Blog dis: When you have more past than future... Hurry up, will ya? Get busy living before you get busy dying. For before you know it, you'll reach a vital stage in your life when you surpass that point, and you won't notice at first. Eventually you will. The realization will land like the sun hitting the surface of the ocean. The sunbeams will penetrate only so far, before you figure it out. When you do finally clue in, your concerns of the past will seem trivial. You'll become focused on leaving behind a legacy, if you're able to do so, as well as to define those memorable moments where you had shined like a diamond. I said this to two dear friends with a smile, "I've figured out how and why I'm extra-special clever... because I've finally realized that I've more past than I do future," to which they didn't show a reaction, so I followed up with "this makes every day when I live in the present moment that much more meaningful to me." This realization of limited time is a freeing experience. You literally feel like someone put the key into the keyhole of your existence, to open the iron-gate, that impenetrable locked door, to usher you into a new mindset. Whereas, in our teens, 20s and even 30s, we are, for the most part, less concerned with the passage of our time and lives because we're focused more on partying, finishing up school, and landing somewhere that enables our life and skills to grow. Time is an illusive measuring tool. When we're enjoying the best of activities, like intimacy or a sport, a fast-paced movie, an enthralling book, it all races past our nose far quicker than we want. Whereas, when we're forced to sit down to a plate of boiled cabbage with deep-fried chicken livers, we want someone to stick a fork into the back of our hands, just to know that we're still alive, because time crawls like a human dying of thirst in the desert. I try not to do this any more, to imagine or dread what's coming in the evening, or the morning, or even to look forward to doing anything too much. Whenever I do this, I can almost guarantee that I've nailed something into this event's coffin. To live in the moment means that your mind, body and heart are focused precisely on what's happening in front of you. This line of thinking brings me to the status of being an author, someone who writes, who lives in the moment, while staring at a blank screen or a white page, waiting for inspiration to come. There's nothing amiss for that period of time when the words don't flow. Begin anyway. Write and watch what happens. The words will start to flow, in trickles at first, before words gush like a waterfall. If you're still stuck, switch up gears and write something unrelated to your current work-in-progress. This is my primary purpose for posting my blog, to exercise my brain and writing skills on an alternate path. You'll find that action leads to more action, and this will hopefully lead you back to that blank screen. One young would-be author had asked me perhaps the most vital question. "How you do write the novel?" I answered, "One chapter at a time." You can't write in the past. You can't write in the future. You can only write in the present moment, as you sit there, in front of your screen or a blank piece of paper, notebook, attempting to pull ideas out of your ass. There may be plots, carefully crafted with clever ideas woven in between, yet when it comes time to flesh out plot lines, don't be surprised when you veer off course, and the organic process takes over. This is no different than what it means to live a full life, similar to writing, to embrace the organic process of trying not to engineer a perfect story, your life story. I can assure you that nothing turns out the way your expectations had envisioned how it would turn out. Some of the most successful persons I know were equipped with one degree and ended up pursuing a different life path, completely unrelated to this degree. Then there's sleep, that coveted period of time when our unconscious mind goes to work, to spin up wacky ideas and events, people that have no purpose being in our heads, who invade our dreams, and twist and turn our emotions until our hearts pound real hard. I've woken up from such dreams, and then to roll over, half-asleep, to reach for my black ink pen and wee book that I keep by my bedside for such purposes, along with a mini-flashlight, clutched between my teeth, to jot down the dream remnants, before they fade. I've gleaned great bits from these dreams, some of which appeared in my first three novels. The dreams were beyond anything I could've conjured. These dreams helped me to shape the plot, another wrinkle to writing that I hadn't been prepared for, and perhaps maybe I should have but wasn't. I've attended plenty of paid workshops throughout my author career, too, on writing erotica and fantasy, how to edit and market books. I've given workshops at fantasy exhibitions too on writing fantasy novels and during these sessions, where I'd deliver an hour-long presentation, I'd stress to the authors in attendance that you'll never know time more intimately, and how fast and slow it passes, than when you write. Time is an abstraction of reality. It doesn't make sense to me why we delude ourselves into believing that we're the masters of time. For all the thousands of years that humans have existed, time has continued to pass us by, as it always does, always shall. Humans, being the clever beings that we regard ourselves to be, have invented devices along the way to break down the components of time, to measure seconds, to make them visible to consciousness. This happened back in the 17th Century when the pendulum clock was invented. In Ancient times, humans marked time using daylight and seasons (farming planting cycles) as well as sundials, to track time's slippery passage. We owe it to the Egyptians and the Babylonians who split the day into 12 parts, using what is known as base 60-math, and this in turn evolved into our 24-hour day and 60-minute hour. Roman emperors had also provided the names for the months of July and August in our calendars, while the rest trace back to Roman gods and myths. Apparently, both Caligula and Nero tried to rename some of the months after themselves, only this didn't last beyond their lifespan. Finally, in the 19th and 20th centuries, we introduced standard time zones, and did so by way of abandoning "sun" times with a sundial. Our obsession with time has been with us since we began to recognize peak periods for doing things, and how this in turn had inspired fisherman to make their own connections with how well or how badly their time might potentially go, while out on the open seas. One of the oldest expressions I know of, having a father born in Newfoundland was that fishermen would look into the sky before heading out to sea and they would plan accordingly, based on what their eyes had recognized: sunset in morning sailor's warning, sunset at night sailor's delight. Now, I rely heavily on my weather APP on my mobile, to gauge when it's the best time to head out to cycle, depending on the weather forecast. It's not always right of course, as to be expected, but at least they're trying their best to apply the latest technology to help us plan our activities during the day a little better. It is called a forecast for a reason, rather than an absolute. So, and as the title of this blog post would suggest, your future awaits you, while you're still alive. It's OK for you to regard it this way, that you've got all the time in the world to begin that gargantuan project, the one you've been procrastinating over for years. Though, I might be inclined to encourage you to start now, rather than wait for later. I'm not really sure how many days, weeks, months or years there are in 'later' because nobody knows this reality. If you work on the basis that the day you're currently living and thinking in, may be your very last day on Earth, what exactly will you do with this precious time? Speaking only for myself, I'll be writing, something I've been doing since I was six years old. I can't seem to stop writing, and I don't want to stop. I surely don't predicate my behavior on knowing that there's a boatload of money at the end of my effort, which has never been the reason why I write from the get go. I write because I'm compelled to do so, and I don't judge my effort or time spent based on how many novels I've written. With some measure of self-assurance, I can only assure you that taking nine years to write my last novel, number seven, sure did feel like a really long time. And on it goes... tick tock.

Booth set up all done for Comic Con and it feels good 😊

I'll take another photo of my booth set-up which I'll complete tomorrow, before the weekend event, which runs from Fri to Sun. Long days but very satisfying. The banner for POM is awesome, thanks to you. I'm sharing the banner here, so any authors out there looking to grab the attention of potential readers, and anyone passing by your table, I highly recommend that you visit @fantasy_art_z for a quote. A banner with a height of 81.34 inches works out to 6.7' tall. The sun was hitting the banner when I set it up in my living room. Know that the colors are vibrant, and they come out as depicted in the version showing the size dimensions.

Boxes of Portals of Middle-Vision (POM), novel seven, to be sold at Comic Con this weekend. Wish me luck that I empty out every box, which is the best feeling as an author. Shout out to my graphic designer @fantasy_art_z 💯 Your cover design rocks.

Blog dis: "...a feast of sexual and sensory decadence... The Erotic Woman, a website based in Australia, has sadly gone the way of the Dodo bird many years back, but when they were active, they had graciously reviewed my third novel in my Crimson Fantasy series. So it is, given that it's a positive one. I'm of the mind that any author whose book is reviewed knows that these are often fraught with criticisms, just for the sake of being critical. Some spoiler alerts, FYI - - - - - Written by Nathalie Ion: At last, the massively anticipated conclusion to Patricia McCarthy's "Crimson" trilogy has arrived! And make no bones about it, "The Crimson Woman" delivers in providing a thrilling, terrifying and ultimately satisfying conclusion to this groundbreaking series that has redefined the Erotica Vampirica genre. A quick schooling for those unfamiliar with the first two installments of the "Crimson" trilogy. The story revolves around the half-vampire, half-human Samuel and his human wife Magdalene who live in the beautiful city of Ottawa, Canada. The semi-normal life they've created for themselves is turned on its head when firstly they discover they're pregnant, and secondly, when Samuel's father, the one true vampire Sir William Simon Hennessy, arrives on the scene with his own devious intentions. The Crimson Woman picks up with Sir William seeking to assert his plans for Magdalene and her unborn child in a manner truly in keeping with a character of his magnitude. A distraught Samuel not only has to contend with this but also with the cover up of multiple gruesome murders that threatens to throw back the veil on his life and the many secrets it contains. Helping Samuel are the violently charming Coffey brothers, Canadian-Irish lads whose lust for sex and vicious brutality both intrigues and repulses. Also entering the story in Samuel's aid is Magdalene's mysterious Aunt Aileen, a woman whose mystical experience of life is only matched by her sharp tongue and thirst for rum. Patricia McCarthy's ability to develop absorbing characters right throughout the "Crimson" series has been a real highlight, and in "The Crimson Woman" we find ourselves being pulled even further into the lives and minds of these engrossing individuals. Each character is strong and well defined, with depth and relevance to the raging storyline. I loved the diversity of characters, from the rough and charismatic Coffey brothers to the strong and playful Magdalene right through to the statesman-like persona of Sir William. Patricia McCarthy is a master of conjuring characters that demand your attention. I found myself unable to put this book down, particularly as the story builds to the exciting conclusion. I loved both "The Crimson Man" and "The Crimson Boy", but I found "The Crimson Woman" to be less hyperactive and more seductive in the way it lures you into the revelations that will change the lives of the characters, and potentially the world, forever. The pace is still close to full throttle. However, the story plays out with such beautiful flow that at no stage do you feel lost or left behind in the action. There is inevitability about the ending; a splendid acceptance and realization that no matter what they may desire, what is to come is impossible to avoid. I loved the way the author has crafted the finale so that the magnitude of the events seem unavoidable, hence acceptable, and that this fact alone means as readers we should sit back and bask in the certainty that things are unfolding as they should. Even though somewhere deep inside of you there may be feelings of "no, this is so wrong!" the overwhelming nature of Sir William will mesmerize you into throwing up your hands and simply being swept along without protest. McCarthy shows herself to be a writer of substantial talent not just in her story and character development, but also in the effective blending of styles you find within "The Crimson Woman" and the series as a whole. At times, the writing conveys detailed imagery of sheer horror and absolute evil, leaving you cold. The violence is at times shocking. Then, in barely a separating paragraph, you find yourself immersed in some of the hottest and most pure erotic writing you are likely to find anywhere. And I want to emphasize that the sex is HOT! It is easy to focus too much on the brilliant story but as someone who loves reading erotica, I can honestly say that what Patricia McCarthy serves up is a feast of sexual and sensory decadence the match of any I've come across for pure heat. Round that off with some moments of genuine comedy, suspense, mystery and a HUGE serving of romance, yes romance, and you can see why this series has readers salivating for more. It is the perfect storm of blended styles and genres. Something that appealed to me also was the "edge" of the book, with drug use and in-your-face language on top of the other components making this one not for the feint-hearted. The author's ability to blend supernatural themes with everyday life subjects and alternative lifestyles helps the series translate perfectly into the contemporary world, and we feel a closer connection to the characters and greater immersion in the story as a result. No punches are pulled, so be warned. Overall, if you love your erotica dished up in a variety of flavours and with a supernatural twist, don't waste another moment before getting your hands on Patricia McCarthy's "Crimson" series. While it would be possible to enjoy "The Crimson Woman" as a novel in its own right, in my opinion it works more effectively when read as the conclusion of a terrific tale as it is intended. Then again, is it the conclusion? It may be for the time being but the story leaves open the exciting possibility that we may not have seen the last of these "Crimson" tales, and that the newly crowned "Crimson Woman" may yet have a sting in her tail further down the road…or, as a fan, we can hope for as much anyway! - - - - Why, thank you, Nathalie! Visit my author's website - see link in my X-bio, then go to the Shop page. FYI, I'm taking a blogging break, next week, which comes on the heels of Labor Day weekend. I'll return shortly enough with new blog posts. Thank you heaps for your support and for reading my posts. 😘