D.M. Raver's Blog, page 5

Being Present in the Moment

Bigger TV, better car, better clothes, more free time, faster computer, better phone, more spending money, bigger house, better vacations.

Fame, fortune.

All things we've been taught to strive for. Just below the surface, to constantly long for them, and to not be satisfied with what we have. Buy more, buy bigger, buy better, replace the old. Always have the latest model, the newest version. Messages given to us by retail companies and fashion designers.



More alarmingly, the duration of one fad and replacement with another is shortening. A new cell phone or computer barely lasts a year before a newer version is available and the old "needs to be replaced".



When we rely on material possessions and external image to effect our happiness, we become subject to the whims and fancies of a money-driven society. Exaggerated expectations lead to disappointment.

Several counseling theories are based on seeking hapiness by being "present in the moment". Most notably are Gestalt and Adlerian Therapy.

Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt therapy, came up with techniques to help patients become aware of their perceptions and how they effect their reality.



Altering your perception and your requirements for "true happiness" can change your general feelings of joy and satisfaction.

The Freedom Tower Rising

"Freedom Tower Rising" Digital Art by Danielle Raver

After September 2011 I rarely have watched or paid attention to the news. It is too difficult to watch. So many of us had different reactions to the attack on the Twin Towers. I recently read the Yahoo! article link on the construction of the "Freedom Tower" on the ground zero site in New York. Reactions are just as varied now as they were ten years ago.
I still cry when I see pictures of the towers burning. I made myself look at them the other night. I asked myself "Why are you so upset? Why do you cry when you read 3000 people? That many people die every day, probably in Alabama alone." But I know it was the manner by which they died, suddenly and at the hand of terrorists. 
A mix of "feelings" are going into the construction of the Freedom Tower at ground zero. People have many "thoughts" - such as who was responsible, what should happen to the site, who or what should be allowed to be built near the area. I made this painting to express what lies underneath all these words.

Reading of "Deep Dark Waters"

 
Deep Dark Waters

It's so lonely of youTo sit and watch the tide stop atmiddayAnd roll back to the abyssFrom which memories and dreams havecomeAnd faded intoAnd faded awayAnd born again like a swift change ofwindOpening the sails of a sinking shipPushing up the wings of a doveWith nowhere to goWith no homeExcept the seaFlying aboveLooking down into the deep blueA fullness that is emptyThat glistens on the surfaceBut is truly dark, cold, and deepbeneath
It's so lonely of youTo sit on the edgeWatching the white tide Fizz over the hot sandAnd letting its coolness splash on yourhot skinBut all too quickly fade awayAnd the sun is on youDrying the droplets that remainAnd the sand beneath you burns like thesand in the dessertAnd you, the cactus, tappedCool water leaving you from the woundDripping down you to the hot sandBut the sun bears downSucking it up with its heatAnd the tide comes back to meet itBut it's dying, dripping, dryingAnd the sun is burningAnd the tide is coming closerCloser, closerBut it is fadingAnd the tide is hereBut all it meets is dry, hot sandAnd it cringes, clenchesAnd turns away

~Written and read by Danielle Raver

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So Close I Can Taste It

Why I've been out of touch lately:


Getting ready for print is an exciting and frightening experience! I feel like my work is being "set in stone" and any little mistake I'll have to live with, though in all likelihood I'll be the only one it bothers.

Thank you all my fans for your support through my e-book phase. Print is on the way :)

Audio Book: Sample of Brother, Betrayed read by Andy Cresswell

I recently hired a British voice actor to read the introduction to my dark fantasy novel Brother, Betrayed.

It was quite an experience. After posting my job to voices.com I received over 30 auditions, many of which read my prologue and submitted it as their audio sample.

Andy Cresswell was immediately one of my favorites.


Andy is a stage and screen actor and also has done voice overs for commercials and audio books.

Visit www.andycresswell.com to for more information on Andy and his projects.

Andy will be recording the rest of the audio book version of Brother, Betrayed later this year. The profits from the initial print sales will be used to fund the project.

Listen to a sample:

Complete reading of the Prologue to Brother, Betrayed:




Reading of the first half of Chapter One of Brother, Betrayed:

How Dreams Become Nightmares

The night I totaled my car, I lay soaking in the tub, letting one image after another surface in my mind. A ton of metal and plastic crunching into a thick cement railing. Pieces of debris scattering the road. The hard-rock-playing police man with tattoo decorated forearms and a playboy cup warmer. After about an hour of the myriad of splintered memories replaying in my thoughts, I asked myself, why am I just laying here thinking about the same things over and over? In the same breath I answered myself, because if I don't, then I'll have nightmares about it.

In psychological terms, I believe I was "processing" or "working through" the experience, and if I had not, then my unconscious would attempt to do it in my sleep.

I've had my share of frightening dreams in my life, some of them recurring nightmares that took me years to shake. A recent experience gave me a new understanding of what might be happening when we sleep.

After having surgery on my feet my toe was very sore. All day I consciously kept it perfectly still to avoid feeling any pain. At night however, I would wake up almost screaming from sharp pain in my toe. After three or four of these occurrences I realized what my body was doing. As soon as I fell asleep, my body tried to stretch my foot, which I had kept rigid all day. My mother spoke of a similar experience after she broke her knee; she would wake to her body stretching her leg as far as it could, when she had been careful to keep her leg perfectly still while she was awake.

If we do not allow ourselves to come to terms with frightening or stressful experiences, if we lock them out of our daily thoughts, then they will surface again when our guard is down. Acknowledging our experiences in a nonjudgmental way: "What happened was frightening, but I survived and it's time to move on" might help our minds accept what happened. I believe associating memories with a strong emotion, like fear, anger, or guilt is what causes reoccurring nightmares. When a nightmare is so frightening that it causes new trauma, those issues are not resolved, and possibly made worse.

My advice for someone suffering from very vivid nightmares: let your mind relax and let the thoughts or images evoked by your dreams to surface. Accept them for what they are "That was a painful experience or stressful situation, but I survived it. I am stronger from living through it and I don't have to be afraid any more."

Greek Mythology Themes in Brother, Betrayed

The story of Macbeth and the Weird Sisters was an inspiration for me while writing Brother, Betrayed. The Weird Sisters are also known as The Fates, The Norns, The Sisters of Fate, The Three Witches or Moirae.



In Brother, Betrayed the three main characters meet a blind woman that resembles the witches that Macbeth meets in his tragedy.



"Please, sit with us by the fire," she said and looked up at them. Their breath stopped at her eyes, the color of fog at dusk, seeming to glow in the faint light of the fire. Even the pupils, which should have been black and deep, were a film of gray, and the brothers wondered how well she could see them.
Encouraged, yet embarrassed, the brothers glanced at each other. They moved to sit before the woman, whose eyes followed them. Now they could study her face: the bones of it were meagerly covered with thin, aged skin, like a snake that should have shed cycles ago. Her face was human, they noted, but somehow she still seemed a trespasser. Her lips moved a little as if she were speaking, but she was silent. Looking down, they saw her hands kept moving restlessly on her lap, even after she stopped threading the needle through the pieces of cloth.



Another theme of Greek tragedy is the realization of fatal flaws and mistakes one has overlooked. In the story of Oedipus, the fates prophesize that he will murder his father - and Oedipus gouges out his eyes after he discovers he made this prophecy come true.




In Brother, Betrayed, the brothers' fatal flaws are not revealed until the end of the book, when disaster falls on them and their kingdom.

Author Lunch with Joan Hazel

I recently met fellow fantasy author and southern Alabamian Joan Hazel. It was amazing to find someone else I have so much in common with.

We met at a Japanese restaurant in Troy and sparked off conversations about our books right away. There were several times in the conversation that I was thinking "No way.... she is taking words straight out of my head!"

Joan seems very passionate about the characters in her work in progress, The Last Guardian. She talks about them as if they were dear friends. It is a novel about races of shape shifters, the main characters coming from the different clans. I am looking forward to reading it when she releases it, and also to meeting with her again to talk "shop".


Find out more about Hazel on her website
http://www.joanhazel.com/
Or her blog "Mama Joan Explains it All"
http://joan-hazel.blogspot.com/
And be sure to visit her Facebook fan page for "The Last Guardian"
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Last-Guardian/129696283771743

Going Under

My brother told me in a half drunken stupor at his bachelor's party the night before his wedding, "You need to learn to give up control. Sometimes you just need to let goooooo."

Later this week I have minor surgery scheduled (don't ask). It will be the third time in my life I will be put to sleep. My brother is right, I don't like to lose control.

I have tried to master "control".

In high school I took control of my hunger. I was the typical anorexic teenager. I taught myself to enjoy the numb feeling that followed the hunger from skipping meals. The fact that I didn't give into my body proved my strength.

I also learned to master panic. I pushed myself to swim the length of an Olympic size pool without taking a breath, sometimes longer. Deep under the surface, the hum of water in my ears, my body would soon react and try to force me upwards to take a breath. But if I swam through it, the panic would soon fade. I taught myself to hold my breath for longer and longer, until the panic did not come at all.

So the question is, if you "let go" of control, who or what do you give it up to?

Character Highlight: Syah, Prince of Anteria

Syah, Prince of Arnith Art by Walt Barna, Rights owned by Danielle Raver

Syah is the youngest of three brothers, heirs to the throne of Anteria, the capital of a kingdom called Arnith.  
But how did Syah come to be? The following is an in-depth look at Syah's journey and how he came to be. 
It all started with a cat. A kitten to be precise, from the first litter of kittens I had since I was living on my own. I kept the three males from the litter (not wanting more litters of kittens in the foreseeable future). The youngest kitten was pitiful, so small I wasn't sure if it would live through the night. He tremored in his sleep and seemed very sickly. The kitten survived but had very bad luck. The two older male cats always beat up on him. He was attacked by the neighbor's dogs and lost his leg and his right eye. His tail was caught in a rocking chair and was broken.  But through all this he had an air about him. It was the way he laid with his head up and his eyes half closed. So I named him Syah, Arabic for "Prince". So was the inspiration for the youngest prince in my book.
   Syah, Prince of Anteria is an intellectual, with no drive for fame, strength, or love. He is plagued by sicknesses as an infant, and thus his two older brothers Oman and Fasime become very protective over him.  Syah becomes interested in the mysteries of Miscia, the fantastical world where the story takes place. Seduced by the power of magic, Syah delves deeper into the legends and mystical creatures of Miscia. He tries to prove his worth to his kingdom, but breaking free from his brothers may have disastrous consequences.


Syah's brothers are based slightly on my older siblings, but more on that later.