RANDOM HAPPENS

How repeatedly do you find yourself using this word, random? Often? Me too. We all know what it means, something that happens that was not planned…out of the blue, accidental, indiscriminate, arbitrary...random!
In my circles and elsewhere on TV, it is a commonly used word, right up there with “whatever”. But the word whatever (I use it too, I’m not preaching here) seems so hopeless and misplaced. Let’s face it. Life is tougher these days. We all have to live with less. It’s easy to fall into a misguided way of thinking. I’m glad “random” has become in vogue as it gives some lift to the whatever way of being. If it is upbeat, random can be positively inspiring. And when that happens so unexpectedly, it feels so good and so surreal. Of course, there is bad random, but “let’s not go there”.
What’s a decent example of good random? Meeting someone that you share so much in common with? It feels sublime to share familiarity with someone you hadn’t met before. That somebody can become an instant friend, maybe for life. And good friends are a good thing!
Regular readers of my posts know where this is going. Of course this has something to do with OVERLAND. This is what this blog is all about. Danny has a string of random encounters in his travels sprinkled throughout Overland. Poetic license? Perhaps. But Overland is a novel, where in a fictional world, anything can happen. And it does for Danny.
But in the cyber world of Facebook and the like, randomness has become common, and that is a good thing too! When Danny traveled about in 1979, there was no high technology. There was just pure luck, and randomness. Find out about the random in Danny’s world.
I’m sure you have had your sure of random encounters in your travels, and if you did, I’m sure they were memorable!

What was your random encounter? Did it change your life forever?

SOULMATES 101

Being someone’s soulmate is the ultimate achievement in a relationship. It may not necessarily even be your spouse, although preferred. It could be your best friend. It could also be someone you have never met, or may met once a long time ago and always wondered...

What is a soul mate, anyway? Webster's definition: “somebody with whom somebody else naturally shares deep feelings and attitudes”….We all need and want to be there, don't we? And I am sure there are many that are already there.

I think many people search their whole lives looking for their soulmate, especially one they can be attracted to physically, and of course sharing deep feelings and attitudes.

How do you know you have found your soulmate? To compartmentalize a relationship, it starts (usually) with a physical attraction. Of course the same or similar mental capacity and compatibility. Finally, it's that spiritual connection that transforms the couple into being soul mates aNd falling in love is as natural and wonderful as anything you've ever known.

Danny Benson, our hero in OVERLAND, thought he had his soulmate in Heather. She was the reason he went on this long adventure in the first place. But he was so consumed by his medical school studies he lost sight of the fact she really wasn’t his soulmate anymore but only until it was too late.

When he met "__________", what I'll call the “secret” of OVERLAND, Danny’s whole world changed. Between the two, Heather and “the secret”, the clarity of what a soulmate is became defined, quickly!

Interestingly, the feedback I have received from those that have read OVERLAND, not everybody falls in love with “the secret”. In fact, some people prefer Heather. Two very distinct women are characterized within OVERLAND.

So the questions remain: how do you find such a person that can become your soul mate? And how do you really know its right?

Comments are welcome!

OVERLAND REDUX

Thank you for stopping by to spend a few minutes with the OVERLAND the book blog. Here you can read about various scenarios and paths we take in life and integrate them to certain scenes and points of views with Danny and some of the other characters within OVERLAND.

Some readers of the book might be wondering, what is all the fuss? This book was released last year. It is true, OVERLAND was first published in August 2009....and now re-released in September 2010. Why?

Simply, I had grown to love my characters and couldn't say goodbye. OVERLAND ends with some wonderful closure but left the door open for a certain character and what happens...in the end.

About 6 months after publication last year, I came up with the idea for a sequel, and it was good, really good. I didn't want to wait to write the sequel to see this new part of the story...and so, voila...in the new release of OVERLAND there is an exciting and crucial added element of the storyline and will create a natural path for the sequel.

I loved it how it came out, and now inspired to share this story with you, and looking forward to the path of the OVERLAND re-release and on to write part II.

What do you think about the new cover?