Absorbing detective stories, meticulously plotted, with unexpected mystical twists and transformations….
Rachel Funk Heller
Social Alchemy: Celebrating the Creative Spirit
SUBSCRIBE for the first chapter of “The Eclipse Killer”
books
What I write
If I were to follow the experts, this is where I’d write about my “brand.” It’s based on what I read: detective fiction in all of its glorious forms. Because the detective story begins by asking: what is the truth? This is the same question the mystic asks…
Where to buy my books:
Where to buy my books:
stay tuned
The Forensic Astrology Files Series
Book One: "The Eclipse Killer" arrives on August 2, 2024
My current project is “The Forensic Astrology Files” It’s a four book series set in San Francisco in 2017, around the full solar eclipse. Filled with staged murders, mystical markings, and secret societies whose members fill gangster mobs, the police force, and the halls of justice.
“The stars don’t lie...”
A sense of unease hangs over San Francisco as a series of ghoulish murders shocks the city. With each body, eerily beautiful and meticulously staged, adorned with astrological symbols, homicide detectives Hunter Davis and Danny Vierra pursue a taunting killer.
Their only hope rests with Madeline Merritt, a gifted astrologer and owner of a metaphysical bookstore. She casts charts that suggest the killer’s unsettling motives but discovers a startling link to her shadowed past – intertwined with a sex Magik cult, which she barely escaped with her life and sanity intact.
With the stakes raised and the eclipse looming, Madeline must confront her deepest fears and reveal her darkest secrets. Madeline and Hunter establish a profound bond, finding solace in each other’s company and solutions to the killer’s enigmatic clues while skillfully navigating a high-profile murder investigation.
In this gripping tale of murder, revenge, astrology, and the occult, the atmosphere is thick with tension, and every shadow holds a hidden threat.
What I write
I’ve always been a sucker for a good story, but I’m fascinated by our human story.
That lead me on a path to study mysticism, and the many ways human cultures interpret spiritual experiences. When we think of astrology, the tarot, alchemy, numerology, or other tools, it conjures images of ancient Sumerians or Babylonians looking up to the stars and scribbling odd symbols on parchment. We think of them as ancient people; they saw themselves as modern, high-tech investigators using the latest technology available to them to tune into the cosmic frequencies, to glean insight into what makes us tick. They employed the latest mathematics and geometries to record the world around them. That included stars and planets in the night sky and how those events mirrored what they experienced in everyday life.
My intention is to blend the insights gained from these tools and incorporate them with modern storytelling techniques.
What I've learned about writing
It’s taken me a long time to release my first novel.
I’ve actually written seven of them, but this is the first one that gets close to expressing the type of story I love. To get here, I have been fortunate enough to study with one of the premier writing teachers working today, John Truby. I have completed several of his courses that cover screenwriting, novel writing, television writing, and philosophy of story (and I got me some cool certificates along the way).
But I’m a visual thinker and it helps me to find visual metaphors for these abstract elements of storytelling: character arcs, plot progressions, and scene development.
Whenever I started a new writing project, I always grabbed a large sheet of drawing paper. I wanted to “see” my story. I wanted to see how these elements blended together in an authentic, organic way.
And because I’m an earth sign and organization is my métier, I made forms. I have created so many forms to organize my thoughts, it’s kind of ridiculous. It’s also a fun way to trick your ego. Because I’m not “writing” I’m just filling out a form, it takes the pressure off, that my ideas need to be perfect. When you fill out a form, you still have room to experiment, make mistakes, and try again.
These forms and worksheets are available at my site writerscoloringbook.com. It you are interested in finding new ways to kick-start your process, please check it out.
The Writer’s Coloring Book is a creative playground to explore your ideas that include planning and organizing tactics to bring your ideas to fruition. It’s the best world for both sides of your brain!
