This week's special guest is eXtasy Books author, Laura Tolomei who stops by to talk about the journey through space and time of souls and soulmates.
Souls and soul mates: analysis of a journey through lives, times and space
by Laura Tolomei
My latest release is titled To Seduce A Soulmate, but it’s not the first time I wrote about soul’s journeys or soul mates for that matter. True, the subject fascinates me. Must be those travels in India or my personal beliefs life isn’t a one shot deal. Repetition makes perfect, that’s why souls need more than one journey to get it right…so to speak. The fact is we have so many lessons to learn on our way to true knowledge and awareness, it seems impossible to do it all at once.
These personal beliefs have the bad habit of slipping inside my books and leaving a common thread particularly in my dialogue. But let me start at the beginning.
The first published novel that talks about such issues is Divinitas, released about a year ago, Jan. 1st to be precise. Just to refresh your memory, Divinitas is about two souls chasing one other through several lifetimes in search of a balance. Predictably, the journeys are neither smooth nor easy, at least the ones presented in three stories that make up the novel, one set in Ancient Egypt, the other during the Persian Empire and the third in Celtic Britain.
Divinitas – PG excerpt
My latest release is titled To Seduce A Soulmate, but it’s not the first time I wrote about soul’s journeys or soul mates for that matter. True, the subject fascinates me. Must be those travels in India or my personal beliefs life isn’t a one shot deal. Repetition makes perfect, that’s why souls need more than one journey to get it right…so to speak. The fact is we have so many lessons to learn on our way to true knowledge and awareness, it seems impossible to do it all at once.
These personal beliefs have the bad habit of slipping inside my books and leaving a common thread particularly in my dialogue. But let me start at the beginning.
The first published novel that talks about such issues is Divinitas, released about a year ago, Jan. 1st to be precise. Just to refresh your memory, Divinitas is about two souls chasing one other through several lifetimes in search of a balance. Predictably, the journeys are neither smooth nor easy, at least the ones presented in three stories that make up the novel, one set in Ancient Egypt, the other during the Persian Empire and the third in Celtic Britain.
Divinitas – PG excerpt“How did you find your way?” Us-Yri asked at last.
“I will tell you my own personal point of view, but don't take any of this as Truth. Unfortunately, in this world we can never understand completely because a veil covers our eyes.” He paused briefly before continuing. “I believe the gods give us three tools to travel the path of Life—Body, Mind and Soul. Only the Soul will live on forever, but like a bird we desperately want to keep with us, the Body locks it in a cage. These limitations are more than enough to make us lose the right way. The Soul holds the key to our life, the past, the present and all the future lives as well—“
“You really believe we have more than one life?”
“Of course, Us-Yri. There are just too many things to learn in one single lifetime alone. We need time to grow, develop, learn about the world and mostly ourselves. Piecing together this information will set our Soul free. But Body and Mind work against it, so we can seldom collect all the right pieces and connect them in just one lifetime.”
“But how many do we need to reach—“
“Awareness?” Heru-Ur shrugged. “Each Soul will take its own time, Us-Yri. There are no fixed rules. Of course, if the Body and Mind’s limitations are strong, a Soul could take forever before it grasps the Truth.”
Now supposing the above to be true, would you want to go through several journeys alone? Or wouldn’t you rather have someone who understands you because you share a bond older than life itself?
Divinitas – PG excerpt
“I will tell you my own personal point of view, but don't take any of this as Truth. Unfortunately, in this world we can never understand completely because a veil covers our eyes.” He paused briefly before continuing. “I believe the gods give us three tools to travel the path of Life—Body, Mind and Soul. Only the Soul will live on forever, but like a bird we desperately want to keep with us, the Body locks it in a cage. These limitations are more than enough to make us lose the right way. The Soul holds the key to our life, the past, the present and all the future lives as well—“
“You really believe we have more than one life?”
“Of course, Us-Yri. There are just too many things to learn in one single lifetime alone. We need time to grow, develop, learn about the world and mostly ourselves. Piecing together this information will set our Soul free. But Body and Mind work against it, so we can seldom collect all the right pieces and connect them in just one lifetime.”
“But how many do we need to reach—“
“Awareness?” Heru-Ur shrugged. “Each Soul will take its own time, Us-Yri. There are no fixed rules. Of course, if the Body and Mind’s limitations are strong, a Soul could take forever before it grasps the Truth.”
Now supposing the above to be true, would you want to go through several journeys alone? Or wouldn’t you rather have someone who understands you because you share a bond older than life itself?
Divinitas – PG excerpt
Shaun grinned. It had taken a long training to remind Halifax who he was and now that it was finally time to explain, it felt odd, maybe because their positions seemed reversed if compared to previous lives. Shifting through past scenarios, Shaun briefly analyzed their timeless relationship, searching for answers. Somehow, Halifax had always been the seducer rather than the seduced. Reversing their roles was a necessary shift, the Druid knew it far too well, but he still had to get used to it.
“Please,” the blond missionary begged, “tell me about it.”
Where to begin? From the ancient walls of Egypt or the Persian prince’s golden bed? From our love…or the betrayal that followed? Shaun wondered as images kept playing in the fire.
Us-Yri and Set, Mitra and Varuna, Shaun and Halifax…that in Divinitas the characters change names and shapes makes little difference. They remain essentially the same souls that grow in awareness also thanks to their special relationship…if and when they have one. The problem of recognition is no small one, considering a soul has no face, no tangible trace to jog one’s memory. And in modern times, Martin has none of the Druid’s or Ancient Egyptian’s mystical knowledge to convince Pirate Drake he’s his soul mate. Martin’s only resource is in the words, which must be very powerful if he wants To Seduce A Soulmate.
To Seduce A Soulmate – PG excerpt
“Please,” the blond missionary begged, “tell me about it.”
Where to begin? From the ancient walls of Egypt or the Persian prince’s golden bed? From our love…or the betrayal that followed? Shaun wondered as images kept playing in the fire.
Us-Yri and Set, Mitra and Varuna, Shaun and Halifax…that in Divinitas the characters change names and shapes makes little difference. They remain essentially the same souls that grow in awareness also thanks to their special relationship…if and when they have one. The problem of recognition is no small one, considering a soul has no face, no tangible trace to jog one’s memory. And in modern times, Martin has none of the Druid’s or Ancient Egyptian’s mystical knowledge to convince Pirate Drake he’s his soul mate. Martin’s only resource is in the words, which must be very powerful if he wants To Seduce A Soulmate.
To Seduce A Soulmate – PG excerptMartin was about to reply when the waitress brought their platters. He pulled back to give her room, then leaned forward again. “Listen, I’m not asking you to believe in it, but don’t tell me you didn’t feel it because I read it in your eyes, too.”
“Read what?” Drake asked, suddenly feeling very cold.
“The flicker of recognition. When our eyes met, you knew who I was just as surely as I knew who you were.”
“That’s impossible, Devil,” he argued, biting his cheeseburger. “We’ve never met before in our lives.”
“You wouldn’t believe how many unexplainable things defy rationality, Pirate. When I lived in India, I saw more than my share of them.”
“They’re all visionaries over there.”
“I beg to differ, Pirate. They have an age-old tradition, a mix between magic, religion, logic and belief in the unknown. To them, the soul is something alive even when the body dies, with a million journeys behind it and a thousand more ahead, which shape it and mark its path in each successive passage.” He paused to eat a french fry. “And it’s not just an individual affair. I believe there are souls that start out together, soul mates some call them, which inevitably call for each other because alone they’re incomplete. So they go through life seeking their missing half, the essential piece that will restore them to the unity they had started out with.”
“And you think I am—“
“I don’t think, Pirate, I know.” Spoken without any emphasis, the words rang even more forceful despite Drake’s thundering heartbeat clogging his ears. “I’ve been waiting a lifetime to read what I did in your eyes and your reaction was exactly as I’d imagined it a million times in my head. That’s why I behaved like I did that first night.”
“I don’t believe this, Devil.”
“That’s your choice, Pirate. I can’t and certainly won’t force you to believe in this. When you ran away that night at your parent’s house, it became quite obvious that you weren’t ready to accept the truth anyway.”
“What truth?”
The Irish devil stretched across the table. “Just answer me honestly, Pirate. Before you met me, have you ever felt you recognized a complete stranger before in your life? Or felt an electrical current run through your body merely by standing next to someone? Or felt your heart beat so fast you feared it might fall out of your chest?”
With a heavy heart, the pirate realized there was no point in lying so he had to shake his head in denial, long hair flying around.
“But you did the moment you saw me, right?”
Divinitas
AUTHOR: Laura Tolomei
GENRE: Gay, M/M, Lesbian, Menage, Paranormal, Deities, Historical, Dark Fantasy god, gods
ISBN: 978-1-55487-215-2
RELEASEE DATE*: January 1st, 2009
FLAME RATING: 5
PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books
BUY LINK
To Seduce A Soulmate
AUTHOR Laura Tolomei
GENRE: Gay, Holiday, Contemporary, m/f, m/m, m/m/f
ISBN 978-1-55487-440-8
RELEASE DATE: December 1st, 2009
PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books
BUY LINK
WIN - Leave a message or comment for Laura this week at the Tiki Hut and your name goes in the hat for a free download of your choice of TO SEDUCE A SOULMATE or DIVINITAS. Good Luck!
Welcome to the Tiki Hut Laura!!! Reincarnation is a subject that I find very interesting and am a believer. I also believe we have lessons to learn along the way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post and for the fantastic books!
I am a believer in recarnation.
ReplyDeleteBoth books sound very good.
Oh, what an interesting concept. I've had the feeling of being certain places before even though I know I've never been there before. I wish I knew mores about it.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe you've lived before? Have you tried to uncover your past lives? I think it's terrible interesting. I wonder how someone would go about doing that.
Both of your books sound really good Laura, what is the heat level on them?
I am also a believer in reincarnation and especially soul mates. I love the ideas you have for both these books and love how you broke the one up in three different life times.
ReplyDeleteIs this a theme that you intend to revisit in your writing?
Btw, I would love to visit Rome, it's on my bucket list. How do you like living there?
Sammy
Yes, J, that's a feeling I've had with one place in particular, India. forever I believed I'd already lived there and when the time came for me to go there...well, all my feelings were confirmed, even if not exactly the way I'd imagined them to. But if it's really related to something so buried we don't have conscious access anymore, then I guess my Indian experience was a sort of follow-up of previous ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Laura
Yes, Estrella, I'm right there with you in believing in reincarnation. Of course, nothing's sure, especially about the after-life, but I like to think there's something else out there beyond our limited lives.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Laura
DIVINITAS
ReplyDeleteHeat Level: 5 flames
TO SEDUCE A SOULMATE
Heat Level: 4 flames
Al right, regarding my writing about re-incarnation, I definitely have other books on the subject, only they aren't out yet. One of them is Tasting Leon's Mark, coming soon from Whiskey Creek Press, the final chapter of two souls chasing one another through different lifetimes, inextricably connected by a passionate game of blook and sex. The final chapter, Tasting Leon's Mark, is about Leon and Sean, the last two incarnations and how they manage to change their premise, growing in the process and moving on to another level. Great paranormal stuff LOL
ReplyDeleteI also have the first chapter, Re-Scue, which was originally contracted to FDWP before it went down. But I'll soon get it published, don't woryy.
As for Rome, yeah, it's a great city, but not immune from the big city's prblems such as traffic, pollution, people, etc. And I like it well enough, although I have to admit I don't miss it the times I'm away. Is it home? Perhaps, even if to me it's not the place that makes the home, but th people you're living with.
Ciao from Rome, Laura
TO SEDUCE A SOULMATE is a must buy for me.
ReplyDeleteLaura, do you think book trailers help in book sales?
Thanks,
Tracey D
Great post and interesting subject. Have you ever thought of writing a nonfiction on the subject with all the research and personal experiences you've had?
ReplyDeleteI'm just getting into m/m and haven't tried your books yet, put I like the paranormal twist you give them. All all your books m/m or do you write straight m/f romance as well?
I have always been interested in why women write m/m...how did you get into this genre? I've been reading it for a couple of years and know I enjoy it but if someone asked me why, I'm not really sure I could tell them why. LOL
ReplyDeleteWhy do you enjoy writing and reading it?
Jenny
OH I know there are soulmates and life mates and even twin souls. I have met a couple of past life soulmates in this incarnation but neither was for me in this life believe it or not although I did get to complete a past life full circle and move on with one and knows that the other is more for me in the next go round even though he is a great friend to me know but he is NOT the one I know for me now. It is amazing how it all works and I love someone like you takes on all of this.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Hi, Tracey, never tried book trailer, but I'm sure they work as much as any other promo idea does. When I get one up, I'll be sure to send you the link <òpò
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Laura
Hi, Birdie, you ask some tough questions, especially the one about writing on this subject as a non-fiction. To be frank, no, I've never thought of doing a non-fiction book on the subject because I don't feel I'm an expert or anything. I like the subject, researched it, lived it in my personal experience, but a lot of it is a mix of my ideas combined with Occidental and Oriental philosophy and frankly I don't know if anyone would be interested enough to know in detail what Laura Tolomei thinks of this subject. No, I find it more appropriate in a fictional contest, where my characters are free to move as they like, a freedom I wouldn't have in a non-fiction work, and can tell readers my ideas in a simpler yet more effective way.
ReplyDeleteAs for your second question, no, I haven't written straight m/f. All my stories are basically m/m and even if it's not the predominant part, it's the most relevant. Maybe Trespassing All Hallows Eve, my very first release, could qualify more as an m/f than any of my other stories so you might want to check that out.
Thanks for your comment, Laura
Why do you enjoy writing and reading m/m genre?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I've never read it before I started writing about it. And I write it because I like writing about people and their connection not just to each other, but with the world that surrounds them. And since we're all living under conventions and reules, even if we might not be aware of it, I like to explore if and how someone could lead a different path from what society traditionally assigns him or her. This is my excuse for writing m/m. I want to challenge my readers to think for themselves and nothing works better than telling of characters struggling against those same conventions we face every day. Massification, mass media, mass culture, that's where society wants to fit us in, everyone conveniently labeled for an immediate recognition. But I rebel to this limited vision that restricts individual freedom and choices in ways we don't even imagine. So in my own small way, I bring to life characters and storis that fight against the system, not in a violent way, of course, but using their resources, their minds, their convictions and whatever else comes handy to lead a life of their own choosing.
But the sex's great, too! LOL
Hope you keep enjoying the genre, Laura
Well, Elaine, thanks for sharing your thoughts and giving me new food for my mind. You see, I never thought soul mates might change from one life to the next, always assumed they'd stay the same, simply change shape. And yet, you prove me wrong and even give me a new twist for a possible new story on the subject.
ReplyDeleteMy heart felt thanks, Elain, and thanks for the share, Laura
That sounds great, Laura. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWow, this really is an interesting post. I've read all the great questions and all of Laura's wonderful answers. Thanks for taking the time to really connect with us readers.
ReplyDeleteI find too often, questions left for authors on guest blog spots aren't really answered, so it's been nice and educational to read through all these.
I enjoy your writing and I'm so glad I found out you were here.
Enjoy your weekend.
Lauri Jo
Thanks, Lauri Jo, it was my pleasure, not to mention a lot of fun, reading and answeing the many questions. Like I said, questions are always a challenge 'cause they make you think and I'm honored to have such curious and interested readers!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, however you found out about it, and have a great week. Laura
Both books look like great reads. I read your book set in Rome and really liked it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your interviews, but I don't believe in reincarnation. I do think there are soulmates.
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