Haunted Canada by Diane Scott Lewis

Prepping for a book signing, by J.C. Kavanagh

BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Award
The Twisted Climb

Just imagine being face-to-face with countless strangers who have come to check out your book. And you. What to say? What to wear? What to do? 
I have three book signings this month and the thought of each one brings on the fears - what if no one comes - what if no one buys my book - what if my tongue turns to mush and gibberish pops out in the middle of a conversation. Oh boy, I hate it when I get a case of the 'what-ifs.' Gah!

Me before a book signing

Me putting on a bit of sass during a book signing
 

Me after every book signing :)



The Twisted Climb sequel: Darkness Descends

I've been busy working on the sequel to my book and enjoying the story as it unfolds in the playground that is my mind. Here's a sneak preview:

DRAFT IN PROGRESS:
The darkness descended around her, its blackness sliding against her bare arms like the cold clammy fingers of a corpse. Georgia shivered with fear, her lips trembling.

“CONNOR,” her mind screamed. “I NEED YOU.”

But her big brother was not in this frightening, unfamiliar place. Six-year-old Georgia was alone in the darkness, surrounded by giant pine trees on one side and a grassy meadow on the other. A yellowish full moon shone brightly from the heavens, ghoulishly displaying its pock-marked face while illuminating a narrow path between the pines. Georgia squinted ahead.

Where am I?

She crossed one arm over the other and gave herself a hug. She was not only missing her big brother, she was craving the solace that Foleydota, her stuffed-toy baby pangolin, brought her during the night. She whimpered as a sob built up in her throat. She gulped it down. The prospect of being alone in the dark was making her panic.

“I’m a big girl n-n-now,” Georgia said with feigned confidence, pushing her tongue in the space where two baby teeth used to be. A moment later, the sound of an owl hooting in the distance made her screech in terror.  

“Please,” she whispered to the darkness, crouching low to the grassy earth. “Why am I here? I don’t want to be here… is this a dream?” Georgia turned her face to the glowing moon. A single, hot salty tear trickled down her right cheek and she buried her face on her knees.

“Wake up,” she told herself.

A light wind rustled the trees and bushes. They rubbed and shifted together, creaking and moaning, first in soprano notes, then bass. The high-to-low-to-high notes continued, like a wind instrument tuning up and down the musical scale. It was an eerie, whistling sound and Georgia’s terror escalated in keeping with the amplified volume. She was breathing in shallow pants. The intensity and number of high-low notes slowly changed – from a duet to a multi-instrument, full-blown orchestra. Every tree and every bush surrounding Georgia joined the thrashing, whistling, wailing band. The soprano pitch descended just as the bass note moved up the scale. Georgia covered her ears but it did not reduce the cacophony of notes as they raged in opposite directions. It sounded like dozens of cats simultaneously and ferociously brawling as they slid, claws out, down an old school blackboard. Suddenly, the high-low screeches met in the middle of the scale, howling and hissing with an urgency that made Georgia’s skin crawl. Then, in a thunderous clash much like the slam of cymbals coming together, the notes spoke in unison, screeching a single-syllable command.

“Climb.”

Georgia fainted.

 

* * * * *

Stay tuned for more previews of the sequel to The Twisted Climb: Darkness Descends

 

J.C. Kavanagh

The Twisted Climb

A novel for teens, young adults and adults young at heart.

VOTED Best Young Adult Book, P&E Award, 2016

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www.bookswelove.net/authors/kavanagh-j-c-ya-fantasy-canada/

Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)

Origins of Non-violent Martial Arts

Kung-Fu in the Forest of Pagodas, Shaolin Temple

In 464 A.D. a Buddhist monk from India, named Buddhabadra, arrived in Henan, China, to spread the teachings of the Buddha. He was part of a great missionary movement that brought the teachings of the Dharma to many parts of Asia, from Afghanistan and Persia in the west to China and Japan in the east.

Known as Batuo in Chinese, he became famous for his erudition and wisdom and gathered many disciples from across the kingdom of Northern Wei.

Thirty-one years later, the Emperor Xiaowen built the now-renowned Shaolin Monastery in Henan for this monk, and from then on, the Monastery became famous for its martial arts practitioners, especially in Kung Fu.

Non-violent martial arts is intimately tied in with two things: the spread of Buddhism and, secondly, the philosophy of ahimsa (non-violence.) Ahimsa is one of the five virtues that form the basis of Buddhist ethics. These five precepts are:

   1)  Abstention from taking life.

   2)   Abstention from stealing.

   3)   Abstention from sexual misconduct

   4)   Abstention from falsehoods, and finally,

   5)   Abstention from intoxicants

As Buddhism spread from its birthplace in India/Nepal, challenges to the wandering monks arose. Specifically, during travels across the land, they would be attacked by hostile persons, whether belonging to different communities or plain thieves and bandits. To injure or kill them would entail breaking one of the cardinal rules of the monks’ faith. Thus, over the years, they developed ways of protecting themselves without seriously injuring their opponents. These forms of non-violent combat they brought with them to China and other places.

Bodhidharma

In 527 A.D., an even more important Buddhist monk, from the Tamil region of South India, named Bodhidharma, simply called Damo in China, arrived at the Shaolin Temple. His influence on Chinese Buddhism and culture cannot be underestimated. He is considered to be the transmitter of Chan (the quintessential Buddhism of China) and its first patriarch, and in Japan, known as Daruma (Dharma.) In Chinese art, he is shown as a dark-skinned, wild-haired, bearded and ill-tempered monk. Traditionally, Chinese date the birth of Shaolin Kung Fu to his arrival.

Both Buddhabhadra and Bodhidharma seemed to have attracted, among others, Chinese military men as their first disciples. Buddhabhadra’s first disciples, Huiguang and Sengchou became well known for their prowess. Bodhidharma’s main disciple, Huike, was also an esteemed warrior.

The Shaolin temple combines two different but complementary traditions: Chan (Buddhist philosophy and ethics) and Quan (martial arts.) The monks there have always pursued the philosophy of unification of these two. In a deeper sense, Quan is considered part of Chan. As late Shaolin monk Suxi said in the last moments of his life, "Shaolin is Chan, not Quan."

In China non-violent martial arts developed to a degree much greater than they did in their home lands of India and Central Asia, and from there, Buddhist monks transmitted the teachings to Japan, South Korea and other parts of the world.

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper" (www.yogazapper.com)  published by Books We Love (www.bookswelove.com)