I first met Royce Morales when I first started my private massage therapy practice many years ago. She was one of my first “cheerleaders,” so to speak, someone who referred me to people and I am forever grateful for that. She’s also one of my first spiritual teachers, and one of the stories I recently rediscovered in an old website folder, came from one of her teaching techniques.
So I was so excited to learn that she’s a published author, with Want: True Love, Past Lives, and Other Complications.
Join me as I interview Royce for this week’s Featured Author post and don’t forget to check out her book!
What is your book about?
As this spiritual teacher guides others toward understanding love and relationships, she discovers that her own eight-year marriage might not be what she thinks it is at all. Triggered by a magnetic attraction to a new student, she unwittingly gets thrown into a journey spanning lifetimes. Preconceived notions about soul mate relationships are busted; fantasies become cliches as she delves into the farthest reaches of subconscious memories that awaken her to the reality of connecting with an “other half.”
What inspired you to write Want?
This book is a fascinating, fictionalized account of my personal experiences discovering what soul mate relationships are actually about. As a spiritual teacher, the concept of soul mates has always been intriguing. Yet the notion that this relationship is one of perpetual bliss and constant long walks on the beach never set right with me. This questioning attitude spontaneously inspired personal research sparked by someone I “just knew” without a doubt was my soul mate. My deeply personal experience seemed important enough to turn into something for others to glean lessons from.
Who has influenced you in your writing?
Tom Robbins is my all-time hero writer. There is no one who is more brilliantly creative, more innovative, and more wacky all at the same time. Each sentence is a gem. To get even one sentence of mine to compare with any of his is my ultimate goal as a writer.
How would you describe your writing style?
My writing style is intuitively trusting whatever wants to emerge as I go. This book took twenty years to complete since it wasn’t planned out or structured at all. Each time I would go back to it to re-read and edit, I would be amazed at how much I had grown as a writer, and equally amazed that I couldn’t see the flaws until I could.
What do you love about writing?
I love writing. When the process got grueling at times, I learned to do several things: One, I would stop and come back to it the next day (or admittedly, even further in the future). Two, I would ask myself whether I had bypassed something that I knew wasn’t working (trying to ignore it) and would go back to that area and fix it. Three, I would look inside and see if there were fears churning around that needed to be acknowledged in some way. The minute I would do that, no matter how silly those fears sounded, my writing would free up and any blocks would disappear. I really learned to trust the process every inch of the way.
What do you like the least about it?
I don’t think there’s anything I don’t love about writing except life getting in the way of doing it more!
Any writing challenges you came across?
The challenges have all been an integral aspect of the journey. Perhaps the biggest challenge I had was comparing my writing to others’. We all have a unique voice and something important to share. Even if it’s just with you and your computer.
Tell us about your next project.
I am currently completing a non-fiction book that details my teachings and over thirty years of spiritual discoveries. It intends to be an experiential inner journey for those ready to awaken. It should be complete soon!
Title: “Know: Hidden lies, hidden truth.”
What’s the last book that left you with a book hangover?
Eat, Pray, Love. I was inspired by the author’s openness. Her willingness to take us along on this intimate journey, seemingly without concern about being naked and vulnerable, was quite impressive.
What’s the best advice you’ve heard about writing? What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
Cliche warning: Never give up! It’s a journey… trust it! And don’t be concerned about your audience. Whoever is supposed to read it will. With apologies to Field of Dreams: “Write it and they will come!” There is no deadline. Write until it feels complete. Then, put it away and come back to it a few days, weeks, months later and edit it with fresh eyes. Have a stranger edit it but don’t blindly take their advice unless it feels right to you. Editors come with their own attitudes and perhaps even some frustrated writer issues!
Where can we learn more about Royce Amy Morales online?
Website: Content/Intent
Twitter: @RoyceMorales
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