Mission Accomplished! Next....

                                 

Seventy-one years ago my father left Thailand, where he had endured three years as a prisoner of the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII. He recorded his experiences of that terrible time in a small brown exercise book that served as his journal. It was not for the faint hearted, the perils of writing. Any POW found with written material gambled with the fate of dire punishment, torture and even death.

And yet, Capt. Edward J. Emery risked his life anyway. Now, that diary resides in the Thailand-Burma Railway Center in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The inspiration and impetus for my journey has now come home.

I know my Dad would be content. Especially given that the names of fellow POWs listed in those pages, will help some families find closure on the unknown fate of loved ones. As a doctor, Daddy cared for, and comforted, countless men in the hospital wards he was assigned to.

Next...

.

My father taught me many things... however, my personal takeaway from this journey is the following...

Have the courage to write and speak out against injustice.

Do not allow fear to prevent you from exposing and sharing information that powerful entities would prefer to remain hidden. 

Seek the truth, even though it is always subjective.

Do not allow demagogues, bullies and fascist dictators to silence the media by tricking you into believing they are conspiring to dupe you. Yes, there are cases where the media is used as a propaganda tool, but in modern democracies there is enough information to allow populations to be discerning and fact-check the lies.

So what is next for me? I will continue to follow the sinister trail of the Golden Lily, and write the sequel to my first novel. In this way I feel I am honoring my father's legacy of writing, despite the risks involved. 

Mapping out the plot....

When I began writing Pursuit of the Golden Lily, a veteran of the publishing world counseled me to write an Executive Summary. Knowing nothing of such things I trolled the internet for examples and set to work diligently following a set of helpful guidelines I found. Initially, it felt laborious - more in line with writing a grant proposal (a task familiar to my career path). However, the guidance I found was perfect for me.

1. Overview

2. About the Author

3. Competing Books

4. List of Chapters & Summaries

Obviously the 'Overview' was helpful - 'Competing Books' too, as it offered me a glimpse of what was available along similar lines (no pun intended). However, the clincher for me was the 'List of Chapters & Summaries. Wham! Right there, I had to map out the entire plot, which for me, was brilliant. Firstly, aside from a few crumbs of ideas, I really had no clue how my storyline was going to unfold. As I began to simultaneously research and navigate the adventure, it was truly amazing to watch how it all unfolded. As I've said before... the book writes itself. It did. Like a co-pilot, I observed and commented, jumping in here and there to tweak and polish.

Naturally, the Executive Summary is not for everyone, but if you have a complicated plot, as I did, it certainly helps iron out the creases, uncover missteps and catch omissions. 

If you enjoy a good mystery, check out Pursuit of the Golden Lily

Undoing 'Writer's Block'

                           

I know, the photo is ice-cream with chocolate sauce. That's because when I get writer's block, I turn to ice-cream. Yes, it's probably sexier to think of an author huddling with  bottle of Jack Daniels, or some such brew, but this gal opts for a sweeter kind of comfort. I'd have smoked a cigarette once upon a time, but I'm happy to say those days are long gone. Writer's block, on the other hand, still maintains a presence in my life and can manifest just about any day that I sit in front of my computer.

 So, what to do? 

Photo of Ethel Merman by Walter Albertin

When I was 21, I met an American author living in Edinburgh. She was everything I thought (at that time) a writer should be. She was well traveled, seemed to possess an abundance of knowledge, had a husky voice, drank, smoked and stayed up late. She gave me a piece of advice that I have carried with me to this day. She said...."Every day, I sit in front of my typewriter, for at least two hours. Sometimes, there's nothing; sometimes there's something; and sometimes the writing just flows."

Another writer buddy counsels: write something every day - even if it's just a page. Of course, everyone has their methods. However, I know that when I am disciplined enough to make time to sit and write, the results are rewarding. Hey, I'm here right now, writing. It doesn't matter what you write, just write.

Here's a couple of helpful Blogs about writing that I've come across lately:

Alexandra Sokoloff

Jenny Cruise

Shamans & Tigers

Malaysian Tiger Photo by Tu7uh

As I immersed myself in writing Pursuit of the Golden Lily, the practice of shamanism wove its way into my storyline. Awareness of indigenous healers, or medicine men and women, was not new to me; I had read some books, attended a few workshops and firmly believe in alternate realities. However, what I learned about the shamanic traditions of the Orang Asli aboriginal groups of Peninsular Malaysia, was extraordinary. My newfound knowledge arrived courtesy of Diana Riboli, President of ISARS (International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism), and Assistant Professor in Social Anthropology at Panteio University's Department of Social Anthropology in Athens. 

Diana is one of the few 'outsiders' to witness the inner workings of tribal medicine practiced by the Jahai, a semi nomadic indigenous tribe who are members of the Orang Asli. The Jahai have roamed the mountainous borderlands between Thailand and Malaysia for centuries. Diana spent several spells of time with the tribe, studying the remarkable traditions and customs of these gentle people. Unfortunately their invaluable knowledge (passed down through generations), of rainforest plants and animals, not to mention spiritual practices, risks being lost forever as the tribes are increasingly 'encouraged' to assimilate into Malaysian society.

Temuan People (Orang Asli)

One shamanistic ritual I found particularly riveting is the ability of the jampi (shaman in Jahai), to take on the shadow soul of any animal or plant. This practice enables them to travel anywhere, inhabit anything, all the while retaining the 'essence' of their hosts's physical nature. When a rogue tiger threatens a tribal village, a jampi will embody the shadow soul of a tiger to ward off the live predator.  

While the shadow soul is at large, the body of its host remains in physical homeostasis, as if asleep. However, the fate of the shadow soul is intricately bound to that of its host. It experiences the same physical and emotional sensations – whatever befalls the shadow soul befalls the host body. If the shadow soul is killed, the physical entity dies too. 

Extraordinary does not even begin to describe what these medicine men and women are capable of. Indigenous people worldwide have suffered, and continue to suffer, in the name of progress and religion. Instead of reaching out respectfully to learn from aboriginal elders willing to share their traditional ways, much of humanity has dismissed this precious knowledge as witchcraft or paganism.  

Like indigenous people everywhere, the Jahai understand that all of life is connected. That, as Albert Einstein so eloquently said: 

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness... Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

Einstein was a theoretical physicist, revered for his brilliance. The Jahai are a nomadic tribe living in the jungles of Peninsular Malaysia. Their conclusions about life, in all its forms and manifestations are not so different from those of Einstein. As we prepare to face the formidable challenges brought about by our rapidly changing climate, it might behoove us to listen closely to these wisdom voices calling to us across millennia, and learn from them as quickly as we can.

  The Center for Orang Asli