Tarot and The Red Violin

I've read Tarot cards since I was 12 years old and bought my first deck at a local dry goods store with my very own saved up cash.  One thing that has annoyed me over the years is the way in which card readers and, in particular, the cards themselves are portrayed in film and television.  There are two typical scenarios.  Either the reader turns over the Death card and everyone gasps or detectives find the Death card carefully placed at the crime scene and shake their heads about the crazed serial killer they're tracking.

Okay, listen up.  One, the Death card--the one with the scythe-bearing skeleton on it--may look creepy, but does not foretell physical death.  It is a card of personal transformation (think a phoenix rising from the ashes) or of things coming to a natural end in the querent's life.  Any reader who foretells anyone's death from this card is not only ignorant, they're irresponsible.  There are combinations of cards that do hint at illness and the possible death of someone around you (I know... I got them a few days before my father passed away) but guess what.  The Death card isn't one of them.  Tell you what.  I've got a prediction for you.  You're going to die.  We all are.  To borrow a phrase from the Lizard King--no one here gets out alive.

Look at it this way.  A Tarot card reading is like a snapshot of where you are on your path.  It shows events that led you to your current point, what is passing out of your life and what is moving into it.  It gives insight into how your feelings and actions and those of others are affecting your life. The outcome tells you what will occur if you continue along this path.  Remember, you have free will.  You can change your life's path.  If you allow the cards to impart some wisdom to you about what changes need to be made or what actions you need to take, so much the better.  But the cards rarely predict some specific, catastrophic event.

There is one wonderful film that gets it just right.  It opens with a Tarot reading for Anna, the pregnant wife of a master violin maker, given by her servant Cesca.  The reading continues throughout the film, as introduction to each new segment in the history of the Red Violin. Although Anna doesn't realize it in the moment, the reading foretells her soul's journey through fortune and time as it is inextricably bound to her husband's final masterpiece. The film transports us with her on that allegorical journey.

She draws five cards.

Check your style...

I WRITE LIKE...
Cool site to analyze your writing style.

Here's what came out for the prologue to The Case Files of Thomas Carney:

I write like WILLIAM GIBSON
Analysis of my work in progress (Black Dog Days) resulted in:

I write like NEIL GAIMAN
And for my blog style, oh dear...
I write like H.P. LOVECRAFT

The Case Files of Thomas Carney on Amazon...

PAPERBACK NOW AVAILABLE

The Case Files of Thomas Carney is part mystery and part musing on what we might expect from life after death, driven by Tom's irreverent narrative and the stories the spirits have to tell.

Afterlife's residents are more than disembodied forms awaiting summons from the living.  They are individuals with their own desires, joys, sorrows, and secrets.  You'll find familiar characters from classic detective fiction--the wisecracking private eye, his long-suffering secretary, the staunch sidekick, the chatty bartender, the femme fatale--all reformulated for the paranormal genre.

The Case Files of Thomas Carney--Now Available in Paperback!

Finally, the day has arrived.  I hit the "publish" button.  If it sells, great.  If readers find it good, bad or indifferent--well, everyone is entitled to an opinion.  But at least I can say I did it!

The paperback is available immediately through Createspace.  From what I understand, it will take 5-7 days to build completely on Amazon.com (including the "Look Inside" feature) and may take a few weeks longer to populate throughout all the expanded distribution channels.

For all you struggling, unpublished writers out there, I highly recommend giving Createspace a try.  From start to finish, service, communication, and online learning tools have been exceptional.  Any mistakes and frustrations were entirely my own--mostly due to my inexperience.  If you're willing to spend the considerable time and effort to do it yourself, aside from the minimal cost of proof copies, the process of getting your book published is completely free of charge and the resulting product is very professional.

By my good fortune of living in the digital age, I have a wonderful opportunity that the other aspiring authors in my family--my father, my aunt, my brother--never had. They passed away before self-publishing became a reality.  Now I have a book in print, dedicated to all my dear departed.  This one is for them.