Tag: books

I’m Looking For My Peeps! Could You Be One?

Peeps are silly, colorful, and exude laughter. Peeps are heart-centered individuals who want to fill the world with love to create unity. Peeps wonder about impossible and magical things. Could you be one?

I am looking for like-minded peeps, er people, who would like to join me on special projects.

I’m currently writing two books. The first is about an author writing a book that she is the actual Alice in Wonderland. This book is called Alice Awakens. It is a work of creative nonfiction (with a touch of magical realism) about the beliefs, spiritual awakening, and healing of the inner child.

Within the book is the story that the author is writing for children. This one will be published as a children’s book entitled Alice Returns to Wonderland. In it, the author returns to Wonderland as a character named Author Alice. There are some characters from the original Lewis Carroll book as well as new ones. What sets this book apart from other Alice stories is that there are many Alices in Wonderland, not just one. (So if you sit down to really ponder this, my book incorporates all stories about Alice.) Alice Returns to Wonderland deals with awakening to unity consciousness through the idea that we are all here to help each other and that by uplifting each other, we uplift the world.

This is just the beginning. I am dreaming big. I mean really, really big, bigger than Disney big. I’m dreaming of a more evolved Walt Disney World where you don’t have to be rich or go into debt to enjoy it.

I dream of a collaborative Disney where there is heart-felt enjoyment of the all workers and visitors. A place where people can heal their inner child. A place of healing and transformation where everyone is co-creating an experience that expands joy to all. I dream of a true healing through imagination center, where the energy expands through Orlando to the state of Florida and beyond.

I’ve always been fascinated by Disney movies, and Walt Disney World is my favorite place to vacation, so yeah, even with its drawbacks, I love Disney. I even had a spiritual awakening on the beach at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.  You can read about it here.

When I first came up with the idea of these books, I envisioned something larger than just books about imagination and reality. I saw where it could expand, that it could build a community filled with an unlimited imagination. When I saw the movie La La Land, it reminded me how much I always saw my children’s book as a musical.

I envision the Alice children’s books as a series writer by various authors, both known and unknown. New characters are introduced in each Each character has some special trait that makes them unique.

Where I see this taking off is that the books may inspire others to create as well. So that it isn’t one person writing a novel, it is a lot of us collaborating, writing together, creating something the world has never seen.

I can’t do this alone. Since my books are about unity consciousness, I need others. I need dreamers. Dreamers who dream big. Bigger than lowercase big. Uppercase  BIG and you know what that means.

I’d like to create an organization that is like a cooperative. Personally, I prefer the word cooperation because the word states what I am envisioning is all about. Cooperation is reciprocal in nature.

My envisioned cooperation would be an organization where involved everyone benefits. Where the income is split in an equitable manner. Where everyone in the cooperation makes use of their natural talents and skillsets. Where the name of the organization is not the name of the owner, because everyone involved would share in ownership. There would be no egocentric megalomaniac at the top because there would be no top, just a community of individuals working for a common cause and doing work that they truly enjoy.

OK, I don’t have a business degree because, well, you know, I’m an artist and I didn’t take business classes in college. Maybe what I am envisioning is a cooperative. Maybe someone can enlighten me on this matter.

I used the word cooperation because describes what is involved in creating such a community: cooperation. The goal of this cooperation would shift the focus of the business and place people over profit. If it sounds like a non-profit because it is. There would be no stocks, no bonus checks for a few people, no greedy billionaires at the top, nor starving underpaid workers at the bottom.

There would be equality, regardless of one’s position. Perhaps some poli-sci major can figure out a loving model and we can discuss it and form it together, like a true democracy.

Products would be eco-conscious and sustainable. They would uplift and inspire people to create positive changes in their lives.

I need your help.

Here are some of the peeps I’m looking for:

Creative Dreamers

Do you relate to John Lennon’s Imagine song on a deep soul level? Do you believe that we can change the world together? I’d like to find people who will help me to finish these books through additional input. I realize that the issue I have in writing this is because it was never a project that was meant to be done by myself. I would like to build a community of like-minded individuals who will meet online to discuss our ideas.

 Social Media Experts and Influencers,
Marketing and SEO Pros,
Crowdfunders and People Connectors

Being a creative introvert, I like to create all sorts of things, so on a social media score, I’m probably a D-. I mean, just take a look at my Instagram posts. Inconsistent and sparse. Sparsely inconsistent. Not cohesive in any way.

I need people who can help me create a successful crowdfunding campaign to generate money, create a buzz, and connect with others through social media. I’m looking for people to create an Instagram account and Facebook pages for Alice Always, and people maintain them. Also, I would like my blog posts to make it to page one on Google.

Web Designers

As I need to start several websites, I would like them to have a polished look using the colors of this one, so I need the designers to use Avada or a similar responsive theme. I would even like to tweak this one a bit. If you are a student, this might be a project for a class. I’d like to see what you’ve done, so please provide a website or links.

Graphic Designers and Illustrators

I do my own graphics, and they take me a while to create, so I would like to discontinue doing that and focusing on writing. I’m looking for someone to take some of the quotes from this blog and the future books to make graphics for Instagram and social media.

I’d like to work with designers who have AdobeStock (or some other stock art) who can create graphics for Alice Always featured images.

There is a particular style of Adobe Illustrator graphics that I prefer for this blog. If your style matches the image featured in this post here (or this one here), I’d like to hear from you as I will be looking for several book illustrators also.

The most pressing issue is creating two book covers, which I’d like to discuss with published cover artists. After that are illustrations for the children’s book, these will probably be paid by royalties after publication. That is a legal issue that needs to be worked out before work is started.

Please provide a link to your portfolio.

Film Makers

I would like to connect with filmmakers to create short video clips. Please provide links to your work.

Copywriters and Editors

I will need a copywriter and an editor for email campaigns and other projects. Please provide samples.

Attorneys

I need an attorney with knowledge of copyright and licensing laws and someone to advise me on Disney Execs or Peeps Affiliated with Disney.

Yep, I’m throwing it out there! I would like to connect with upper-level management on how my books can be made into Disney movies, musicals, and amusement park attractions. Since that might not happen soon, I’m looking for anyone associated with Disney Corporate who can help me navigate the proper channels and tell me what I need to know legally to publish these books as I would like to include characters from Disney franchises.

Also, I need to know if I can publish the Alice in Wonderland graphic as I did above. If you are in the legal department at Disney, please let me know if I need to remove it. I will gladly follow all legalities. I do not intend to use copyrighted images; for-profit and Disney-owned artwork will not be part of the final books.

Accountants

The money aspect is important for all of us because our society functions on a monetary system. A resume is required.

Virtual Assistant

As I need to spend time writing, I need at least one virtual assistant to help me with managing everything from projects, blog posts to connecting to people. This person needs to be very organized as I am not yet.

•  •  •

I am hoping to grow a community out of this. I want it to be fun and enjoyable for everyone involved.

If you would like to get involved in this curiouser and curiouser Alice in Wonderland adventure, please send a message here. I look forward to playing in Wonderland with you!

Thank you!

Always,
Alice Always

Diary of an Elf – Reading the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien

Diary of an Elf is a reoccurring feature here on AliceAlways.com. Alice shares her story as her elf-self.

Since I knew that I might be in the closet of Elf Cabin Number 9 indefinitely, I looked around for ways to entertain myself. On a shelf high above my head, I found my personal Holy Grail: the fantasy novels of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Hobbit

We call him Master Tolkien, as he is known here to us elves at the North Pole. His writings inspire us greatly. They remind us that in our imaginations, we are not just short peeps with generally pleasant dispositions, but also tall, fierce warrior types as depicted in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As I said before, in your imagination, you can be whatever magical being you choose to be.

In the closet, I moved the rolling shelf ladder along the wall to the place where I could climb it and get the books. When I got to the top, I grabbed them. The books felt like magic in my hands.

My memory flew back many years to the first time that I held The Hobbit in my hands.

It happened in September 1973. I was 11 years old in the 6th grade and picked to be in a special reading group of students. Back in the day, teachers had to order books and wait weeks for their arrival to come in a big cardboard box.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Mrs. B had gathered us around the box and was handing out the paperbacks. On the cover was a top white area with the title, subhead, and the author’s name. Under that was an illustration of peeps (my word for people) riding on barrels down a winding river with trees on the riverbank.

Before she handed us our books, Mrs. B told us that this was an extraordinary book and that it came to us in a momentous time. The author had just passed away, she said and so reading it now would be extra special.

Wow, I thought, really not understanding the specialness on a conscious level. I knew somehow deep inside myself that this author J.R.R. Tolkien and I were connected.

After I was given the book, I turned it over to see a picture of the author, a profile image of a smiling grey-haired gentleman holding a pipe. An old building was in the background.

I opened the book and smelled it. I fell in love with the scent of words on paper. If you have never smelled a freshly printed book, you might want to try it. It is like nothing else in this world.

Throughout the school year, we read The Hobbit and the three The Lord of the Rings books in class.

I was thoroughly enchanted by Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth. I would think about it all the time. In my imagination, I envisioned myself as several of the characters.

I was a full-blown geek. I still am. I embrace my geekiness wholeheartedly.

After school had ended, I spent the summer rereading the trilogy. Then I started looking for more information about Tolkien and his work.

Back in the early seventies, resources for a preteen were far and in between.

At some point, I came across a writing of Tolkien’s in which he said wrote that he never felt that he had created Middle Earth, he was merely recording the events as they were happening somewhere else.

When I read that, I knew that to be true deep down in my soul. I also knew I had to do something in regards to this. I didn’t know what.

Now I do.

To be continued…

Always,
Alice Always the Elf

P.S. Make sure you bookmark AliceAlways or subscribe to find out what happens next.

Diary of an Elf – Day 1: The Day After Christmas

What better day to start a diary than the day after Christmas?

I can use a fresh journal to journal my journey.

Why wait until New Year’s Day when you can begin today or even yesterday?

If I could, yes, I would. . .   If I could, I would. . . 

Sorry about that. I drifted off on a tangent of reverie.

Back to reality.

I’m at the North Pole.

At the North Pole, we call today Ruby Tuesday, named such because this year Christmas fell on a Monday.

Why Ruby Tuesday? you may ask.

I’m sure someone somewhere will figure out the answer.

Santa’s sleigh ride stirs up powerful Magic of Wonder Energy the week following Christmas. If you allow yourself to go deep into the depths of our collective imagination, you can feel it. If you sit with it, you with feel it stirring within you. If you go deep enough, you can create wonderful ideas that you thought you would never think of before that moment.

But you did.

Did I confuse you? Because I didn’t want to confuse you, just wake you up to that Magic of Wonder Energy that is flowing right now.

About me… I am sitting in the dark while I write this in Cabin Number 9.

Seeing an Elf in a mall a few days ago sparked memories that I had long forgotten. The need to be among my Elven kin grew strong in me, so I went to Santa’s Magical Realm at the North Pole, where you can always find Elves.

When I got back here all the beds in the dorms and deluxe suites were taken so I ended up in a closet with U-Haul boxes and clothing from previous occupants.

I was lucky enough to get a bed with a mattress. You know, some people living outside on the streets don’t have that luxury. I could sympathize with them just a little, the temperature in my closet was freezing. I am grateful I have a parka to keep me warm under the covers.

As anyone who has been here can tell you, it gets cold in the North Pole. Long Johns are a necessity and sometimes you have to even wear your parka to sleep.

So I’m up in the middle of a cold winter’s night writing this.

I don’t know how long I’m going to stay here. We’ll just see how it goes.

Always,
Alice Always the Elf

Thank You, J.K. Rowling, For Reminding All of Us that We are Magical Beings

On the 20th Anniversary of Harry Potter, I would like to honor J.K. Rowling and her creative contribution our collective imagination by introducing us all to Harry Potter. An entire generation has grown up with Harry and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling. Thank you for shining your light and sharing your gift with the world.

I remember seeing the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in the late 90s. I was at my brother’s house and the book was on an end table in the family room. My niece was reading it and I asked her about it. She told me it was about a boy wizard who went to a school called Hogwarts. The next few months I kept hearing about it, committing to read it someday.

Unless you have kids of your own, other things take precedence over reading children’s books and I never got around to reading it until right before the first movie came out in 2001.

I enjoyed both the book and movie so much that I went on to read more of the novels, though regretfully, I never finished the series. I hope to someday.

The thing that struck me most was that J.K. Rowling had brought forth a magical world that has become entwined in our consciousness in a purely imaginative way. It allowed us to see the world differently from how we experienced it up until that point.

You see profiles of people on Facebook who say they are Hogwarts graduates and professors. Some adults are using their imagination to change how they view their childhoods. Instead of reliving unpleasant memories, we can reframe our past and see it in a whole new light. We can create happy thoughts.

When young children play, they can go deep into their fantasy and really feel that they are the characters that they imagine. Why do adults forget to play like that? Why do we call it pretending? Is it because we are afraid of what other adults will think?

What if we allowed ourselves to be whatever awesome playful character we choose to be at any moment? Our playfulness might spread to others and everyone could lighten up, smile and laugh. Wow! Life would take on a whole new level of magic!

We are all magical beings with abilities to create worlds of wonder. J.K. Rowling showed us where her imagination took her. Where does your imagination take you?

Always,
Alice Always

Who is Alice Always and Why Does This Alice in Wonderland Look Like A Peanuts Character?

When it came to writing this blog, I wanted to adopt a playful theme, something that people would immediately recognize as childlike without being too childish. I wanted it to exude that innocence of childhood and for me, that is typified by the Peanuts cartoon strip by Charles M. Schulz.

I really can relate to each of the characters in Peanuts.

Snoopy is my wonderful imagination, and like his escapades, I often find myself in my own reverie. Sally is the little sister that I have always felt like, even though I am a big sister to my little sister. Linus with his security blanket and philosophical temperament, is my the ultimate dreamer self, believing in things that no one else does like the Great Pumpkin. Lucy as the psychiatrist exemplifies my fascination with psychology and her own self-absorption is something that makes me reflect upon mine. Schroeder is the artist in me, creating art for art’s sake and truly immersed in the world of music as I immerse in painting as my art. And like Charlie Brown, I am prone to depression and anxiety and tend to over-analyze both myself and whatever situation I find myself in.

I could write entire books on each character and how each of us can relate to the Peanuts gang in our own way. Perhaps someday I will write more on this blog about them.

You can tell I have a fascination with Peanuts. I obviously also have one with Alice in Wonderland. So what better way to celebrate this by creating a mashup? Before The Peanuts Movie came out, the website peanutsizeme.com was created to promote it. I’m glad it’s still up because I really enjoy playing with it. I created a character there and I Photoshopped it a bit to make it appear more like Alice In Wonderland. Because I didn’t want to infringe on copyright, I emailed the people at Peanuts about using it on my blog, but I never heard back. So, no news is good news, right?

I am currently writing two books about Alice in Wonderland. After these are finished, I anticipate more. One book is entitled Alice Awakes, which is about spiritual awakening and imagination. The second book is a children’s book that is about Alice returning to Wonderland. There is more info to come on these books and I hope that you will enjoy them someday.

Alice Always is a facet of myself. She is a persona that is me as a curiouser and curiouser being in the world of imagination.

Remember when you were a kid and you would pretend to be whoever you wanted to be? Well, I’m here to tell you that you can still be that person.

I am . . .

Always,
Alice Always