City Girl Who Loves to Read: Paul H. Magid - Lifting the Wheel of Karma

My thanks to Paul H. Magid for stopping by City Girl Who Loves to Read for an author interview during the blog tour for his book, Lifting the Wheel of Karma.

1. Why did you choose this setting?
The setting was integral to the story thematically in several ways. Firstly, the setting was physically essential as an element of the historical context that the story unfolds in. It’s hard to say more in regards to the physical necessity without giving away vital information that is better discovered as the story unfolds. Thematically, the setting –both the mountains of Montana as well as the remote mystical mountains of the Himalayas of India, were a key component, because by stripping away the “afflictions of modernity”, the reader is unencumbered on the spiritual journey to discover insights just as the main character does, as well as internal questions the reader asks him/herself about Life, Purpose, Destiny, and Duty (known as Dharma in Eastern philosophy).

2. How is it a fundamental part of your overall theme?
The setting is absolutely a fundamental element to the myriad of themes –family, forgiveness, and healing. I think it would be fair to say that to go on a journey emotionally and spiritually, it certain helps to go on a journey physically as well.

3. How challenging was it to write about?
Oh my goodness, was the setting a challenge to write about. Not only did I need to convey the texture and essence of a horse farm in Montana, but than I had the near Herculean task of conveying the essence of a five thousand year old culture and history!!! It took decades of research, travel, and more hard work than I never imagined I’d be capable of doing.

4. How did you develop your setting as you wrote your book?
For me, setting develops not so much as a physical entity, but rather as an experience. Knowing what elements –from native vs. improved pasture grasses in Montana, the shapes of individual mountain peaks high up in the Heavens of the Himalayan mountains- are only a prelude to feeling those elements.

5. How do you transport them there through your writing?
I decided right from the outset that I wanted the reader to feel as if they were on the journey with Joseph, the high school boy who is the main character. For me, that entailed sights, sounds, smells, textures, as well as what effects the journey would have on a person physically, as well as mentally, emotionally, and ultimately, spiritually. The reader needed to know, I feel, that the air in India is thick, not polluted, but pungent and bursting with life. So for me, it was about adding layer upon layer of texture to bring the journey to Life.

6. How do you introduce them to an area they may not be familiar with?
When I introduce the reader to a new area, I start with enabling them to experience the event just as if they were there. First there is the recognition of the physical surroundings, then there is the mental processing of those physical surroundings in regards to what effect they have on the traveler –in this case the reader. After processing the effects, there is the process of what the setting means to the traveler/reader in regards to the journey that has been undertaken, and how that does or does not lead the achievement of the goals that been decided, consciously or subconsciously, that are necessary for fulfillment to occur.

7. How do you go about making the setting come alive for the reader?
The reader must feel everything exactly as the characters do. That’s what makes the setting come alive and ring true.

About the Book
Lifting the Wheel of Karma

Book Details:
Price: $15.00 paperback, $9.99 Kindle
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Publisher: Point Dume Press
Published: September 2011
Pages: 192
ISBN: 9780984016068
Genre: Fiction, Spirituality
Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle

Blurb:
A Profound Spiritual Journey of Extraordinary Healing and Redemption - a modern tale that harkens back to the myths of antiquity. It takes you on a remarkable journey, while exploring the themes of healing, redemption, forgiveness, sacrifice, and ultimately...peace within.

Joseph Connell is a gifted high school athlete from Montana, loved deeply by his family, yet tormented by nightmarish visions he can neither explain nor escape.

He believes the answer to what threatens to crush him can be found in the knowledge possessed by a mystical old wise man, who lives deep within the remote Himalayas of India.

If Joseph is ever to find the peace he so desperately seeks, he must get this wise old man to reveal what he truly knows, but that will not be easy…for this sage knows far more than he admits.

About the Author
Paul H. Magid

Paul H. Magid started writing his debut novel, LIFTING THE WHEEL OF KARMA, twenty-five years ago while still in high school. It took him so long to complete because he tried repeatedly to abandon it, but the work refused to be forsaken. Eventually he realized that sharing this story with the world was, in fact, his Dharma.

Along the way he has worked as a Wall Street financial analyst, a waiter (not a very good one), a Hollywood Agent Trainee, a real estate developer, a summer day camp director, an award winning screenwriter, and independent filmmaker—including his autobiographical film, A LIFE UNFINISHED, which screened in The Hamptons International Film Festival.

Connect with Paul:
Web Site
Facebook (book)
Facebook (author)