On Tuesday May 28th I began a 6-part interview/book review for my book, Something to Give Back (SGB). The first of those interviews is available for free to the public on YouTube, and can be viewed in the player to the right (or click HERE). Or, you can listen to the interview on BlogTalk Radio in the player below (or click HERE). (There you will also find a link that will show you how you can become a member and have access to every interview.)
Since SGB seems to be getting a bit of attention lately, I thought I might talk a bit about the process of creating it. I wrote the book over 5 years ago now. For 6 months, the book was quite literally my sole focus. I would write for up to 8 hours/day; and, there were times when it felt almost as if SGB‘s data was ripping itself from me. When “finished,” the original manuscript was about 350 pages in length, (and that was after excluding close to 50 pages of material).
I did try for a time to be published with a major publishing house. But they weren’t interested, especially back then as I had no website, no platform, no “brand.” (Basically…I had an Email address, a cellphone, and a laptop computer.) I thought perhaps–that due to the book’s highly personal content, combined with its rather obscure take on the life process–that this was the Universe’s way of telling me to keep it to myself, to tuck it away and not risk exposing myself, my life and my heart & mind in this way. Thus, at one point in time, I was fairly sure that I wasn’t going to publish it, and it sat in a drawer for a couple of years while I wrote 2 more books.
Years later, armed with a bit more time and experience with the publishing world under my belt, as well as encouragement from others and a strange sense of being pushed from behind by some mysterious force, I committed to self-publishing.
Meticulously combed-over, (“obsessively” may be more accurate), I edited the manuscript down to about 280 pages. Pouring every bit of my ability into its production, it was my intention to remove every single unnecessary word, every bit of melodrama, and anything else that didn’t feel %100 honest. And, when the dust settled, what I was left with was an extremely dense body of work, where practically every word is predicated by the one before it. All in all, in its “completed” form, SGB afforded me no more hiding places for my life, and no more ability to blame others for the life that I’d built to that point.
Essentially, SGB is my take on the process of human consciousness. It details how consciousness shifts and evolves, and does so in a way that, I believe, does not polarize or obligate–but rather, observes and records. This was important for me because, particularly at the time when I was writing it, I was exhausted by my sense of “conscience,” and my constant tendency to label things as morally right or wrong…to chastise.
Overall, I believe that SGB‘s observational tone creates a blank space for the reader to come to their own profound conclusions about the experiences they’ve had, and the direction their life is headed. And, written in first person, (I, me, mine), it reads like a 280 page affirmation, allowing one to self-validate their own empowering tendencies.
Here are a few excerpts…
“Pain is the escalator, the elevator, and the motivator. Nothing happens without pain’s signal—nothing. No matter how faint, no matter how discreet, there is pain precursing all movement. For in the presence of perfect contentment, what reason for movement would there possibly be?” (Chapter 7: The Lie is Lived)
“…my desires—whatever they have been or may be—are only and ever for one thing: the ability to express and receive unconditional love—otherwise known as the experience of wholeness. And so, it seems that even my most desperate and vile acts, even my choices for suffering, even my pride and my prejudice, were all motivated by this one singular desire…” (Chapter 5: Truth Becomes Grounded)
“Your purpose is not your purpose for being here. Your experience of the feeling of purpose is your purpose for being here!” (Epilogue: A Final Word to the Possible Reader)
Also, to read the Chapter 7 Excerpt about my experience being AWOL from the military, click HERE.
Something to Give Back is available here. Simply click on Noah’s Books to learn more. Thank you again for your interest and support, I hope you will enjoy the interview, and please feel free to drop me a line anytime with comments or questions. Simply click on Contact Noah.
‘Til Next time…
-Noah
(Below is the first of 6 BlogTalk Radio interviews for my book, “Something to Give Back” with International Psychic Medium, Julie Geigle.)
