HOW YOUR HOLOGRAPHIC SOUL WAS WRITTEN

What follows is taken directly from the acknowledgements section of the book

This book would be a mere shadow of itself were it not for the outstanding contributions of a number of very dear friends. It wasn’t planned that way. I got myself in the zone and penned the first version in a week. I had approached various people to have a read of the manuscript, but I confidently assumed they’d all tell me how wonderful it was and just suggest a few minor changes. I was wrong.

With this being a major departure from my normal, somewhat academic writing style, the main feedback was that I was tending to lecture the reader rather than guiding them along with me. Luckily my bruised ego did not stop me from seeing the constructiveness of this feedback, and so began a process that was clearly mapped out by all of us, and by the universe, long ago.

It also became clear that every one of us had a particular skill or outlook to bring to the party. I’m sure I sorely tried everyone’s patience, sending out version after version for feedback, but to their eternal credit they stuck with the process over several months. The wonderful thing was that each new set of suggestions was so obviously going to strengthen the book, so much so that rather than seeing them as a threat and yet more work, I learnt to welcome them. I think we can all say now that we’re genuinely proud of this book, and of the process by which it came about. But I can’t emphasize enough how much it’s truly a collaborative effort.

To be more specific, my heartfelt thanks and love go out to Judy Hall and Hans TenDam for their generous cover quotes. To Tim Byford for his breadth and depth of knowledge of comparative religion. To Andy Tomlinson and Toni Winninger, whose inputs included feedback from their respective channels. To Hazel Newton, Janet Treloar, Peter Jenkins and Sue Liburd for going beyond the call of duty in the time and effort they put in on multiple versions. To Sue Stone and Pam Rosling, who rightly suggested that I needed to simplify and explain especially the early parts of the book to give it a far broader audience and appeal. To Ken Huggins, who put in huge efforts as final editor, a position thrust upon him in a rather de facto manner because of his evident thoroughness and pursuit of clarity. And to Stephen Gawtry. Not only did he come up with the subtitle in an instant, but he altered my perspective of both the interplay between experience and illusion, and also of active surrender. Without these significant shifts the book would be much the poorer. He was also the one who quite rightly questioned whether I’d be able to fit everyone’s name on the spine ;-)

Last, but by no means least, I am deeply thankful to the various guides and other beings of light who pushed and prodded us as we struggled to get the balance of this book right. I hope we stayed open enough to hear you properly.

Ian Lawton, February 2010