Mate, it's all spiritual

I get asked every now and again about the ‘spiritual’ aspect of my writing. The question is usually framed as “which do you enjoy writing the most; real life or the spiritual bits?”. Or maybe a person will ask me why I decided to be a writer of spiritual or mystical fiction, rather than being a comedy or crime writer.

These are not complex questions, but they are difficult to answer. Because they miss the point.

All stories have a spiritual nature to them.

Yup, all of them, no matter what genre they are. Jane Austen wrote spiritual novels. Stephen King does too. Paulo Cohelo definitely does. Harry Potter is also a spiritual story. Come on now, don’t pretend to be surprised about that last one!

If a story has touched you, lasted within your memory, chances are it is about a character who starts the story with problems and wants. They likely have a particular flaw to their character. This ‘hero’ has to work at figuring out why their failings exist, why it is they want what they want, and in probable fact, that it is not really what they need. There will be an emotional arc to their story that arrives at a point of realisation. The story will have undoubtedly revealed how the hero has grown and become wiser. Stories only capture your imagination if they possess this aspect; evolution towards a better place.

That is spirituality, folks.

When I am writing, I am following my curiosity. I chase the questions that I have in my own heart about this thing called ‘life’. They are common questions that we all come to at some point in our lives, the type of problems that resonate at a deep emotional level and stretch across all of humanity. Other authors follow these same deep questions but their exploration takes the form of comedy, or crime, or romance. My stories have a more overt spiritual or magical aspect to them because that is what comes from within me. What fascinates is the internal voice of consciousness possessed by all and how we choose to utilise our divine freewill and choice to create the lives we are living. My writing ‘process’ may be simplified down to; I ask, listen, am given via inspiration, and try to type fast enough to get the ideas onto a page.

Stephen King describes the job of storyteller as if they were an archaeologist. He talks of having to excavate the story – how it is already fully formed, a dinosaur fossil under the ground. The writer’s job is ‘simply’ to uncover the extent of it. I like that. Stories are, I believe, something bigger than the writer. They need to be discovered bit by bit.

That is symbolic, folks. Yes, it’s spiritual!

There is a viewpoint that spiritual means something you do, or join or learn. That it is the groups you go to, the people you mix with, the clothes you wear, the décor you decorate your home with. For some, it is a pin-badge proudly displayed. This is all totally fine and valid – it is entirely human to align with ‘tribes’, to use visual elements to declare oneself to another, we are highly visual animals. My point is, all of this is fun, but not necessary. To be human is to be spiritual. That’s a truth. The only variable is how aware of this you are. If you are minded to, at any point in your life you may be spiritual by a mere alteration of your thoughts, your focus, the placement of your attention towards it. It is always there.

The thing is, literally everything is spiritual. Yup, everything. This letter to you. The existence of the coffee table to my right as I sit with the laptop typing this. The wisps of incense floating snakelike upon the air. The beat of the music that plays within my ears. The feel of the keys on the keyboard. The wonder of the cursor moving magically across the screen in response to my tapping. My thoughts, the journey I take in considering this question, the movement of my imagination, the intent within my heart to explore, analyse and understand. It’s all spiritual, my friend.

Meaning is in everything – every minute tiny detail, every large broad brush of life. Cosmic intelligence – or whatever name you wish to assign to the source of all things – is within everything. One has but to look for it, seek it.

This is why my narratives swing from real, contemporary life situations into scenes of celestial spirit and energetic manifestations of ‘other-world’ realities. It is why the three books I have written so far are grouped under the series title, ‘Beyond Veils’. For it is but a veil that hides the awe of mysticism from our consciousness here in this life. With a regular practice of attention, and loving intention to seek it, this veil may be lifted and you may travel beyond it to remember the point of you, the truth of everything and the hope of all.

This is my answer to the original question up there, at the beginning of this letter - perhaps my books shouldn’t be described as spiritual. It would be just as valid to call them ‘real realism’ – for what my characters experience and how they react and feel is entirely possible. Real to me at least, and hopefully to you too. Thing is, Amazon demands I pick a genre category… and ‘real realism’ isn’t an option, so spiritual, mystical fiction it is. That’s cool; it’s all spiritual, man.

Rachel x

P.S. The Hope of Us, Beyond Veils, Book 3: May I ask, if you've grabbed yourself a copy, to let me know what you think of Mona and her answer to the question; can love overcome a legacy of abuse? Or even better - let lots of other potential readers know by writing up a quick review on Amazon. It is one of the most useful things you can do to help my writing career. Thank you. If you haven't yet got a copy, then fear not, click here to be taken to the Amazon page.

P.P.S. Audiobook lover? The second Book in the Beyond Veils Series - The Truth of Her, Beyond Veils, Book Two - is now available as an Audiobook! You can download it from Amazon, Audible or the Apple Store. It's about 11 hours of fantastic narration by the wonderful actress, Amy Foley of a story that asks 'how do you remain a good person when bad things keep happening to you?' Get it now, here.

P.P.P.S I have a podcast too! Published on Apple Podcast - it is called "Letters from an Author" and features me, reading aloud these letters that I send to you, my subscribers, my friends. You can download and listen to the episodes - about 10 minutes or less per episode, because I know how busy we all are - here. I had great fun recording them, I hope you enjoy listening.

P.P.P.P.S Also worthy of mention is that the full series collection has just been published as a single eBook - and at a significant discount of 44% on the total purchase price. Get 'The Beyond Veils Series Collection' for just £9.99 here.