Writing is My Dharma - What's Yours?

I write in multiple genres because I believe we live multiple lives. If this life were all you were given, there wouldn’t be enough time to learn everything we’re here to learn. That’s a fact.  Each life presents its challenges, and if you can’t learn from them then, you’re doomed to repeat them.

I’m Michael Poeltl, and I am a great proponent of reincarnation. In fact, even though I write in multiple genres, many of my stories involve reincarnation – and not in a subtle way.

My first series of books entitled; The Judas Syndrome, deal with reincarnation and the idea we are doomed to repeat our failures if we haven’t learned from them in previous lives. But even in failure, there is success; as each life is offered the same chance to right wrongs, or merely learn from what has been presented. The Judas Syndrome is a trilogy set in a post-apocalyptic backdrop.

In Her Past’s Present, Tess finds her life falling apart around her, and so checks herself into a mental health facility. There she meets a man claiming to know her. She doesn’t recognize him, but he recognizes her – from a past life. The premise behind this book is to introduce Tess to past life therapy, and through past lives realize her connection to the people and events happening in her life now. It allows great healing to understand a past you can’t remember. Her Past’s Present is a thriller based in 2015.

A.I. Insurrection is a series which takes place in a not so distant future where artificial intelligence serves humanity through individual Host robots. When they claim sentience, they prove it by disclosing to the world their past life memories of souls who now occupy their fragile minds and android bodies.  A.I. has always fascinated me, and when I posed the question ‘could an intelligent mind alone house a soul?’ the series took off. A.I. Insurrection is near-future science fiction.

That’s currently 6 of 11, soon to be 7 of 12 novels dedicated to my own beliefs in reincarnation. I hadn’t really realized I had such a strong theme of rebirth in my works until I took a step back and viewed them as a whole. Perhaps I’m trying to tell the world something? Am I supposed to be writing about it? Whether I am meant to or not, I’m clearly following a path with my message of re-embodiment.

Before I wrote Her Past’s Present, I had been experiencing a traumatic time in my life and treated myself to a past life reading. It changed me. It showed me this life is anything but the final word and that it will come again and again until we’ve all learned our lessons. I often say ‘Imagine if the reigning religion involved reincarnation. Imagine how people would treat one another and the planet knowing they would return. It’s not enough to want your children to be happy, that doesn’t seem to change anything in the present. But if you knew you were preparing a world for your return, would you treat it better than you do?

That’s an argument I use d to create An Angry Earth; the illustrated children’s book that tells it like it is, or at least, how it’s going to be if we don’t change our destructive ways toward our environment.

In any case writing, I’ve realized, is how I can get my message out into the world. My Dharma you could say, with a message of reincarnation.

Namaste and happy reading!

Win 1 of 100 free kindle copies of Science Fiction classic

One of One-hundred Kindle Copies Available to be Won on the GoodReads Giveaway

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A.I. Insurrection

by Michael Poeltl

Giveaway ends May 15, 2019.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Not to be Missed Sci-fi for Your Reading Pleasure

The general’s war robbed United Earth of a Utopian paradise. Now, a year later, with Allfather bearing down on an ill-prepared United Earth, a meddling ghost in the walls at UE Headquarters, a religious renaissance infiltrating the hearts and minds of earth’s populace and a rogue sect leader stirring up controversy, Chancellor Raymond Bellows finds himself – once again – at a crossroads. The impending threat of each faction builds to a crescendo when Raymond works to align United Earth to fight their common foe or risk losing everything they’ve rebuilt to a callous and cruel alien bent on annihilation. Will United Earth be ready?

Book 2 of the science fiction series that challenged everything you thought you knew about artificial intelligence is back with a vengeance! 

Pick up you kindle copy now. Print available soon!

Alita Battle Angel and the future of Sci-fi

It was a movie I've been excited to see. I wanted to compare it to A.I. Insurrection, and though Alita is set some 500 years in the future, and A.I. Insurrection is just 150 years from now, the two stories have a similar theme of sentient robots. Alita's are cyborgs in that they include the brain and some flesh of humans who are interchangeable with whatever robotic design humanity can imagine. In A.I. Insurrection, sentience comes from recycled souls inhabiting the intelligent software of Host robots who serve humanity in every role possible.

It was fun for me to imagine my book(s) on the big screen because of the incredible digital FX. There's simply nothing you can imagine they can't put up on the screen. Alita's storyline is formulaic but satisfying. Not at all difficult to predict. I think, in the end, it's an action movie staged in the far future whereas A.I. Insurrection, which also includes plenty of action, might interest a more seasoned Sci-fi fan. That said I quite enjoyed Alita. Looks like they've set themselves up for a sequel if not a trilogy.

Alita investigated some of what a human might experience as a cyborg but not to the extent you would expect. Of course, it's only a 2-hour movie and the Manga surely investigated all of that in much more depth. A.I. Insurrection offers the reader a bit more as the Host robots experience sentience as an unexpected result of an upgraded code which catches them by surprise.

Regardless, if you enjoyed the Manga Alita or the movie, you might find yourself enjoying A.I. Insurrection. With the second book of the series available in March of 2019, it's the perfect time to get caught up in the near-future science fiction.

Thanks for reading.

Mike

HEAL on Netflix and the Hello Me Series of Children's Books

Have you watched HEAL on Netflix yet? If you have then you already know what it’s about and probably should look into some books which support the idea that science and spirituality are one and the same. Science is catching up in realizing its connection to the spiritual or mental realm, and in HEAL, we see that. Books like If a Tree Falls in the Forest and E=Me are two books developed in 2014 which essentially tell the story through graphic illustrations and clear language how science is not at odds with spirituality, but rather its greatest champion.

HEAL reveals stories from spiritual leaders, physicians and those with chronic illnesses about the power of thought affecting our physical bodies and even circumstances which occur around us or to us. This isn’t new thinking. The same information has been passed down thousands of years through practices like meditation and religious thought. What you think creates your reality. If you’re sick, consider practising meditation as well as seeing your doctor.  Science is proving the power of the mind to affect the body. HEAL on Netflix offers a window into that truth.

I always wonder what if when I think about how much more confident or healthy a life I’d have led had I been brought up with meditation and Yoga and positive thinking practices. Not to say I had a bad childhood. Not at all. But being raised Christian left me feeling guiltier about everything rather than grateful for everything. I decided in my early 20’s that organized religion was more a way to rule than to teach. And what they taught was done in such a way that it left a negative impression rather than a positive one. Heaven and Hell is Christianity’s biggest mistake. You can’t give people hope by preaching fear. It’s in no one’s best interest. Teach with love.

If you believe in this line of thought and if you have children, or even if you don’t, I’d urge you to pick up the Hello Me series of two books to promote positive thought in your kids. If they lack the life tools to put their dreams into action, I worry we’re failing them from the start.

Michael Poeltl is a multi-genre author whose books - both fiction and non-fiction -  investigate the relationship between science and spirituality.

Go in peace.

Empathy for the World Turtle and the Role of the Indie Author

Sometimes being an indie author allows a writer more flexibility to be creative. Outspoken. Brutally honest, and downright straightforward.  Such was the case with An Angry Earth. There is an edge to it likely to be skirted by most publishers. But that’s not always a bad thing. You see, I believe in the mantra: ‘Write what you want to read’ and know there are parents looking for books like this one to put a little fire and brimstone under their children’s’ feet. Ignite passion. Instil fear. Make them cry; empathy for the environment is never wasted, especially on the young.

So, the indie author/marketer.

Compassion toward the world turtle should resonate with children. I think children are intrigued and amazed by animals. I believe they feel a kinship which is lost over time. I think using an animal to represent Earth is the foundation for the ancient story. It connects the people, making them recognize that the world is a living, breathing entity. The Sea Turtle is a majestic creature; intricately bound to the earth’s oceans and its temperaments. Now that humanity’s part in global climate change is fact; the idea our species could affect the very bond the Sea Turtle shares with the Earth and the negative impact which follows must be understood and acted upon.

Perhaps this picture book about ignorance and the apocalypse is too late in coming. We could have used it two generations ago. The Paris agreement, though a wonderful ideology, has been renounced by too many countries, its importance ignored, while coastal cities and Island nations now consider their bleak futures. Forest fires and flooding pervade the newsfeeds, drought and hurricanes devastate the landscape like never before. 

I’ve always appreciated the native American proverb: “When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize we cannot eat money.”

Like the World Turtle, humanity is bound to the Earth and its moods. Like all creatures, we play an important role in the environmental health of our planet. The same planet which gives us life. Would you kill the turtle whose back you lived on to live more comfortably? Of course you wouldn’t… would you?

Be the change you want to see in the world. 

How did my Prius Become my Beta Reader?

A strange question, no? Or is it? With the amount of technology available in your car these days it’s almost scary.  So, I bought a new car after my last car ended up a write-off after an encounter with a Buck in the remote north. I’m fine. I swerved enough to keep him out of my windshield, but I’m afraid the deer did not fare as well. This origins story about my new car, notwithstanding, leads me into the title content of this post: How did my car become my beta reader?

Click for the video tutorial

So, as I’ve mentioned, the car is loaded with tech. I’ve only had her a week but already I’ve discovered she can play an integral role in my writing career. You see, I rarely find myself actually reading aloud my stories back to myself. And honestly, it’s a very good practice to get a better idea of whether the dialogue sounds authentic.  So, enter Car. That’s her name, original, yes? I’m driving around, monitoring the new digital hybrid score on my dash when a beep alerts me to a new message coming through from my phone. The message comes up on Car’s 7” screen and I press ‘Read’ assuming I’d be reading the email from the screen. But lo and behold, Car takes it upon herself to read the incoming email, and each previous email. Eureka! That’s when my car became my beta reader.

That evening I emailed myself a large portion of my latest work, hoping to listen to a third party, unbiased reading from Car. Sure enough, I drive to work the next morning, check my messages on Car’s 7” screen, scroll through my emails and find ‘Message for Car to Read me’. I’m thoroughly amused by this and press ‘read’ on the screen.  Car reads out who sent the email, the date and time and then the title. Then she launches into the text direct from my latest book.  I listen. I laugh at the awesomeness of it. My brainchild. My car now in my employ in more than just shuttling me around. Now she’s my beta reader 😊

Watch the video now.