High Heart ... amplifying the feminine

For the last decade I've mostly been writing fiction aimed at the suspense/thriller genre - thus my last four novels, ending with Higher Forces. That's the story that I came back from my Guatemala adventure possessed by - and it's gone through several different renditions as I've struggled to get to the heart of the characters and mythic undertones. But six months ago I had a breakdown and awakening related to that long-term project,, and to writing fiction in general.

I've now rather seriously rewritten Higher Forces - I shifted drastically to first person narration, which eliminated half the plot - and freed me to focus on revealing my main character's thoughts, feelings, visions, compulsions and so forth from the inside out. I'll never go back to third person - this deeper level of narration feels finally like I've found my fiction voice.

But what's most important in this new High Heart version of my Guatemala adventure is that I can finally discover who really the main female character, Mahalena, is. Finally! And I must now also admit that as a male writer, I am pushing intense feminist themes. My character Jack/Nokalito goes through a number of awakenings of his own macho programmings - and lets Mahalena lead him into experiences that transform his sense of who he is - and what Mahalena as a new female hero is pushing to manifest on our planet.

You can still enjoy Higher Forces for its intense genre action - and it's what the film or miniseries will draw strongly from for plot complications and action. But I now offer High Heart as a deeper dimension of the overall story and characters.- finally Mahee gets to speak, to lead, to inspire and overcome ... yeah!

I also am changing the subtitle to: A lucid tale of love and discovery. This new version delves into Jack's inner experience in ways I've never explored in fiction before. This is now indeed a lucid tale - we get so deep into Jack's inner experience that at times even he wonders if he's perhaps losing his mind in order to gain some primal union with Mahalena ...

The manuscript and miniseries treatment are just now going the rounds in Hollywood so I haven't published the novel yet - I'm hoping for a large publishing contract once I secure an option on the film rights. But if you'd like to read the PDF, just drop me a line!