My two rice dishes: white jasmine and mahogany, both garnished with fresh veggies.

Mahogany vegetable rice, my favorite!Jasmine vegetable rice.

Cabbage and scallion salad (in a large bowl after grapefruit). Due to green color, many leaves or shoots, and excellent nutritional value, both cabbage and scallions are the beloved symbols of prosperity.

Finally, to satisfy my sweet tooth: tea and cake!

My very healthy cake, stuffed with high quality dry fruits and red walnuts and garnished with jumbo dates. It was very moist and delicious. Yum!

Jasmine Dragon Pearl green tea, brewed especially for the New Year of the Snake, in a Tetsubin Snake tea pot, and served in Japanese tea cups.

An appetizing platter of red walnuts, jumbo raisins, and roasted seeds & red peanuts, also symbolizing bounty and abundance.

And of course, chocolate raisins, so the year is extra-sweet & extra-smooth.

Prosperity is said to double, if the bounty on the table is reflected in a large mirror.

Persimmons – another welcome symbol of prosperity.

My persimmon branches decorated for the holiday with auspicious birds, Chinese coins and Laughing Buddha.

The name of the plant below says it all: this is the famous Chinese money tree!

And of course, no self-respecting Chinese would celebrate New Year without oranges! A huge bowl of oranges and other fruit on my dining table. Oranges are the ultimate symbol of prosperity and abundance, but other fruits are great, too.

Let the fea st begin! Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake!

Inspiring Workshop

Reblogged from Darlene Foster's Blog:

I took Friday off of work to attend an all day eWomen Network workshop called How to be a Best Selling Author & Treat your Book as a Business. It was well worth the time spent. The workshop was facilitated by two amazing speakers, Teresa de Grosbois and Charmaine Hammond, both published authors and international speakers. The energy in the room was vibrant with many opportunities to meet new people and network.

Ancients & Spirits: Author Mark O’Neil on the Vinny Eastwood Show

Our very own M.C. O’Neil of RoyalManaBall.com blog has been interviewed by Vinny Eastwood on The Vinny Eastwood Show on 2/18/13! The topics discussed were NWO, the shifts in the world system and the USA, conspiracy theories, predictive programming in the media and YA literature, and what it’s like to become aware that what you’ve been told your entire life may be not the truth. Mark O’Neil also talked about his fascinating YA fantasy, The Ancients and the Angels. I’m starting to read book one, The Ancients and the Angels: Celestials, and I’ll let you know my thoughts as soon as I’m done. Look for my review here, on GR, Shelfari, and Amazon in a few weeks!

What’s also awesome, Mark O’Neil discussed me and my book, The Earth Shifter, on the show, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for this terrific endorsement! Watch the entire interview below! The piece about yours truly starts at 35:06. Check out the whole thing!

Find out more about The Vinny Eastwood Show and subscribe:

TheVinnyEastwoodShow.com & www.Guerillamedia.co.nz

Twitter: @MCONeill2 @Guerillamedia

Below are some exciting news for those who’ve asked about my upcoming books & about plans to release my books in print! I am happy to report that:

1. THE EARTH SHIFTER paperback is coming in April.

2. In April, I’m also releasing Earth Keepers Chronicles: Book 2 – Lemurian Crystal & Book 3 – Atlantis. These two novelettes will come out as separate ebooks. Simultaneously, I will release all three Earth Keepers books (Catharsis, Lemurian Crystal, Atlantis) together as paperback entitled EARTH KEEPERS CHRONICLES: ORIGINS.

3. Also, I’ll finally be releasing STEPFORD USA (Accidental Spy US Adventure) as paperback, which is Jade Snow’s humble beginnings in Smalltown USA – presently available as an ebook. This adventure precedes GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure), which is already available as both ebook and paperback.

Look for these new releases on Amazon and Barnes&Noble in April-May!

Last, but certainly not least, on March 6-7 Lada Ray Blog will be hosting the Book Review Fest 2 (read Book Review Fest 1 featuring my reviews of several exciting Indie books). The upcoming Fest will feature the best recent reviews of The Earth Shifter, along with links to the reviewers’ blogs, recent features and author interviews. By the way, two exciting author interviews are coming up: I am happy to be interviewed by Rohan Healy of http://rohan7things.wordpress.com/ & by Maddy Walsh of http://1earthunite.wordpress.com/. These promise to be awesome interviews as these two bloggers are both fun and aware, and they are total spiritual dynamos! Stay tuned!

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Published on February 20, 2013 19:53

THE EARTH SHIFTER Plot Playing out in Real Time: Massive Meteor Rocks Russia!

I received a flood of emails and tweets with messages like, “Hey, does this remind you of anything?” and “Is this like The Earth Shifter plot?” Yes, it is like the plot of THE EARTH SHIFTER materializing in front of our very eyes. Exactly as described, just like it happened in Siberia in 1908, or just like it could happen again – but a little ahead of schedule, so to speak…

In 1908, the Tunguska Meteorite explosion in the remote Podkamennaya Tunguska region of Siberia rocked the world. This historic event has become the fantasy/scifi premise for THE EARTH SHIFTER. Read more about it.

And this just happened in the Chelyabinsk region of the Ural Mountains, which is the dividing point between the European part of Russia and Siberia.

According to Russia Today (RT):

“It’s not been quite average morning in Russia. People in the Urals region have seen burning objects raining down from the sky after a meteorite exploded above the Earth.

MORE INFO & PHOTOS: http://on.rt.com/qn2v57“

I’m happy to say that there were no deaths and all the injuries received were treatable, based on reports. That’s a big relief.

Russians have obviously embraced the 21st Century very thoroughly, as a myriad of spectacular videos of the meteor and its aftermath were captured by various web cams, dash cams, cell phones, and CCTV installed in offices, parking lots, and even schools.

Witness how it happened! Watch these incredible eye-witness Youtube videos, courtesy RT. Click on each video to watch!

Massive Meteor Rocks Russia

Huge Hole as Russian Meteor Smashes into Icy Lake

Apocalypse Now? The meteor report

Russian meteor explosion: Spectacular dash cam video

Skyfall: Hundreds injured as meteorite wreaks havoc in Russia’s Urals

Planet Earth escapes asteroid Armageddon

Tired of characters you don’t care about? Want to read an intensely moving fantasy cleverly intertwined with true historic events? Want to immerse yourself in the new, rich and fascinating world, with surprises and revelations at every turn?

THE EARTH SHIFTER is for you!

The meteor that broke up over the Urals today, hurtling its pieces down on the unsuspecting city, was only the size of the kitchen table. The meteor (or asteroid) that just missed Planet Earth by 17,000 miles (not much by the Cosmic standards), was 155 feet long! See the last video above.

The Comet of Karma described in THE EARTH SHIFTER is much, much larger. It’s roughly the size of the Island of Manhattan, akin to the size of the Comet that ended the dominion of the once mighty Dinosaurs on our planet (what happened to the Dinosaurs would be described in the upcoming Earth Keepers Chronicles: Origins – April release). Watching all these videos, I can’t help but ask the question raised in the book: Will the Earth Keepers interfere, saving the day again? Read Excerpt

read THE EARTH SHIFTER at these retailers:

Barnes & Noble Nook Smashwords

Amazon US UK CA DE ES IT FR JP BR

More about THE EARTH SHIFTER:

Goodreads page Shelfari page LadaRay site

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Published on February 15, 2013 15:40

Wake up! Time to die. The Hunger Games.

Reblogged from royal manaball:

Didn’t want to do it, but having just completed the Hunger Games Trilogy, I feel compelled to impart my take on it.

Many in the conspiracy circles have decried this series as anything from predictive programming to the satanic masturbation of dead children. Red magick gone wrong.

Here, I will not give you a definitive answer as to if this omnibus is either, but there are some defenses and suppositions that I would like to examine to these allegations.

Auspicious Chinese New Year of the Snake Celebration

Chinese New Year of the Water Snake starts on February 10, 2013, at the new moon. As usual, the celebrations last for fifteen days, until the next full moon. Such long celebration period provides many awesome opportunities to welcome the auspicious energy of the year ahead. Chinese New Year Celebration is as different from the Western one as it gets, yet the idea is the same: saying goodbye to the old year and ushering in the new year in style and with good cheer.

A Recipe for a Successful & Auspicious Chinese New Year Celebration:

1. Colors to wear. Traditionally for the Chinese New Year, you should dress in red. Red symbolizes the ultimate color of energy, beauty – and fire. It is the color that energizes everything it touches. Red is especially great for women. Gold jewelry is very good as generally, the New Year colors are red and gold. Men can dress in red, or blue, as blue is the color of water, money and career success.

Princess Lily ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Snake – pretty on red

Chinese lanterns during a New Year Celebration

A fiery Bolshoi Theatre performance, Moscow, Russia. Appropriately – in red and gold

As this is the Year of the Water Snake, and water colors are blue and black, you can also wear one of these colors to usher in the new energy. If wearing black (I personally adore black), try to accessorize with reds, blues and jewelry, to add more yang energy.

2. Celebrate with a wonderful spread and lots of prosperous foods on the table, even if you have a small family or are alone. Such auspicious table is a symbol and a signal to the Universe that you are ready to start the New Year of success and prosperity.

3. Share the joy of the Holiday with family and friends. Friends at the dinner table bring in the yang energy and happiness.

4. Invite symbols of prosperity into your home. These include money trees, auspicious bamboo, persimmons, mandarins and oranges, and of course, Gods of Wealth and Prosperity. I have lots of various symbols of prosperity in my home.

From my personal collection: Laughing Buddha, one of the beloved gods of prosperity. I adore his happy continence

My auspicious bamboo

5. Creating a wealth vase is always a great idea. If you already have one, be sure to refresh it for the New Year! Interestingly enough, wealth vases are extremely popular not only in China but also in Tibet, where the Buddhist monks conduct very elaborate ceremonies to consecrate them. Pretty fascinating stuff!

6. Fill the red prosperity envelopes (also called red Chinese packets) with auspicious money and Chinese coins, and keep them in your wallet so you never run out of money.

7. Clean up the house and do all of your laundry in advance to get rid of the old energy and free up the space for the new.

8. The above are all the do’s. Ah, and here is the dreaded don’t! Don’t work on the first day of the Chinese New Year, don’t do any cleaning, repairs, or god forbid, vacuuming or sweeping with the broom on that day, as it’s considered extremely inauspicious – akin to sucking out or sweeping away all your wealth and prosperity. (Note, this rule applies only to the first day of the celebrations.)

But what if I have to work on the first day of the Chinese New Year, you ask? Well, if you have to, you have to. Just do your best, perhaps designating a different day for celebration instead. The NYC Chinatown merchants routinely do just that because all of their customers want to celebrate. Restaurants and shops are full and they have to make money while they can. I know some of the Chinatown merchants, and they are telling me that they have to work despite the traditional taboo. But luckily for most of us, this Chinese New Year starts on a Sunday! Yay!

Once, a roof repairman showed up at my house just on the first day of the Chinese New Year despite the fact that I specifically warned him not to come on that date. Alas, as it usually happens in such cases, he mixed up the dates. I had to tell him to leave asap and come back some other day. You can imagine the look on his face!

I am currently at my Catskills residence and my family is in NYC. We will be celebrating together in a week or so, when I join them in the City. But I’m still preparing a cozy little celebration of the New Year’s Eve. I baked a VERY HEALTHY cake and prepared auspicious salmon. I also made some of my Dragon Pearl jasmine tea in my Snake Tetsubin teapot (very appropriate for this year!). Yum! I invited a local friend to help me celebrate, while I finish up my business here before heading to NYC. By the way, I’ve taken some iPhone pics of my little Chinese New Year’s spread and I’ll post them on my blog just as soon as I figure out how to upload them. Or, most likely, I’ll wait for my wiz of a husband to do it for me.

Stay tuned, much more coming your way!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year of the Water Snake!

Gong Hey Fat Choy!
恭禧發財!
Also read: All About the Year of the Water Snake

Lada Ray is the Internationally Certified Feng Shui Master Practitioner and author, including best-selling mystery/thriller GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure) & the new 5* rated metaphysical fantasy/thriller, THE EARTH SHIFTER.

More about Lada’s books About Lada: Bio.

..

View more on Lada Ray's website »

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Published on February 09, 2013 17:59

How to Celebrate Chinese New Year in Style

Chinese New Year Celebration is as different from the Western one as it gets, yet the idea is the same: saying goodbye to the old year and ushering in the new year in style and with good cheer.

Rules for a successful and auspicious Chinese New Year Celebration:

1. Colors to wear. Traditionally for the Chinese New Year, you should dress in red. Red symbolizes the ultimate color of energy, beauty – and fire. It is the color that energizes everything it touches. Red is especially great for women. Gold jewelry is very good as generally, the New Year colors are red and gold. Men can dress in red, or blue, as blue is the color of water, money and career success.

Princess Lily ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Snake – pretty on red

Chinese lanterns during a New Year Celebration

A fiery Bolshoi Theatre performance, Moscow, Russia. Appropriately – in red and gold

As this is the Year of the Water Snake, and water colors are blue and black, you can also wear one of these colors to usher in the new energy. If wearing black (I personally adore black), try to accessorize with reds, blues and jewelry, to add more yang energy.

2. Celebrate with a wonderful spread and lots of prosperous foods on the table, even if you have a small family or are alone. Such auspicious table is a symbol and a signal to the Universe that you are ready to start the New Year of success and prosperity.

3. Share the joy of the Holiday with family and friends. Friends at the dinner table bring in the yang energy and happiness.

4. Invite symbols of prosperity into your home. These include money trees, auspicious bamboo, persimmons, mandarins and oranges, and of course, Gods of Wealth and Prosperity. I have lots various symbols of prosperity in my home.

From my personal collection: Laughing Buddha, one of the beloved gods of prosperity. I adore his happy continence

My auspicious bamboo

5. Creating a wealth vase is always a great idea. If you already have one, be sure to refresh it for the New Year! Interestingly enough, wealth vases are extremely popular not only in China but also in Tibet, where the Buddhist monks conduct very elaborate ceremonies to consecrate them. Pretty fascinating stuff!

6. Fill the red prosperity envelopes (also called red Chinese packets) with auspicious money and Chinese coins, and keep them in your wallet so you never run out of money.

7. Clean up the house and do all of your laundry in advance to get rid of the old energy and free up the space for the new.

8. The above are all the do’s. Ah, and here is the dreaded don’t! Don’t work on the first day of the Chinese New Year, don’t do any cleaning, repairs, or god forbid, vacuuming or sweeping with the broom on that day, as it’s considered extremely inauspicious – akin to sucking out or sweeping away all your wealth and prosperity. (Note, this rule applies only to the first day of the celebrations.)

But what if I have to work on the first day of the Chinese New Year, you ask? Well, if you have to, you have to. Just do your best, perhaps designating a different day for celebration instead. The NYC Chinatown merchants routinely do just that because all of their customers want to celebrate. Restaurants and shops are full and they have to make money while they can. I know some of the Chinatown merchants, and they are telling me that they have to work despite the traditional taboo. But luckily for most of us, this Chinese New Year starts on a Sunday! Yay!

Once, a roof repairman showed up at my house just on the first day of the Chinese New Year despite the fact that I specifically warned him not to come on that date. Alas, as it usually happens in such cases, he mixed up the dates. I had to tell him to leave asap and come back some other day. You can imagine the look on his face!

I am currently at my Catskills residence and my family is in NYC. We will be celebrating together in a week or so, when I join them in the City. But I’m still preparing a cozy little celebration of the New Year’s Eve. I baked a VERY HEALTHY cake and prepared auspicious salmon. I also made some of my Dragon Pearl jasmine tea in my Snake Tetsubin teapot (very appropriate for this year!). Yum! I invited a local friend to help me celebrate, while I finish up my business here before heading to NYC. By the way, I’ve taken some iPhone pics of my little Chinese New Year’s spread and I’ll post them on my blog just as soon as I figure out how to upload them. Or, most likely, I’ll wait for my wiz of a husband to do it for me.

Stay tuned, much more coming your way!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year of the Water Snake!

View more on Lada Ray's website »

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Published on February 09, 2013 17:59

What to Expect from the Chinese New Year of the Snake?

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE WATER SNAKE!

Continuing with last year’s successful tradition, this is post 1 of the Chinese New Year of the Snake Extravaganza.

The Chinese New Year of the Water Snake starts on February 10, 2013, at the new moon. As usual, the New Year celebrations last for 15 days, until the next full moon. These celebrations include family get-togethers, wonderful meals with friends, dragon and lion dances, lavish prosperity ceremonies, and much more!

As a classically trained Feng Shui master consultant, I usually carefully examine the Flying Star chart for the year. I was fascinated by this year’s chart! Indeed, this is a very special year, when all the stars, so to speak, align in a very rare way. Such alignment (in a different way every time) only happens every 9 years. It symbolizes the ending of a cycle, and simultaneously, a new beginning.

This is the year when friendships and alliances of all sorts will be especially auspicious, and when people who usually don’t see eye-to-eye can work together, producing marvelous results! The motto for the year: Strengthen all your relationships, rekindle the old, and start the new ones!

Chinese Zodiac – Year of the Snake

I personally have particular affinity with the Year of the Snake as it’s one of my so-called “Chinese Zodiac Friends.” The Year of the Water Snake is doubly auspicious for me, as water is one of my benefic elements. But in truth, whatever your benefic elements are, this is a very special and auspicious year! Make the best of it!

There is often a misplaced fear of snakes in the West, partly steeped in a long-standing patriarchal society tradition of the suppression of the Sacred Feminine. And partly, originating from the irrational fear of a snake bite. In fact, there are very few snakes that bite lethally, and even fewer that would intentionally bite a human, unless their habitat is being threatened by said humans. Meanwhile, snake’s venom in small doses is considered a powerful medicine, and that’s why snakes coiling around a cup or a stick/sword are traditional symbols of pharmacy and medical profession.

In the enlightened traditions, Snake symbolizes wisdom.

Snakes as symbols of wisdom and discernment on Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun‘s head dress

In the Chinese system, the Snake is classified as one of the “thinkers” of the Zodiac.

In various indigenous traditions, Snake is also a symbol of the Mother Earth (hence wisdom), sexual energy, fertility, Kundalini, and Sacred Feminine.

Wonderful green snake. Courtesy www.animalpictures123.org

Many beautiful snakes are becoming an endangered species! The vanishing Garter Snake. Courtesy scienceray.com

However you look at it, Snake energy is very powerful, and should always be used with care and wisdom. And need I point out that, as any part of nature on planet Earth, snakes should be treated with respect and understanding.

I am looking forward to this New Year of the Water Snake from which I expect many great and positive things!

Stay tuned for more awesome, one-of-a-kind Chinese New Year posts!

Read on the first day of the New Year, February 10, 2013: HOW TO CELEBRATE CHINESE NEW YEAR OF the SNAKE in STYLE! Including dos and don’ts.

Later, I’ll have a post about HOW TO BRING PROSPERITY INTO YOUR HOME (a perennially popular topic!)

And last, but not least, I am planning on attending the New Year dragon dances in NYC Chinatown and filming them. I will post my vids here and on LadaRay Yutube Channel. I am presently at my Catskills retreat, but my Chinese family’s New Year get-together will be in the City. I’m very excited! Here’s to hoping the roads are not snowed in and I can get through! I’ll keep everyone posted how it goes!

Til then, HAPPY NEW YEAR of the WATER SNAKE, and may it bring much prosperity and love into your life!

Read last year’s How My Family Celebrates Chinese New Year of the Dragon!

Lada Ray is the Internationally Certified Feng Shui Master Practitioner and author, including best-selling mystery/thriller GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure) & the new 5* rated metaphysical fantasy/thriller, THE EARTH SHIFTER.

More about Lada’s books About Lada: Bio.

View more on Lada Ray's website »

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Published on February 08, 2013 10:15

Celebrating Chinese New Year of the Snake

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE WATER SNAKE!

Continuing with last year’s successful tradition, this is post 1 of the Chinese New Year of the Snake Extravaganza.

The Chinese New Year of the Water Snake starts on February 10, 2013, at the new moon. As usual, the New Year celebrations last for 15 days, until the next full moon. These celebrations include family get-togethers, wonderful meals with friends, dragon and lion dances, lavish prosperity ceremonies, and much more!

As a classically trained Feng Shui master consultant, I usually carefully examine the Flying Star chart for the year. I was fascinated by this year’s chart! Indeed, this is a very special year, when all the stars, so to speak, align in a very rare way. Such alignment (in a different way every time) only happens every 9 years. It symbolizes the ending of a cycle, and simultaneously, a new beginning.

This is the year when friendships and alliances of all sorts will be especially auspicious, and when people who usually don’t see eye-to-eye can work together, producing marvelous results! The motto for the year: Strengthen all your relationships, rekindle the old, and start the new ones!

Chinese Zodiac – Year of the Snake

I personally have particular affinity with the Year of the Snake as it’s one of my so-called “Chinese Zodiac Friends.” The Year of the Water Snake is doubly auspicious for me, as water is one of my benefic elements. But in truth, whatever your benefic elements are, this is a very special and auspicious year! Make the best of it!

There is often a misplaced fear of snakes in the West, partly steeped in a long-standing patriarchal society tradition of the suppression of the Sacred Feminine. And partly, originating from the irrational fear of a snake bite. In fact, there are very few snakes that bite lethally, and even fewer that would intentionally bite a human, unless their habitat is being threatened by said humans. Meanwhile, snake’s venom in small doses is considered a powerful medicine, and that’s why snakes coiling around a cup or a stick/sword are traditional symbols of pharmacy and medical profession.

In the enlightened traditions, Snake symbolizes wisdom.

Snakes as symbols of wisdom and discernment on Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun‘s head dress

In the Chinese system, the Snake is classified as one of the “thinkers” of the Zodiac.

In various indigenous traditions, Snake is also a symbol of the Mother Earth (hence wisdom), sexual energy, fertility, Kundalini, and Sacred Feminine.

Wonderful green snake. Courtesy www.animalpictures123.org

Many beautiful snakes are becoming an endangered species! The vanishing Garter Snake. Courtesy scienceray.com

However you look at it, Snake energy is very powerful, and should always be used with care and wisdom. And need I point out that, as any part of nature on planet Earth, snakes should be treated with respect and understanding.

I am looking forward to this New Year of the Water Snake from which I expect many great and positive things!

Stay tuned for more awesome, one-of-a-kind Chinese New Year posts!

Coming on the first day of the New Year, February 10, 2013: HOW TO CELEBRATE the CHINESE NEW YEAR OF the SNAKE in STYLE! Including dos and don’ts.

Later, I’ll have a post about HOW TO BRING PROSPERITY INTO YOUR HOME (a perennially popular topic!)

And last, but not least, I am planning on attending the New Year dragon dances in NYC Chinatown and filming them. I will post my vids here and on LadaRay Yutube Channel. I am presently at my Catskills retreat, but my Chinese family’s New Year get-together will be in the City. I’m very excited! Here’s to hoping the roads are not snowed in and I can get through! I’ll keep everyone posted how it goes!

Til then, HAPPY NEW YEAR of the WATER SNAKE, and may it bring much prosperity and love into your life!

Read last year’s How My Family Celebrates Chinese New Year of the Dragon!

View more on Lada Ray's website »

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Published on February 08, 2013 10:15

THE EARTH SHIFTER: Themes & Characters

First, The Earth Shifting news. The ebook is now available at the following retailers:

Barnes & Noble Nook Smashwords

Amazon US UK CA DE ES IT FR JP BR

Goodreads page Shelfari page LadaRay site

Coming very soon to Kobo, Diesel, Apple, Sony and others. Paperback is coming in the Spring 2013. Please stay tuned!

Following the golden rule of writing, I write about the things I know. Today, I want to talk about THE EARTH SHIFTER’s favorite themes and characters:

Fantasy

In The Earth Shifter, I set out to create a whimsical, yet highly structured, and totally new and original fantasy world, which simultaneously draws on real history and geography, metaphysics and spirituality, geopolitics and secret government spy wars, as well as on psychology and character development.

One of my favorites is “the Shifters” theme. In the words of the mythical EARTH KEEPERS CHRONICLES: “There are four types of Shifters. Mind Shifters can access any thoughts, even the hidden ones; Matter Shifters can turn into anything, as well as transform objects into something else; Time Shifters can bend and jump time; and Space Shifters can compress space, appearing at different places at once. The power of the true Shifters is such that they can manipulate events on Earth. To prevent that from happening, the true Shifters are carefully watched from birth and they are never told about the real extent of their powers until they are deemed ready.”

Sasha Elfimova, my favorite magical teenager, possesses a generous dollop of shifting powers, which allow her to travel in time and project into other people’s minds. Sasha is a Mind and Time Shifter, and there are no secrets her mind can’t unlock in this world. But even she can’t access those thoughts that have been shielded from her by the powerful old shaman Tengis.

Sasha’s time shifting power is something else altogether. She discovers it at the age of 13, when in her sleep she inadvertently travels to 17th century Russia to meet young Peter the Great and manages to help him in his predicament. I will let you in on my big secret: Sasha’s time shifting capacity may come quite handy when the ultimate struggle for the Earth’s future and Humanity’s survival begins in earnest in books 2 and 3!

History

Dear readers, you know that I am a big history buff. Continuing with the GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure) theme, there is a lot of Russian, and world, history in THE EARTH SHIFTER, which blends organically with the present, also providing foundation for the karmic future of mankind. You could say that a lifetime of research and study went into creating the historic, geopolitical and metaphysical themes of the book.

The Tunguska Meteorite Explosion and its aftermath

Some of my favorite historical themes are: The Tunguska Meteorite explosion in the 1908 Siberian taiga, which provides the fantasy/sci-fi basis of the book. Also, the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as the end of the Russian Empire in 1916, complete with the colorful and enigmatic character of Grigory Rasputin.

Geopolitics

Again, continuing with the GOLD TRAIN theme, geopolitics is an integral part of the story. We are introduced to the clandestine efforts of the CIA and Russian Intelligence, and to the secret war conducted by remote viewers, “the psychic warriors,” as they were known. We meet the likable retiree and doting grandfather, Semyon Isayev, who is also Sasha’s godfather. But soon we learn that he is so much more! Dubbed the “best remote viewer in the world,” throughout his high-powered career the “modest” Major General Semyon Isayev had managed to thwart some truly earth-shattering attacks by his country’s former enemy.

Remote Viewing

Semyon’s sole desire is to be a good husband, father and grandfather, and he only wants to spend the rest of his days in peace. But his Cold War past and his formidable remote-viewing talent will not leave him alone, as once again he is thrust into the very thick of the secret psychic war, the prize of which is the ultimate dominion over the Earth.

We are introduced to the secret US government science facility in Hoboken, NJ. Brewing here are the breakthrough science experiments and new technology, as well as the ultimate Market Crash Team, which manipulates the movements of the stock market.

We also meet the CIA Assistant Director, Aloysius Drakley. Along the way, the mystery is revealed: who is really pulling the strings in the USA and globally?

Oh, yes! How could I forget one of the most important characters, the Russian oligarch, Boris Konukovsky! I’ll let you in on another secret here. While my book carries a disclaimer that all characters are fictitious or used in a fictional way and any resemblance is purely coincidental, I think anyone familiar with recent Russian history will recognize this one. Guilty as charged! Boris Konukovsky is the composite of two infamous Russian oligarchs: Vladimir Khodorkovsky (presently in jail) and Boris Berezovsky (presently a fugitive in London). The oligarch’s story in the book is inspired by real events, which will be recognizable to those who’ve been following the Russian developments of the past 2 decades. But only THE EARTH SHIFTER reveals what the oligarch and his cronies are truly after…

Spiritual/Metaphysical Theme

Last but not least, one of my absolute favorites, the spiritual and metaphysical theme of the book is very strong and includes striking events and settings, including the mystical shores of the Sacred Lake Baikal in Siberia and the legends of the Earth Keepers. We witness the Comet of Karma’s journey through Outer Space and travel to the fascinating and mysterious Underworld, one of the entrances into which is conveniently located in Manhattan, NY.

One of my favorites is the Realm of the Keepers, which holds many secrets and which is located between Heaven and Earth. This ethereal realm is where the Keepers of the Earth gather to monitor mankind’s progress and where the ultimate fate of the world is to be decided.

Again, many metaphysical themes are steeped in history via the stories of the Buddha, Jesus, the Shifters, and the Key of Destiny. These themes will continue and intensify in THE EARTH SHIFTER books 2 and 3, as well as in the companion series entitled the EARTH KEEPERS CHRONICLES. Book 1 of the chronicles, Catharsis, Legend of the Lemurians is now available on Amazon. I am currently working on books 2 and 3 – Lemurian Crystal and Atlantis, which are coming in the Spring 2013.

Favorite Characters

As Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said, I love all my characters, villains and heroes alike. I am with Dostoyevsky on that, but there are some characters that are especially dear to my heart. Who are they?

Sasha

Of course, the protagonist, Sasha Elfimova, as well as the twins, Win and Kei Lee. All three are so different, yet they are united by one invisible string we usually refer to as DESTINY.

Win Lee

Kei Lee

Also, the Siberian Shaman Tengis, who is the example of a true spiritual and world leader our planet so desperately needs.

Shaman on Sacred Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia

I adore the offbeat, sultry and mysterious Red and her even more mysterious mother. As many characters in the book, these two are not at all what they seem. What are they really?

Anne Hathaway would be perfect as Red!

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I also love the very human character of the remote viewer, Semyon Isayev. My favorite historic character is Grigory Rasputin.

One of history’s enigmas: the mysterious monk, Grigory Rasputin

Finally, I have to confess that I am simply in love with one character, and perhaps, many women would agree with me. It is Sasha’s father, Professor Maxim Elfimov. I made him a comparative linguist, giving him my original profession, which allows him to see the whole world in its spacial and historical scale. Maxim is a handsome, absent-minded academic, a loving husband and devoted, if overprotective, father. However when the overwhelming personal tragedy strikes, he doesn’t hide or sulk, but rises to the occasion, becoming a true Protector and hero.

Professor Maxim Elfimov

I have to say that on some level I envy Sasha with that honest-to-goodness white envy. As a child, she had the best father a girl could wish for. And this is my dream: if every child on Earth had a father like Maxim, our world would be a much better place to live in!

I hope you consider reading THE EARTH SHIFTER. It may shift your world!