Category: Being A Sceptic Is Oh So Easy

And just a little reminder because I’m so excited –

The Quintessential Gemini was published on June 7, 2012 – by Sapphire Star Publishing.

Some fabulous people have very kindly agreed to host me as I tour the world wide web and this is tour no. 1! Check out the details here if you want to find out what I’m up to.

https://linnbhalton.co.uk/blog-tours/

I awoke this morning to a lovely Email from a wonderful lady I met last year, Susan Livingston.  Susan is one of my Associate Readers over at loveahappyending.com and from the moment we first ‘met’ online it was like talking with an old friend. The Email today was a review that Susan has posted on her wonderful book review blog Fascinating Books, click here to read the full review http://bit.ly/HRqqIz .

Susan is a busy lady, work and family keep her on the go constantly! But she is also a great supporter of new authors, an avid reader and I sense very much there is a yearning to write and an amazing imagination to unleash when she finds some ‘me time’, at some point in her future.  When we first began talking it was mostly about our cats but we seemed to share so many other things in common. So when I read Susan’s review of Being A Sceptic Is Oh So Easy this morning, I wasn’t surprised that we connected too over things that feature in the book.

Writing a true and personal account of something that talks about losing loved ones, experiences since their loss and other psychic experiences, was bound to strike a chord with any readers who have had similar experiences.  In Susan’s words:

“When I read this book I was amazed at the things Linn went through to become the person she is today.  I saw so many similarities between Linn and myself and Linn and my sister that floored me.  Reading this book, I began to wonder how we’re all connected.  If we try really hard, can we feel what someone else is feeling? Do we want to do that?  Do we really want to know what others are feeling?  I also began to wonder about the connections we have with those who have passed on.  I know that I have experienced many occurrences where my dad has visited me after his death, mostly just to let me know he’s still watching over me.  I always feel warm and loved when I know he’s been there.
This book was an awakening for me.  So many of these thoughts have flitted through my mind in the past only to escape my grasp.  Now, I know I’m not alone and I can touch these feelings and thoughts.”

Every author is thrilled to receive a review for one of their books, but what I find with this ‘diary’ is that the responses and reviews I receive are touching. It’s not so much about reviewing a book, but connecting with people who reaffirm what I now believe.  Many continue to look for scientific proof, but in all honesty, those who have had personal experiences understand that perhaps some things are not meant to be the subject of scientific analysis. Sometimes proof comes in other ways and perhaps that’s the whole point – love ones connect with us and it’s personal, observers aren’t required or invited for a reason.

So ‘thank you’ Susan, what warms my heart is that you shared a little of your experiences – and yes, our Dad’s are there alongside us. Still as proud, still as loving and always therefore in our thoughts!

Follow Susan on Twitter @lotsocats100: https://twitter.com/#!/lotsocats100

Facebook page: http://facebook.com/lotsocats100

If someone had told me I would write a non-fiction book, I would have laughed hysterically! I always knew I was going to write fiction and secretly felt I would find a way to get published somehow (being a Gemini with a borderline obsessive compulsive nature and iron will, lets just say I don’t give up easily), but always it was about romance, life and relationships. Hence ‘Life, love and beyond … but it’s ALWAYS about the romance…‘, because it really IS!

Never in my dream was there any reference to ‘memoir’. Well, Being A Sceptic Is Oh So Easy isn’t really a memoir, it is to my mind just a collection of experiences and thoughts, a sort-of personal diary.

The reason I’m celebrating it today, is that it is now available for the first time in paperback from:-

Feedaread

Amazon.co.uk & Amazon.com

and will be available from Amazon as a paperback in addition to the e-format, sometime in the next few weeks.

Every author regards each book they write as their baby, but  Being A Sceptic Is Oh So Easy is more than that to me. I originally penned it after completing the manuscript for my debut novel Touched By The Light.  I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get onto the internet and find out what the next step in the process was going to be (yes, I was that naive, I wrote a manuscript without researching what happens after you write ‘the end’). I had an ephiphany and without spoiling the contents, let’s just say that I suddenly felt more like a scribe writing on behalf of someone else looking at my experiences, rather than being the actual author! It really was just an emptying of my mind – things that I had experienced going way back to childhood, that suddenly seemed to make sense. All those unexplained moments I’d hidden in the attic of my mind, until one day they would slot into place, begin to make sense. Once everything was down on paper I tidied it slightly, thinking it would be wonderful for the grandchildren to read when they are grown up. It includes amazing things I experienced when I lost my Mum and Dad, as well as experiences in houses in which I’ve lived. It seemed natural to include some very personal observations about coincidences, deja vu, luck – in essence a personal account (literally) of WHY I believe in life after death.

It never crossed my mind to publish it, but I felt better for having written it and having a paper copy in a box beneath my desk. It sat there whilst my debut novel was launched by Book Guild Publishing and I never gave it another thought. Then something crazy happened. I was new to Kindle and wanted to put out something as a ‘test’. I had a few manuscripts finished by then and decided I would self-pub one to get to understand the process and download it to my brand new Kindle.

Everytime I tried to convert the file, something went wrong. I wasted a couple of anxious days and felt disheartened. At the time I had just begun meditating and during one session the idea popped into my head that I was having problems for a reason. Something drew me to that box under the desk and I pulled it back out and whizzed through it. I couldn’t believe what I had written, so much of it was penned whilst on a weird ‘auto-pilot’ mode, that the words hadn’t actually sunk in. I found myself seeking out the file on my desktop and adding an introduction and the odd addition here and there, then I tried to convert that file – bingo! It worked first time. It was meant to be.

Of course, the first file I put out wasn’t as polished as it should have been and I learnt a valuable lesson. However, it now has a special gleam and an updated e-version is available. If you are one of the 1,000 plus people who have already downloaded a copy and would like an updated one free, just send me an Email. It now has an index (thank you to my fellow author Sue Uden who suggested that for reference) and an addendum with an update following the death of the last ‘oldie’ in my family. He featured in the story and it only seemed right to conclude his cameo appearance.

What has over-whelmed me with my Kindle ‘test’, is the number of people who have read Sceptic and then contacted me to tell me their own, often very similar, experiences. I have felt a warmth coming back from people who often have never ‘shared’ their experiences before and that has been extremely special to me. In fact it was because of several requests from people asking for a paperback copy, that I decided to self-pub in print format.

So thank you to each and every one of you who downloaded Being A Sceptic Is Oh So Easy and if you read it cover to cover you will know me very well by now! But for whatever reason it was never meant to sit in a box under my desk, or live in a folder on my desktop. The truth is, it has also changed my life in many ways – now that the ‘jigsaw puzzle’ of my journey is taking shape.

I have three paper back copies sitting on a shelf waiting for the day my grandchildren are old enough to read the story and the comforting thing is, that means some very special and amazing experiences will not be lost, but will live on. They will get to ‘know’ a little about their great-grandparents and, oh dear, me… I wonder what they will think?

I was very surprised to receive a Tweet saying ‘check out my blog, a little surprise….’ from a lovely lady and book reviewer, Lou Graham. I was in bed at the time proof-checking and immediately left my cosy cocoon, donned a pair of rather bright pink, fluffy socks to brave the chilly study. For any author, reading something like this is such a delight – it makes all those hours worthwhile. So a huge ‘thank you’ to the very lovely Lou, whose smiling face always makes my day! Here is an extract of what Lou’s review said, but if you have a moment do click through to her website and read the full article:-

“I have searched many times since my early adulthood for some proof that there is more to life than what we see, so I was very excited to read this book. Linn makes it extremely clear in the first few pages that what she has written is not meant to try to convince you of afterlife activity, but is just one family’s experiences. It is so beautifully written, I felt that I was sat in a chair with Linn just chatting to me rather than me reading to myself! The book is so engaging, makes you laugh, cry and want to know more with every page!

All the chapters are very personal and Linn is extremely honest in what she writes. There are some very difficult areas of family bereavements that must have been so hard for her to write, but you can feel the love and passion in the subject matter with each word. I appreciate that Spiritual books are not for everyone, but I certainly feel that this is a wonderful introduction that may make you think of things that may have happened to you that you have never really thought more about, or just a collection of episodes that you will enjoy reading about.”

And this is the lovely Louise:-

“I set up my website to enhance my hobby of reading all sorts of books. I never expected to meet so many lovely like-minded people and become friends with some amazing Authors! If you have a book you’d like me to review, drop me an email at lougrahamii@hotmail.com and I’d happily do that for you.

I write psychic romance stories; I write about the way life complicates the path we follow in our quest to find true love.  However, there is always a happy ending– why?  Because, for the most part, I believe we have the ability to make our own happiness.  Fate lays out a path, and sometimes that path will not be easy; often there is pain and tragedy, but we have to learn to enjoy the good things that happen whenever we can – to grab at what brings a smile to our faces; to choose to be with people who are positive in their outlook on life and who inspire us.

As a featured new Author on the new innovative, interactive Reader/Author website:-