The Unseen ~ A New Novel by Mike Clelland

Mike Clelland–author of The Messengers, Stories from the Messengers, and Hidden Experience–has just released his first novel, The Unseen.

I’m so excited to review this book, but before I do, I need to disclose that I edited the manuscript. That said, I feel honored to have done so. This is a brilliant offering on so many different levels. I’ve watched it transform from a comic book to a novella into a full fledged novel that I’ve compared to Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. I’ve read that book a dozen times and hold a Masters degree in English Language and Literature, so this is no light comparison.

Mike has a special ability to write about emotions. This book ranges from the depths of despair to mystical heights, and the tenderness with which he treats his characters astounds me. Even minor figures come to life as real people grappling with paranormal events and more universal themes of love, grief and complex relationships. I would say the characters “make” the book, except so many other things stand out, too.

In addition to showing the nuanced paradox of spiritual awakening, this novel also conveys a tangible sense of place. Most of the book occurs in the Southwest, and Mike’s decades as a professional wilderness guide allow him to bring us right into that environment. As readers, we see, feel, taste, touch and hear the magical desert. We dive right into the charm and grit of a forgotten town. We experience the pulsating joy and sorrow of NDE’s, OBE’s and other difficult to explain things. I’m no stranger to strange events, and I know how tricky they are to convey. This story hits home in ways that only a fellow experiencer and researcher could bring to life.

It also goes way beyond a paranormal thriller. Yes, psychics, synchronicity and dreams play big roles, as do murky behind-the-scenes controllers. But this is also a love story, a tale of friendships lost and found, a hymn to the creative process, and a deeply healing narrative. We long to find our own Trail’s End Café, to listen to Tony’s mix-tapes and drink some of that amazing coffee.

While editing, I’ve read and re-read the entire book so many times that I’ve lost track. During all those reviews, I never once grew tired of the story, scenes or the characters. I actually miss reading it each morning and will probably begin again very soon. It’s the kind of book that rewards multiple readings, because so many subtle details reveal themselves with each new journey through its pages. I love this book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

An instant classic, available in paperback and Kindle.

Happy Halloween + Writing Updates

Happy Halloween/Samhain/Celtic New Year to those who celebrate!

In honor of the upcoming November 1 “All Saint’s Day” and what would be the 35th birthday of my character, Schizandra, I’ve released an updated 2022 print edition, plus a totally new Kindle version of Schizandra and the Gates of Mu. Huge thanks to Mike Clelland for reformatting both. From the new text:

Author’s note about the 2022 edition

I first published Schizandra and the Gates of Mu in July 2009. This was intended as Book One of a five-part series. Little did I know how writing this series would upend my life. After starting to write Book Two, the fictional plot bled so far into my waking life that I wound up divorced and returning to Hyde Park, Chicago—to the same University of Chicago neighborhood Schizandra had just left.

Instead of continuing to write that book, I began painting portals on antique doors—an activity Schizandra had mysteriously begun in Book Two. I deepened tarot and astrology studies, painted lots more portal doors, and got remarried. With its 2012 theme, I eventually removed Schizandra and the Gates of Mu from print, thinking the story had served its purpose.

Then, in late 2021, I began to notice little details of my novel becoming much more relevant. Clients reading or re-reading the book experienced major breakthroughs by tracing my characters’ journeys as their own. I now feel like I wrote Schizandra and the Gates of Mu for 2022 and beyond—rather than for 2012. This edition includes some minor editing, but the original story remains.

We’re at another key moment in human evolution. There are battles for human DNA, as well as the human soul. Whether internal or external, many of these battles occur in unseen realms. I don’t know if or when I’ll write additional Schizandra stories, but in 2022, she reawakened.

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(back to blogging here): Last weekend is the first time I re-read Schizandra and the Gates of Mu in its entirety since 2009! In addition to worldwide topics, I noticed an unanticipated connection to the First US Pluto Return.

Death and rebirth themes are certainly “up” right now, including things embedded in this story regarding the United States. The First US Pluto Return goes exact from 2022-2024, with up to seven years on either side. Many nations don’t survive their First Pluto Return. At the very least, they face the depths of their Shadow and a near death experience. In some ways, Schizandra’s journey to the Underworld parallels the high stakes and potential rewards of what the US faces right now.

I began this novel as a short story back in Fall 2001 when I could still barely read after my 1998 TBI. Most of the story arrived in dreams, visions and synchronicities, with the main challenge of translating that into something people could read and absorb. At the time of writing I didn’t realize just how precognitive my dreams, visions and syncs tend to be. In retrospect, the book seems much more “now” than I ever would have guessed.

Those of you who love Timothy Glenn’s posts might be interested to know that he did an actual tarot, astrology and numerology reading for Schizandra way back in 2007, and the character Tom Brown’s reading reflects much of what Timothy shared.

Back in 2009, I only dabbled in astrology and tarot. I never pulled Schizandra’s natal chart for myself until last weekend, and I was even more blown away that I just “randomly” picked her birth date and time. The Great Mystery runs deep! Continued thanks to Tim for his enthusiasm and support for Schizandra, as well as his ongoing articles on this blog.

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In other writing news, I’ve begun re-writing The Metaphysics of Lyme as a novel instead of a non-fiction book. Feedback from clients who had breakthroughs by reading Schizandra and the Gates of Mu convinced me of what I already sensed: fiction allows me to show rather than tell people how to heal themselves.

I’ll include my medical intuitive insights into moving beyond Lyme disease, but I hope the novel will entice others to read, as well. In this way, I can raise more awareness of how Lyme affects everyone–including friends and family of the person experiencing symptoms. I don’t want to reveal too much before I dive deeper into this project, but for those wondering why it’s taken me so long to write The Metaphysics of Lyme, this is why. I realized I could offer much greater service in a different format, and I needed the characters and story to announce themselves in their own good time. And yes, there will be paranormal elements to the story!

For those struggling with Lyme disease right now, I released Lyme Journal: A Guided Recovery Workbook, back in January 2019. That list of writing prompts helps you to coach yourself and journal your way through multiple layers of healing.

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A final note: I love all the private emails I receive from readers telling me how much they’ve loved and benefited from my various books. These often contain very personal stories, dreams and synchronicities. If you feel comfortable leaving a more public-ready review on Amazon so that others can benefit from your insights, I would appreciate that so much. There’s a wide gap between private feedback/gratitude and the number of public reviews. 🙂

Thanks, blessings, Happy Halloween, and Happy 35th Birthday to Schizandra!

Again, you can find the new Kindle version here.

Schizandra Returns

I did not expect to do this, but this morning’s dream, recent conversations, and months of synchronicities led me to re-release my 2009 novel, Schizandra and the Gates of Mu.

In October 2017, I announced that I felt led to “retire Schizandra.” I originally wrote the book to help people prepare for the energies of 2012, and it began to feel dated as more time passed. A July 2017 reviewer noted this very thing, and I took that as confirmation to take the novel out of print on what would have been the character’s 30th birthday. I figured I might re-release the novel if I ever continued writing the intended series.

I stopped writing fiction in November 2009, because everything I wrote kept coming true. Until I could get a handle on whether or not I was causing conflicts to appear around me, or if my fiction was uncannily precognitive, I felt obligated to stop writing fiction.

I’ve since learned that my fiction is, in fact, uncannily precognitive. Most of the concerns I had about continuing to write Schizandra and the Peruvian Jaguar (Book 2) have already manifested in the world, without my writing them. I’ve also had many more years of proof that my dreams — from which I write fiction and paint portals — often foresee the future by many years, if not decades. This realization frees me to write fiction again, and it also makes me look at my prior fiction in a different way.

In Fall 2021 — two friends who’ve each shared dreams that link into key precognitive dreams of mine — independently requested my last two signed copies of Schizandra and the Gates of Mu. I took that as closure, but both people later reported major synchronicities and dreams related to the novel. As when I first released Schizandra, she seemed to take on a life of her own.

Yesterday, one of those readers asked to discuss my book and its effects on her. She read some passages to me from the end, and I realized, “I need to reread that book, because yes, she’s right, it has MANY clues for right now.”

One thing we discussed was how the Gates of Mu are also hridaya — a Sanskrit word for the spiritual heart, but it also means, “Gateway to the Highest Reality.” I gave her source material for many concepts in my novel — Plato’s Symposium, Plato’s Timaeus, Milton’s Paradise Lost, T.S. Eliot’s The Four Quartets, and I also told her about various Sanskrit chants and concepts I worked into the text. 

She asked me to explain what it all meant, and I said, “I don’t know! I mean, I know, intuitively, but the book was mostly channeled. I wrote it. I edited it. The words didn’t just channel through me, but it came to me in dreams, visions, and downloads. I’d awaken in the morning with conversations in my head, and those became much of the dialog. I can tell you what it means on one level, but I’m going to need to reread that book. I suspect 2022 me will have a much better idea what it means than 2009 me.”

She agreed. 

As we spoke, I realized a lot of the book explores the transformative power of love — especially when each person’s primary relationship is with the Divine, yet they come together as whole people in love with the Divine. Then they fall in love with each other, and the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts.

There is so much occurring now that reflects what people thought would occur in 2012 that Schizandra and the Gates of Mu feels relevant again. When my friend read those parts to me yesterday, I realized, “It’s actually a very good book, very deep, but also well written. It’s not a perfect novel by any stretch of the imagination, but it has value. A lot of my newer clients don’t even know I wrote a novel. I suspect the world is more ready for this book now, having gone through 2020 and 2021.” 

Sometimes my nerdy inner English Major comes through. 🙂 Who knows if this means Schizandra and the Peruvian Jaguar will also come through? I sensed the world needed to reach a certain level of awakening before that second book would make sense to more than a handful of people. In the past two years, many millions of people have awakened in the ways that I foresaw back in 2009. I make no predictions on the release of any of my work, but I know things unfold in perfect timing — even if that seems very different than the timing I intended!

In any case, you can find Schizandra and the Gates of Mu in paperback on Amazon. I might also release it on Kindle once I get that formatted.

Timothy Glenn on A Fireside Chat with Zany Mystic

Sorry for posting this so much after the fact. I usually prefer to listen to something all the way through before posting, so that I can comment on it or give some kind of preview. Between sessions, garden chores, social events, and important correspondences, I’ve just not had time to listen beyond the beginning. I can say that this talk between Timothy Glenn and Lance White (Zany Mystic) will be of interest to anyone curious about Tim’s first novel. Beyond that, I can say that Tim and Lance have great on air chemistry and always seem to cover interesting and broad ranging topics! The recording has some occasional sound issues, but I do hope to listen to the whole Fireside Chat when life slows down a bit. You can listen now by clicking here.