Tag Archives: Unison

Finding Light Through Darkness in Dystopian Fiction – Part One

  By Eleni | July 7, 2020 - 06:06 | , , , , , , ,
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I’ve seen a meme floating around on Facebook of a Euler diagram linking together a host of dystopian movies and novels to an ominous undisclosed location. It started popping up during the start of the pandemic. Comments about the meme varied, yet I got the sense that those who responded were bound together by a hidden force nestled within the subconscious realm. What were people collectively tapping into? In a critique on Orwell’s writing style, Sam Jordison reveals something about “1984” that will resonate with visionary fiction fans: “You only have to look at the way it [1984] has altered our language and raised our collective consciousness of the dangers of the surveillance state.” Aside from Orwell’s “preposterous melodramatic incidents,” the horrors of “1984,” evoke us to glimpse beyond society’s veil. This subconscious unveiling may explain why the dystopian meme went viral. Can dystopian stories that raise our collective consciousness be considered visionary fiction?

 

In “Modern Man in Search of a Soul,” Carl Jung viewed visionary fiction as an inverse of “psychological creations.” A visionary story is “a strange something that derives its existence from the hinterland of man’s mind—that suggests the abyss of time separating us from pre-human ages, or evokes a super-human world of contrasting light and darkness. It is a primordial experience, which surpasses man’s understanding and to which he is therefore in danger of succumbing.” To unwrap this definition, we’ll first explore our current society and the possible elements that might be prompting people to make the dystopian connection.

Read the rest of the article at the Visionary Fiction Alliance. 

 

Jessie’s Song is Ready to Go Live and Gets 5 Stars!

  By Eleni | June 5, 2013 - 09:37 | , , , ,
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Before I begin the post, I wanted to mention that Unison has been reviewed by Fiction For A New Age.  You can read the review here.

As of this week, I’ve completed the final proof of Jessie’s Song, and I’m happy to announce that it will be published on June 20th in eBook format at Amazon. The paperback version will be released in the fall. If you’d like to read the first chapter, you can do so here. I had so much fun working with the protagonist, Markos Adams, that I decided to start a new series with him. I ended up deleting the prologue and epilogue, which I liked immensely. Nevertheless, I’m truly excited to keep Markos’s story going. I’ve already started to plot out the next book.

Jessie’s Song is completely different in setting and tone than Unison. It’s still visionary fiction but told with an urban fantasy flavor. My lead characters always tend to interact with some humor and with urban fantasy, it felt organic to the storytelling style.

The protagonist, Markos Adams, is a Greek-American jazz guitarist and poet who also happens to make a killer baklava. I had fun using my culture in this book, particularly with coffee ground reading. I’ve also included some of Markos’s poetry at the end of the book, some of which has his sense of humor and some that also depict his love for his ex-wife and first love. It was a surreal experience to write love poetry from a male perspective, but we women know what we’d love to hear written about us in a poem! One of the poems from the book is here, and it’s going to be part of a charity anthology, Twist of Fate, to benefit the victims of the tornados that recently ravaged Oklahoma. As soon as the book becomes available, I’ll post the information on where to purchase the book. Being a part of the project inspired me to write more poems, and I plan on releasing a poetry book in the future.

Jessie’s Song Gets 5 Stars!

When I woke up this morning, I got my first review back from Jessie’s Song. It’s always great to get a glowing review before publishing.

Markos Adams, a well-known Jazz musician, has just committed yet another suicide attempt and it is all over the news. A year later, he is back on stage while struggling to shape up, trying to straighten out his life. Through his ordeals to keep his sanity, he spends time with his daughter Jessie, and still loves his ex-wife Stella, although they are no longer together. A day after his return to the spotlight, his daughter is abducted and things go out of hand. He must determine the identity of his daughter’s kidnapper; otherwise he feels he must kill himself and he must do so within the next twenty-four hours. Will this finally be Markos’s last day on earth, and will he face death without seeing his daughter?

“Jessie’s Song” is a wonderfully crafted mystery novel that explores themes of life, love, art, sanity and death, in rather unusual ways. When reading the book, it is as if various items were neatly packed in a box for us to enjoy unraveling and perusing piece by piece. Many portions of the book give us insights into art, what with the author also being a songwriter, among others. Fast-paced and action-packed, it is a most uncommon, yet exciting case of abduction to read about, written with thrilling passages and sequences. Moreover, the love that Markos shares with his daughter, and the strong emotions he still holds for his wife are absolutely heart-wrenching, especially as Markos struggles with his possibly impending death to save his daughter. “Jessie’s Song” is definitely worth keeping in one’s collection. I really enjoyed reading this book! – Maria Beltran  of Reader’s Favorite

Spiritual Objectivism – Part 3

  By Eleni | May 23, 2013 - 17:44 | ,
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In my last post, I formed a connection between spirituality and objectivism linked together by morality that’s natural to humans. I want to focus this post on the aspect of reality that influences my writing.

 “Reality exists as an objective absolute. That man’s mind reason is his means of perceiving it. And that man needs a rational morality.” Ayn Rand

 This is where I splinter off with Rand. I hold a view similar to Robert Anton Wilson:

“Humans live through their myths and only endure their realities.”

I resonated with Robert Anton Wilson’s writing, but I was still tethered to my self-perceived reality…although I’d been aware of it at the time. After I’d detached from the collectively agreed upon notion of reality, I resonated to the truth behind his words. I don’t view reality as an absolute. I see it as highly subjective. What we all see and experience collectively is the reality we’ve all agreed upon. That doesn’t necessarily make it true. Therefore, I don’t view perceived reality as absolute, and I cannot make absolute judgements based on that which isn’t absolute.

“We did not fall because of a moral error; we fell because of an intellectual error: that of taking the phenomenal world as real.” Phillip K. Dick

All my stories are written from a non-absolutist stance. I’m about as non-absolutist as they come! While plots resolve, I find there’s always an unidentifiable beyond. I suppose I’m fascinated with storytelling because I see so many potentials, and writing fiction is my way of discovering them one possibility at a time. Life has certainly become more interesting…and weird, after I’d detached from ideology!

Mix Ayn Rand with Socrates and what do you get?

Ayn rand stated that the base of knowledge stems from three axioms:

1. We exist

2. We are conscious

3. Identity

I veer off at number three, which isn’t surprising as Ayn Rand was an atheist, and I’m not. Atheism is as absolute a term to me as believers of any religion.

“There is no complete theory of anything.” Robert Anton Wilson 

Total knowledge is impossible. Socrates realized the only advantage he had over most people was that he was aware of his own ignorance. That awareness hit me after the following message had come to me while meditating:

“It’s not about being right or wrong.  It’s all about the experience.”

I’d previously mentioned the above message in posts. However, this one simple phrase is what had detached from all forms of ideology. What I view as existence is going through life experiencing it through the senses. Labels and identities can limit our experiences when we attach to what the identity represents. This was demonstrated by Ayn Rand who became a victim of her own philosophy, after she’d become a cult-like figure. That was bound to happen because of her attachment to her own identity. Still, her philosophy is conducive to a free society where people are free to express themselves as individuals.

“Groups are grammatical fictions; only individuals exist, and each individual is different.” Robert Anton Wilson

Objectivism stands the test of time and should be taught in school, but society today shuns individualism in favor of the collective. We’re turning into the Borg, and I don’t say that to be funny. In order to grow, we must be able to think for ourselves and not be dictated to by bureaucracies and despots.

 There is no absolute knowing in an observable reality. I can only go by experiences as they occur. And since experiences aren’t static, it doesn’t make sense to me to attach to an ideology. Circumstances change, events happen, and opinions shift, especially when our knowledge increases. This is all very positive to me as I’ve been more creative since detaching from all forms of ideology. There’s no belief system within me that I must defend or argue over, so I find I’m more open to differing opinions that I would have either tuned out or refused to hear. I could’ve never written Unison with any residual dogma, as I held nothing sacred while writing it. I see the Spheral Series as my personal evolution. My protagonists tend to evolve to a higher level than my own current level of evolution.  I suppose that’s how I challenge myself to keep growing.

Tune in next week for my next installment on a subject that’s taking on a life of its own.

Love and light,

Eleni

Part 1  Part 2  

Spiritual Objectivism – Part 2

  By Eleni | May 17, 2013 - 09:18 | , ,
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Last week, I began a series on Spiritual Objectivism. The subject ties into my writing, and why I’m more motivated and inspired than ever to be an author. This was all brought about by my recent discovery of Libertarian science fiction. These two subjects evolved into a series of posts. If you haven’t read part one, click here.

I never conceptualized the spiritual connection to objectivism until I’d let go of my belief systems and understood what it had meant to be authentic.  It wasn’t easy. Between my kundalini awakening and the present day, I’d experienced many traumas and almost lost the relationship with a person close to me because her belief system had clashed with mine. A few years ago, I would’ve brought up how she her cult brainwashed her. I don’t anymore. My shift in mindset happened after I’d realized almost everyone is brainwashed to some extent. And the first person I pointed my finger to was myself.

We’re a herd species. We form groups around politics, nationality, religion, race, culture, sexual preferences, etc. A select few serve as the spokespeople who are followed by the group. Join any group, and there will be some sort of dogma presented. If we dare stray away from what is deemed acceptable, we’re shunned, unless we can outshine the leaders and take their place. We may also get shunned if we’re not in the group or if we challenge the accepted worldview. The leaders establish themselves as experts who are deemed wiser than everyone in the group. Amazingly, many of us don’t bother to question whether or not that’s true. Robert Anton Wilson humorously touched upon these themes in the Illuminatus Trilogy and his non-fiction book, Cosmic Trigger. All hail Discordia!

On my own spiritual journey, I eventually trashed everything I’d held sacred and emerged an ideological agnostic. Since then, I became happier, and my interpersonal relationships grew stronger.  The less dogmatic I became, the more risks I was willing to take with my writing. I now write for the sake of the story. This shift gave me an authentic voice, which was important to me. It also made me fall in love with the craft of writing. When  I was writing only screenplays, I was told how even a great manuscript ends up getting rewritten. That’s how things work in Hollywood unless you’re George Lucas or Steven Spielberg. Compromising on a vision may work for some writers, but not for me. I was uninspired and knew the only way I could get my story out my way was by writing a novel, which I was reluctant to do because of my short attention span. But once I started, I was hooked because I was able to write according to my own personal vision.

Ayn Rand’s philosophy managed to survive my massive ideological data dump because there are certain truths to it, which are undeniable to me. On a personal level, it champions the importance of creating something from within ourselves as individuals, without compromise. That’s true art. On a societal level, I see objectivism not only as an effective blueprint to a free society where creativity is free to flourish, but also as an ideal way to embark on a spiritual path!

Before I continue, I should probably explain how I can call myself an ideological agnostic while I’m promoting objectivism.  The explanation is simple. I don’t view objectivism as my personal religion. It isn’t something I follow blindly or build my worldview around. I do have my own opinions that contradict the philosophy. And those aren’t fixed either! I have no intention of forming a new belief system!

Natural Morality

Ayn Rand’s view on morality is where I’d first spotted the connection between spirituality and objectivism. She postured that morality was natural to humans for the very fact that our survival depends on it. When a government attempts to force morality on us, that’s when we all start to lose. What surprised me within this last decade is that I’ve seen a steady increase in the number of people who identify governmental institutions as the arbiters of morality and compassion…an impossible ideal. Compassionate acts come only from us, as individuals. Morality cannot be forced. Some of my favorite science fiction books and movies also touch upon this theme. A Clockwork Orange depicts a society that used mind programming to cure criminals. Who can forget Alex’s signature smile at the end of the movie, which demonstrated that while his behavior had successfully been controlled, he remained unchanged.

 A limited government is ideal at our current level of societal evolution because it gives us the freedom to develop morality and compassion, as individuals. I touch upon this theme in Unison. It cannot be done by force. When a government tries to coerce people into compliance, the society ceases to evolve.

I don’t view government as a static entity. It’s forever evolving and always a reflection of who we are as a people. This is a major reason why friends won’t hear me whining and complaining about the government. I’ll put up posts in my Facebook page about causes I find important to our personal freedoms, which are under severe attack now. It’s up to us, not the government, to ensure that we’re a free people. The government is a mirror of who we are. If we want an honest and compassionate government, a higher number of us need to evolve towards being honest and compassionate individuals. And that isn’t an impossible ideal because:

Morality is natural to the human condition

“A morality not based on faith, not on arbitrary whim, not on emotion, not on arbitrary edict, mystical or social, but on reason. And morality, which can be demonstrated to be true and necessary.” Ayn Rand

The above quote I internalized after I’d detached from religion and belief. I felt more connected to all of humanity. This demonstrated to me, on a personal level, that morality is, in fact, natural to us as a means to our survival as a species. It’s all the conditionings we place on ourselves that separate us. Therefore, it is true and necessary. I find it remarkable that a self-proclaimed atheist like Ayn Rand can come off sounding spiritual!  Additionally, this serves as further proof that there is an underlying basis of wisdom that connects all of us, irrespective of belief or lack thereof.  We may be different in some respects, but deep down, we draw from the same fountain of inspiration.

So we are a naturally moral species and that’s something to celebrate. We only have to trust in ourselves more to bring it out.

Click here for part 3 where I’ll explain where I veer off of objectivism.

Love and light,

Eleni

Spiritual Objectivism Series – Part 1

  By Eleni | May 9, 2013 - 07:10 | , , ,
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When I found visionary fiction, I felt as if I had come home. My stories fit the genre perfectly. Nevertheless, it encompasses many sub-genres. For a robust discussion on visionary fiction, please click here. It demonstrates the dynamics of the genre and the challenges it faces.

Unison, Book One of the Spheral Series, is science fiction in tone and style, but I wanted to see if I could narrow it down even more, so I could connect to the type of readers who would appreciate my book. I recently discovered Libertarian science fiction, and I knew I found another genre that would also fit my series, in particular.

For a recent bloghops, I was asked to compare my book to other books, and that took a lot of thought. I finally came up with the following:


Imagine Atlas Shrugged that champions the individual’s mind and all it can achieve when unbound; the Stand, that promotes strength of faith and will, and A Brave New World, where the individual is controlled by drugs and distraction. Throw them all together and you have Unison!  

Whoa! How do I market that? Although the theme of the series is spiritual and deals with the evolution of human consciousness, the characters embrace the importance of individualism and how they can only find the truth by championing who they are as individuals and not by giving themselves over to anyone else’s authority.

The setting begins in Unity, an oppressive government run by the Corporate Hierarchy that tries to control everyone. Damon, the protagonist, seeks to become a  leader. He spends most of his efforts trying to make a name for himself. During his ascent, he has precognitive visions of his friend’s death and of a woman who leaves him cryptic messages. It may seem like a Dystopian tale, but I don’t consider it in that it’s not the main aspect of the story. It’s about the quest for liberation on an individual and spiritual level, and most of the journey takes place out of Unity.

Many Libertarians embrace Objectivism philosophy. I was first introduced to the philosophy by Ayn Rand and was captivated by her novella, Anthem. I also read Atlas Shrugged in three days! That was over twenty years ago. Since then, I’ve noticed a synergistic connection between Objectivism and spiritual evolution. Objectivism allows the individual the freedom to  unmask his or her own uniqueness. It’s an under-appreciated philosophy due to Ayn Rand’s use of the word selfish. It doesn’t help that money manipulators such as Alan Greenspan had cited her as an influence. If she truly had been his influence, he completely misunderstood her. Greenspan supports a corrupt system whereas Rand’s protagonists abhor corruption. They’re driven by the need to turn their inner-visions into a reality, irrespective of whether they’ll become rich or famous. Take Howard Rourk, from The Fountainhead. He was willing to have someone else take credit for his work just so he could see the building he’d designed come to life. He only asked that it be built exactly to his specifications. For Rourk, it was about seeing his vision realized, not about money or fame. That was the modus operandi for the person who had taken credit for his work. As a creative person, I can understand Rourk’s drive. If I couldn’t publish my book because I lived in a society that shunned individuality, I would probably do the same.

The selfishness of which Ayn Rand speaks of is not about making money or stepping on other people; it’s about valuing ourselves and not sacrificing ourselves to the will of others; to live out our dreams and not sacrifice them to others.  She took issue with the idea of stripping away our own rights to prop up the rights of others. I completely agree with that sentiment because it makes sense. If we don’t treat ourselves as though we’re worthy of happiness and self-fulfillment, how can we desire it for others?

Rand often stated that our highest achievement is happiness. She insisted that self-sacrifice makes us sacrificial objects and believed we were all entitled to be happy and that we must achieve it for ourselves. In other words, we shouldn’t force others to give up their happiness to make us happy. We also  shouldn’t be forced to sacrifice ourselves for the happiness of others. Makes sense to me. What type of people would we become if we had to sacrifice our happiness to make others happy? We should all have access to happiness.

One thing I learned on my spiritual journey is that happiness must come from within me. To rely on others for my personal happiness doesn’t make sense to me anymore. People aren’t perfect. They will do hurtful things, either intentionally or unintentionally. It’s during these times where having inner peace, joy and happiness gives us the strength to persevere.

This topic resonated strongly with me, and I had to break it into four posts. Clickhere for part two where I discuss how I connect spirituality to objectivism.

Click here for part 2.

Love and light,

Eleni

From Vision to Story

  By Eleni | November 27, 2012 - 10:17 | , ,
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As of today, I’ve arrived at the last chapter of my proof. While I was teaching my daughter about cell division,  it led me to  pose a question during my meditation. Soon afterwards, I received an intense vision. It ended up in Unison, and it further clarified an expositional scene that is tantamount to the series as a whole.

Writing this book has been a long and winding road, where many times I thought I was going to go off course. Nevertheless,  all things happen for a reason. I had to go through all these read-throughs, so I could write a scene that makes my story stronger. Writing a book has been compared to running in a marathon. That’s a fairly accurate comparison!

First review for Unison – 4.0 Stars

  By Eleni | June 18, 2012 - 12:12 | ,
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Unison

Rating: 4.0 stars

Reviewed by Trudi LoPreto for Readers Favorite

Unison by Eleni Papanou is a well-written science fiction book. It is told by Damon, the leading character of the story, in great detail. The time is after the Great Cataclysm and the city is Unity. Home is a very large dome offering protection from the contamination of the Outsiders and their world. Damon advances to a high level in Unity and is responsible for creating the technology that is wrongly used on the people. Damon believes the time is right and that it has become necessary to escape and explore the real world. We travel with Damon as he is reincarnated over and over and re-lives his life remembering the errors of his way and always trying to make the changes that would correct his mistake. With each reincarnation Damon finds himself outside of Unity, in the same cabin, being faced with the same horrors, trying to go back and fix the wrongs. As he awakens from each reincarnation he is faced with the same doubts: Flora the woman he loves trying to bring him back to Unity, leaders chasing him and meeting the same people again and again. Each reincarnation brings him closer to the truth and he is able to handle the situations differently. Upon his final awakening, Damon and we learn the truth of his journey.

Unison is written for the science fiction reader. Eleni Papanou presents the story in a believable way with characters that are strong and well defined. The last chapter of the book does a great job of answering all of the readers’ questions and it also includes a great ending that I didn’t see coming. If you are a science fiction fan then I recommend you pick up a copy of “Unison”.

Unison Interview at Carol Grayson’s Blog

  By Eleni | June 5, 2012 - 08:22 |
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Interview from Carol Grayson’s Blog

Hello Eleni, you´ve written a SciFi book entitled Unison. Tell my readers more about your book and yourself, please.

My book, Unison, is  an allegory of my own spiritual journey that began after my spontaneous kundalini awakening.  It literally turned my life upside down in that it challenged my world view.  Giving up everything I ever believed in was quite traumatizing. I spent years journaling, questioning, thinking and healing. During this time I got married, had two daughters and then had to deal with a cancer diagnosis. This was what really strengthened my spiritual resolve.  I survived and got back into writing after taking a few years off. 

Unison revolves around a scientist who learns he’s reliving his life. He uses this foreknowledge to try to stop himself from inventing technology used to enslave his people.  To do that, he must first  save himself and his girlfriend from an elder who keeps killing them and who wants to breed slaves using his technology.  But looming underneath all his struggles is something far greater than he realizes, and if he can make it past these obstacles, he’ll uncover a hidden truth about his origin. At it’s very essence, it’s a story about love and redemption.  

I’d like to mention my editor told me she normally doesn’t read my type of book, but she was hooked. I was glad to hear that because I want Unison to be appreciated by people who don’t typically read science fiction. In the end, I feel a good story is about strong characters who find themselves challenged, and as we read about them, we feel their pain, cheer for them and want them to win.  I firmly believe if you can do that, genre becomes less important. I know it does for me as a reader. 

When did you decide to start writing and how did you develop your world?  What influenced you at the most?

I’ve been writing  poetry since I was a child, and I started screenwriting in my twenties. But it wasn’t until I began to write novels that I found my true calling. Something about the format allows me to connect more with the story world in that I could get into all the details I couldn’t in a screenplay. Unison actually started out as a screenplay with only two characters, and now it’s a full blown epic with three more books I’ve all ready outlined. 

I develop all of my story worlds while meditating or exercising. It allows me to quickly connect to my right brain. I won’t start writing until I can picture everything first. Sometimes the pictures come out so clearly it’s like I’m watching a movie.  Another new novel I’m working on,  Sunrise,” is very surreal, and I’m getting a lot of cool visuals in my meditations.  I blog about my writing of Sunrise on my website. 

Do you think that women are writing another kind of Science Fiction than men do? Can you imagine to write other genres as well?

I don’t think there’s a difference between men and women who write sci-fi, and I don’t limit myself in genres. My next release is a supernatural thriller. I’m also plotting two other novels that would be considered dramedies.  What does link all of my work together is that they’re all under the umbrella of  visionary fiction in that the character’s mind and spiritual growth drive them forward, but it’s never done with proselytizing and because I write allegorically, the spiritual aspect is not in your face.  For instance, in Unison, I was inspired with the eight lifetimes of Shri Ganesh where he had to get over his eight weaknesses. I thought it was the perfect vehicle for my story, and I used that as the driver for my main character’s inner-journey. 

Do you have favourite author? 

There are too many good authors out there, but I appreciate Douglas Adams, Margaret Atwood, Ayn Rand, Stephen King, Robert Anton Wilson and George Orwell…to name a few. 

Can you image to write with a co-author? If so, which one would you prefer? 

I’ve worked with other writers on screenplays, and I prefer to work alone because when I begin a book, I know exactly where everything needs to go. But it might be fun to work with another writer. I just finished reading Margaret Atwood’s, The Penelopiad. It would definitely be fun to write some poetry with her!

What are your plans for the near future?

To release as many of my screenplays as books, write new ones and maybe one day publish other visionary authors.  I’m also a musician and composer. I’d like to write music to accompany Unison. I’ve all ready started writing lyrics. It’s only a matter of finding time to put it all together.  In addition to writing, I homeschool my daughters and that takes a lot of time as well. I sometimes marvel that I find time to write!

Thank you for taking the time for this little interview.

 

Any time!