Welcome to the Name Before the Masses Tour for Oh Good Now This, a women's literary fiction novel from Susan Merson. Today she's sharing with us an excerpt from her book, plus her story about how she became a writer. Be sure to follow the tour for even more and leave comments and questions along the way. Best of luck entering the giveaway!
Starting over is hard enough but when ghosts decide to hitch a ride into the future—things can get complicated.
Widowed Vivi leaves California for a new start back east landing in a college town near her old friend Vikram, now the local ‘spiritual’ leader and disappointing lover. But the two have old business which leads them to uncovering the ghosts they conjured long before and the ones that are haunting them now. Vivi reclaims her life, -- with the help of a couple different dimensions-- saying hi to the ghosts who choose to hang around, and growing a new garden and a new life.
Read an excerpt:
They have settled into their chairs and Tara is tossing some cards, shuffling them and getting a feel. She flips over three cards.
“Oh, my dear. Some bleak times, past, yes?”
Vivi is startled by this pronouncement. “Well, it’s been a time of change, I’d say.”
“Change?” says Tara. “You betcha. This Tower card is about the whole thing coming crashing down. But it’s in the past position. See here? This is the present,” she shows Vivi the 7 of cups. It’s a picture of a man taking a look at a whole gallery of possibilities. “Look at him”, Tara says. “He’s got lots of things to choose from.”
“Well, that sounds good,” says Vivi tentatively.
“Not bad. Don’t get over infatuated with the possibilities. And the last one… here. The Hermit. Yep.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Oh it’s fine. Just a time to go inside and let things percolate. Inner wisdom and all that. Not a bad sentence!” Tara laughs again. “Now. Anything specific on your mind?” Tara continues to flip cards. “So,” she says. “Who is this guy? This King keeps showing up. King of Cups? He fell out of the deck twice while I was shuffling. “Who is this guy who won’t leave you alone?”
Vivi is mystified. “How did you…?’
“Oh, it’s not magic. The cards just know, that’s all. They pick up what you bring. Who is this guy?”
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DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WRITER….. OR THIS WRITER.
Well, sometimes I wish I was a snappier writer, a snappier person. But I’m not.
I lived in the land of Let’s Make a Deal for too long and saw what so many writers looked like; tongues hanging out, eyes glazed from being put in ”turnaround”, the specter of the next sale leading them forward like dogs panting after bones. Sorry, it’s just not for me.
I’m an old fashioned type. I’m an artist. Not an entertainer and not a content provider. This may damn me to the nether regions of popularity, commercial fame and reward, but there’s just no other honest way I can move ahead. I write what I feel no one else is seeing, what no one else with my point of view really sees.
There are certain stories we have been given to write, to tell, to embody. We need to figure out how to do that. Maybe it’s in genre fiction, maybe it’s in poetry or maybe it’s in a secret journal that never sees the light of day. That’s what I do most days. I ponder how I tell the story that has been given to me.
I believe the process of writing a book, or anything really, is what changes the writer, and the eventual reader, as well. The real clear energetic brought down to create a book, or any work of art, is weird alchemy but, it’s what is really real and truly true.
My day as a writer is scooping up what comes down through my brain, through my fingers and my heart onto the page. It changes me. And if it changes you, the reader, the bonus is so much more grand.
Call me a hunter- gatherer. That’s what I do with my days. I hunt, gather and archive what the Universe has given me that day, to translate, soften, polish and make beautiful. And drink lots of tea and don’t walk around the block often enough.
Susan Merson began her career as an actress on and off Broadway, in television and film. Co-founding the LA Writers Bloc in 1985 with award winning writer Jane Anderson, she has mentored writers through the Bloc and through her private and university classes in Playwriting, Life Stories, Writing as a Spiritual Practice, Tarot for Writers and the popular VOICING Series. Her short fiction has been featured in The Jew in America, Nice Jewish Girls (Penguin), The Worcester Review, the Chicken Soup series and several other online platforms. As a playwright, her award-winning plays have been performed internationally, including her 8 solo plays featured and used as example in YOUT NAME HERE: An Actor Writers Guide to Solo Performance. (Amazon). Long form fiction available on Amazon is her award-winning blog, WHEN THEY GO AND YOU DO NOT and her first novel DREAMING IN DAYLIGHT. OH GOOD NOW THIS, her newest novel launches 12/1/21. She is a tarot reader and counselor, a maker of quilts, clothing and whimsy. Susan is a humble mother and a proud resident of New York City. www.susanmerson.com
FACEBOOK: SUSAN MERSON AUTHOR: https://www.facebook.com/susanmersonauthor
WEBSITE: http://www.susanmerson.com
The author has also done a series of five videos regarding the use of Tarot for writers (for more information, visit her website):
1: Author/ teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/ Amazon) explores Tarot to jump start your writing. TAROT FOR WRITERS #1: INTRODUCTION
An introduction to using your own intuitive powers to tap into the resonance of Tarot images, packed with archetypes and symbols, to jumpstart inspiration for your artistic projects.
**CORRECTION: The Raziel Tarot Deck is designed by artist Robert Place with commentary by Rachel Pollack. https://youtu.be/LGONsfOayJg
2: Author/teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/Amazon), explores TAROT cards to jumpstart your writing, TAROT FOR WRITERS #2: LANDSCAPE
Explore the landscape of story. Entering the world of the card offers visceral clues to the landscape of your writing. https://youtu.be/Mwq9x-I9oQE
3: Author/ teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/ Amazon) explores TAROT cards to jump start your writing. TAROT FOR WRITERS #3: CHARACTER.
A brief exploration of character and how to find their first basic journey. Look deeply at the character clues in the cards and throw three cards to begin their adventure. https://youtu.be/CuovTNQ5ztk
4: Author/teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/AMAZON) explores TAROT cards to jump start your writing. TAROT FOR WRITERS #4: WHAT STORY SHOULD I WRITE TODAY
On pulling cards to intuitively discover the story, the genre, the themes and the major turning points of a new story. https://youtu.be/eHm0mVSNaPo
5: Author/teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/AMAZON) explores TAROT to jumpstart your writing. TAROT FOR WRITERS/ #5 TIMELINES AND DEEPER DIVE INTO RELATIONSHIPS
Timelines and going deeper into relationships with pro and antagonists. The more cards you draw the more information you can gather. https://youtu.be/EClPq0e-H70
Susan Merson will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for welcoming me to your community!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post and awesome giveaway!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very interesting book.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving this title. An interesting cover.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the guest post.
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