When you least expect it… “Living in Harmony”

Preview time! I’m excited to present the book cover mock-up of my unpublished novel, Living in Harmony, that I created to help promote the manuscript to agents and publishers alike.

Here’s the teaser blurb that goes with it:

When Michael and Kate’s marriage unravels after a futile final round of in vitro fertilization, they decide on a quick getaway up the California coast to escape their pain. In the sleepy town of Harmony (population 18), the couple happens upon a small house for sale, where Kate imagines she hears the laughter of a child. Drawn to the house, the couple uproot their lives in LA and moves to Harmony, where they share their home with the ghostly apparition of Ruby, an astute four-year-old girl.

Living in the smallest of towns with an array of hippies, farmers and artists, who are as different as they are close, can be taxing enough without the added realization that some of Harmony’s residents may not be what they appear to be. Add to that trying to save what’s left of their marriage after a year of devastating losses. Living in Harmony entertains the thought that the trials we face happen for a reason, and sometimes it takes clandestine intervention for us to understand ourselves, our relationships and the world around us. 

The cover design is a digital painting of the actual town of Harmony, California (you guessed it…population 18) where the story takes place. The imagery is taken straight from the town’s description in the book:

Kate watched as the insignificant town came into view. Its row of buildings, white clusters against the green of the surrounding grass, reminded her of tiny bird eggs huddled together in a nest against the elements.

This idea of a nest of pure white eggs nestled in the safety of a green nest is meant to convey that Harmony is a safe haven for those willing to slow down and notice its existence. 

As I continue on my journey to find Living in Harmony a publishing home, I will update  you on the progress and share details of the story here. Hope you enjoyed this first peek!

No Matter What You Believe…You Gotta have Faith!

Faith is an interesting thing. It’s one of those things that are hard to describe to a kid or even an adult. How do you define what faith is for you? It’s not always easily put into words. Yet it’s something we use everyday. We have faith that our car will stop when we press on the brake. We have faith in our spouse that they won’t cheat. We have faith that the breeze we feel is really just the wind and not that of a spirit or vice versa.

On Thinkablogit.com this week, I posted an essay entitled “Leap of Faith: Religion, Science and Atheism.” I talk about how as scientific discoveries evolve we learn more about what we were wrong about then right. For example, that the world is flat, the giant squid is fictional and that certain species of dinosaurs are real.

Yet atheists constantly point to the fact that science has no evidence of God existing therefore he doesn’t. When you look at science’s track record it’s not 100% perfect. Just look at the examples above and consider how often we are told something we eat is good for us one year and bad for us the next (think wine, chocolate, coffee). Many say that the bible is riddled with contradictions and inaccuracies but you can say the same for science. What is true in one study isn’t in another. It takes faith to believe.

In Living in Harmony, faith is a major theme. In the story, we get as varied of opinions on faith as we do in real life. People (based on their degrees of faith) handle situations, particularly losses, differently. In writing agents and publishers recently about the book, here is how I detailed the faith theme in the story:

It (faith) is our choice as to whether we believe in divine intervention or simple coincidence. Not everyone believes in the miracles they witness. Those who choose faith see the circumstances all the clearer and experience a divine harmony in their relationship with God and the people in their lives.  

I think that pretty much sums up what the religious faithful gain from putting their faith in God. It’s something those against religion don’t have going for them.  

What are your views on faith? Have you ever thought about the similarities between your faith in science and a faith in religion? Share your comments below.

I’d like to invite you to check out Thinkablogit.com. In addition to this week’s “Leap of Faith” essay, there are also several other new posts including a new “Shallow Gene Pool” (Dee Snider & Debbie Gibson), a new quote and funny of the week and the PopEdge report for a movie trailer you can’t miss (click here to see it).

The novel, Living in Harmony, was written by B.K. Bergman and is currently seeking a home for publication. If you are interested in reading more about the forthcoming book subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive e-mail updates every time there is something to share.

If you’re interested in representing this book for publication, please e-mail bkbergman@gmail.com.

Let’s Talk About Heaven…What’s it like?

This week, I posted on Thinkablogit.com a new essay “Who’s Going to Heaven?” In it, I talk about the human segregation we create when we exclude faiths from God’s peace. As humans, we will never understand the depth of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness. The bible itself talks about a multitude of people in heaven from every place, race, tribe and language. It begs the question whether heaven is for all religions or strictly just for those in the Christian faith. Click here to read my answer.

In my novel, Living in Harmony, the topic of heaven and what its like is addressed in-depth. My personal view of what heaven will be like is very much represented in the book. I based my idea of heaven on my own interpretations of scripture to support my claim (something I think we all should do). 

In Harmony, Kate’s dealing with both the loss of her baby and mother. She’s struggling with losing people on opposite ends of the spectrum of her life and it’s an important dynamic. In one relationship she’s the daughter and in the other the potential mother (this dynamic is a central point in the story).

In addition to her grieving for their deaths, she struggling with understanding what death and heaven is. She’s not traditionally a religious person and in a time of loss (like so many people) she wants the comfort of knowing those she has lost are at peace. In particular, she wants to know her mother who suffered a painful, cancerous death is happy. Ruth, who runs a shop in town, describes for Kate what my interpretation of heaven is. Here’s a compressed passage from Living in Harmony:

The truth is I don’t think heaven is a physical place at all. Heaven’s not up in the sky like so many think. It’s a place of mind. It knows no boundary. I believe a soul is at peace once it arrives in heaven. It does not wander or wonder. It knows. And when we die, our soul goes to that place of peace. The soul is in harmony with the spiritual realm and all its elements. Void of time, pain and distance. It’s unlike anything we could imagine…heaven is hard for anyone to easily describe…While heaven is beyond us and it is still a part of us.

What Ruth is talking about in the end of that passage is the fact here on earth we catch glimpses of heaven. In the form of God’s majestic creation, in our soulful connections to other people and in the miracles He brings to our lives.

In both the book and the article posted this week, I want the reader to understand we have human limitations to understand what God and heaven are. We can never truly know just how great heaven is. At the same time, we still have these spiritual connections to both God and paradise.

In the novel, I set the story along California’s Central Coast in the real life coastal town of Harmony,California. For me, personally, California’s Central Coast is as close to heaven as I get. It’s my “place of mind,” my little piece of heaven here on earth.

I believe heaven will be different for everyone. What I see and experience will be different from what you will experience. I will find a beach more perfect that can be found here on earth. For a glimpse of the Central Coast and my view of heaven, I’ve included a photo by Dagmar Collins from Flickr.com of the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse on the Central Coast. The lighthouse (and the legend I created for it in the book ) plays a significant part in the story. It’s a part of the story that reaffirms the harmony with the heavenly realm we experience here on earth and what heaven is to each of us.

If you haven’t yet checked out Thinkablogit.com, now is the perfect time. Check out my latest essay on heaven and this week’s PopEdge entry about the viral video about Kony 2012.

What do you see when you visualize what heaven is for you? Who will be in heaven? Share your views below. Thanks for reading and sharing.

The novel, Living in Harmony, was written by B.K. Bergman and is currently seeking a home for publication. If you are interested in reading more about the forthcoming book subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive e-mail updates every time there is something to share.

If you’re interested in representing this book for publication, please e-mail bkbergman@gmail.com.

Do you ‘ThinkaBlogit’ yet?

Are you subscribing to my other website, ThinkaBlogit.com, yet? Why not? You’re missing out on much of the great content that was previously posted here.

Here’s a recap of the most recent posts and essays on ThinkaBlogit.com. There’s always something new posted every week ranging from topics of religion, politics and pop culture. Here’s a rundown of recent posts:

“Angelina Jolie’s Leg is the Latest Craze!” –  If you watch watched the Oscars, you know what I’m talking about. You likely thought the same thing the world did. I doubt  Jolie expected the reaction she got for strutting her stuff the way she did but the internet is a buzz with “Jolie’ing.” Those who miss “Tebowing” and “planking” have their new obsession. Check out our gallery of some of the best pictures from the internet on this latest fad. Click here for the link!

 

“PopEdge: YouTube Video “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” – If you haven’t seen this video for yourself, you really need to check it out. Jeff Bethke’s inspirational video has reached nearly 20 million views on YouTube. His poem “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” speaks to many who find fault with the way churches are represented to today’s society. It’s a must see video for all believers and something that should be shared with those who often complain about churches and religion in general. The video cuts to the heart of what Christ taught. Click here to check it out!

“Addition: The Hole in the Soul” – Posted shortly after the death of Whitney Houston was this essay about our quest to fill that “hole in our soul” with drugs, alcohol, food and various other addictive substances. We are an addictive society looking for ways to fill our soul with things that will never quite get it full. What do you use in your life to fill that void in your life? What is the one thing that most Twelve Step programs focus on? It was one of the most popular essays on the site to date. Go and check it out (click here).

If you haven’t subscribed yet to ThinkaBlogit.com you certainly should be thinking about it. Stay in the loop with what’s new in religion, politics and pop culture.

Click here to the link to the FREE subscription page of ThinkaBlogit!

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

In my novel, Living in Harmony, the central couple buy a small farm-house that appears to be inhabited by the ghost of a small four-year-old girl. The question is raised through much of the book about what exactly this apparition is. In the small town of Harmony, California (population 18), the small group of residents have varied opinions on what exactly this girl and other appearances in town could be.

A 2007 Fox News survey reported that nearly fifty percent of all people believe in ghosts and nearly a quarter of those believed they had actually seen one. What makes someone believe? Is seeing believing? Obviously not, if nearly half of all people believe and less than half of those have seen. Just what is it that makes people believe in things they have not seen?

In Living in Harmony, the statistics from the Fox News survey are fairly similar to those in the town in the story. There are just over a quarter of the people who have seen a spirit and about half who believe even without seeing. What’s most interesting about Living in Harmony is how the belief in a ghost or spirit works as a metaphor for our spiritual faith.

It was important for me as a writer to give those 18 residents of Harmony enough spiritual variety to demonstrate the spectrum of our world views toward spirituality, faith and belief in the unknown. Harmony has religious leaders and religious lay people represented, as well as non-believers and those who dance on the fringe of choosing to believe or not. All with various self-actualizing outcomes.

In my story, the ghost is presented positively and not at all in the horror genre. What if the ghost you saw were an angelic, spiritual one? How would that change things for you? Those of us who believe in spiritual things understand there are both holy and evil spirits that dwell in the world. In Living in Harmony, the focus is on the holy ghosts. There are those moments in our lives, even in nature, where reality defies logic. 

Anyone who has ever seen ocean phosphorescence understands something phenomenal isn’t always easily

An ocean phosphorescence event appears late in "Living in Harmony"

explained. While this type of phenomenon has scientific explanations, those who have witnesses it, understand how unreasonably powerful the sight of it can be. It doesn’t seem logical for us to see glowing greens and blue in the night surf and yet we’re seeing it. The world is surrounded by scientific logic and yet there are things that defy common logic all the time. We live in harmony with both our natural world and the people around us as well as in harmony with the spiritual realm.

What do you believe? Do you believe in ghosts? What about spiritual or holy ghosts? What proof do you have to support your beliefs? Share your comments below. Thanks for reading!

The novel, Living in Harmony, was written by B.K. Bergman and is currently seeking a home for publication. If you are interested in reading more about the forthcoming book subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive e-mail updates every time there is something to share. If you’re interested in representing this book for publication, please e-mail bkbergman@gmail.com. 

ThinkaBlogit.com off and running!

After last week’s launch, most of my writing activities have been related to technical aspects of the website (correcting links, fixing videos, updating ad space). Pretty boring stuff I might add.

If you click over to Thinkablogit.com you’ll see the weekly quote includes a line from the 1987 movie “Wall Street.” The quote of the week was to match an essay entitled “Create & Stop Living Off Someone Else.” This essay was originally going to launch the site and my copy editing friend thought it was the stronger piece but I went with the “Whether You Steal a Pencil or a Million Dollars: All Sins are the Same” instead.

The “Create” essay was supposed to headline this week’s update but at the last-minute I decided to pull it in place of an essay on the same-sex marriage debate entitled “How Religion Lost the Same-Sex Marriage Battle” which is basically a re-edit of a piece that ran on Examiner.com last year and was featured on my radio interview during that same time.

While the “Create” essay has merit, it seems a little darker than most pieces I write and in reading it for publication, I decided it just didn’t feel right for this week’s feature. I felt it didn’t fit with the agenda I wanted to share. It’s topic centers around the economy (not the most popular subject based on past articles) and how America needs to reinvent itself and manufacture more (“create things”) instead of just buying and selling them. I’m sure the essay will find it’s time and place.

So instead, this week’s Thinkablogit.com features include the “Same-Sex Marriage Battle” essay and a “PopEdge” piece on The Civil War’s “Barton Hollow” Grammy-nominated album. You’ll also find an updated “Funnies” on the opening page. This feature like the quote of the week will change regularly.

Click here to read the latest on Thinkablogit.com

“Obsession of the Week” Update

This month, I launched a new website, Thinkablogit.com and the “Obsession of the Week” posts moved there to a new permanent home. The category was renamed “PopEdge” and represents pop culture items that are on the cutting edge of popularity. If you have enjoyed the category posts here, feel free to click over to Thinkablogit.com and check out the latest “PopEdge” posts.

Click here to read Thinkablogit.com’s PopEdge Posts

It’s Official….ThinkaBlogit.com launched today

I’d like to invite all of you to click over and check out my new website; Thinkablogit.com for opinion pieces on religion, politics and pop culture. It is an exciting and long-planned adventure and I am happy to have it out for the world to read officially today. I am hopeful that over the next few weeks the site will continue to grow and evolve.

There are three new posts that were added for today’s launch:

“Whether You Steal a Pencil or a Million Dollars: All Sins are Created Equal” About how we tend to create our own hierarchy of acceptable and unacceptable sins.

“PopEdge: ‘Downton Abbey’ on PBS” is about the growing in popularity PBS series centered around the lives of the residents of a nineteenth-century aristocrat’s estate.

And from the popular “Shallow End of the Gene Pool” –  Newt Gingrich & Baby Huey 

 

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, you are going to love the much improved and easier to navigate Thinkablogit.com.

Today we also start our expanded social campaign to get new visitors to the site. There is a recent Examiner.com article that was posted today that was also posted on other news sites. I’ve also partnered with Google, Yahoo and Bing to promote the site starting this week.

I’d like to ask all of you to share this link via email, Facebook, and any other social media outlets you use. And please don’t forget to click over to Thinkablogit.com and subscribe to the digest version of the news feed from the site. It is much improved over the email updates you receive here. If you’d like to subscribe to the Thinkablogit.com’s e-mail feed and stay informed. Click here!  

I look forward to seeing some familiar names comment on the content over at the new site very soon. I’m also looking forward to getting to work on revising the B.K.Bergman Blog starting next week. Thanks for your continued support! 

Click here to check out ThinkaBlogIt.com for yourself.

Tomorrow is the day…2-1-12….Thinkablogit.com

Tomorrow is finally the day that Thinkablogit.com launches.  Here are a sample of the ads that will begin running tomorrow to promote the new website. Click over and check out Thinkablogit.com NOW and subscribe to our digest news feed and stay up-to-date with all that is talked about there.

Introducing ThinkaBlogit.com

It’s preview time! ThinkaBlogit.com officially launches on 2-1-12 but all B.K. Bergman blog subscribers are getting a preview starting today.

ThinkaBlogit.com officially spins off the religion, political and pop culture opinions and posts from this site to a separate site. The B.K. Bergman blog will then be able to focus more on this blogger’s overall writing efforts. ThinkaBlogit.com has been in development since the summer of last year (when I reduced my Examiner.com articles) so I’m anxious to have its premiere next week.

Be sure and check out the “ThinkaBlogWhat?” and the “Think Outside the Blob” pages for some clarity on the website’s theme, title and tagline.

Right now, the site is limited on new content as much of the info on the current preview site includes articles from Examiner.com and posts originally found on this blog. Starting 2-1-12 (next Wednesday), the site will be updated weekly with new content. The weekly update will include opinion pieces on religion, politics and pop culture issues. It will also mix in posts from our “PopEdge” file, a new category called “Lies from Glamorrah,” weekly quotes, cartoons and of course, “It’s a Shallow Gene Pool” comparisons. So start subscribing today!

Feel free to browse the site and check it out. Understand it is still a work-in-progress and some elements (links) may not yet be functional. I’d ask you NOT promote the site to your family and friends until next week when we have the official launch. I’ll give you the go-ahead then. And yes we’re mobile ready for your ipad, iphone and Kindle Fire.

On an important side note, I’d like to thank Ken Brafman for his copy editing support this past week. You constantly make me a better writer. Thank you Ken!

New Website Launch Update

I’m just about 12 days away from the launch of my new website which will focus on religion, politics and pop culture. It’s been a very tedious work in progress and although things are slightly behind schedule, I am still optimistic for a 2-1-12 launch. I will likely preview the site for you all hopefully at the end of next week. It’s an exciting opportunity that I hope will be well received.

As a hint, I am sharing this George Fiske photo taken on the over-hanging rocks at Yosemite’s Glacier Point. This photo’s imagery plays a part in the new site’s logo and overall theme. With the theme of “dancing outside the blob of conventional thinking” it is my hope that the new site will inspire people to look outside the boundaries of their beliefs in a positive way (much the way my Examiner.com column did).

When the new site launches, the B.K.Bergman Blog will focus more on my fiction writing then it has in the last year. Subscribers here will be introduced to a new series of posts called “Meet the Neighbors of Harmony” which will focus on getting to know the minor characters of my novel, Living in Harmony. I’ll also begin posting about the themes of the book that relate to spirituality. Hopefully, you’ll all find it a lot of fun.

 Not a subscriber yet? Why not? Stay actively informed via e-mail to the latest posts here at B.K.Bergman Blog.