The Catalysts Book III Title Reveal!

by with No Comment CatalystEnvironmentExtraterrestrialsPrecipiceScience StuffThe FieldWriting

Title Reveal!!!

Book III in The Catalysts Series title is…

Precipice!!

It’s an apt title because in the story (and in real life?) humanity is on the precipice of disaster or salvation due to Climate Change and the havoc our activities are wreaking on Earth. Marcie and Eric and their friends are trying to be Catalysts for change with the help of other-worldly beings. I think you’re going to love it!

I’m working with my publisher, Brown Books Publishing, to come up with a release date. It’s still in the revision phase but getting closer to completion. I’ve done five (!) rounds of revisions already and it’s out with Beta-readers at the moment. After this round of revisions, it’ll be off to Brown Books for two to four more passes of revisions and corrections. Whew!

Hopefully, Spring 2023 release!

Signs and Messages from the Universe

I’m reading Signs – The Secret Language of the Universe by Laura Lynne Jackson. It’s about how our loved ones communicate with us from the other side and how we’re all connected – through the collective consciousness (read about it in my books). My mom passed away 12 years ago and sends me messages all the time. I decided to ask her to send me a sign – a blue hummingbird.

She loved hummingbirds and the color blue. It’s early in the season and we don’t have our hummingbird feeders our yet and haven’t seen any around the house. I was checking out at the dentist later that morning and on the partition between me and the front desk staff was a decal – of a blue hummingbird!

I relayed the story to the staff, and they gave me the decal. It’s on the window of my office now to always remind me of my mom and how she’s still around on the other side helping me and guiding me.

Do you receive signs and messages from the Universe?

Check out The Catalysts series here!

Take care and keep reading!

Twin Cities Book Fest

by with No Comment CatalystEnvironmentScience StuffThe Field

This Saturday, October 16th I’ll be a Featured Author at the Twin Cities Book Fest! If you‘r in the area come and see me between 10:00am to 5:00pm!!

It’s a Science Fair format so I’ll be focusing on the environmental themes in The Field and Catalyst. This is a great format for me as I love engaging with readers and talking about my books. Here’s what I have planned for my booth:

  • My computer will be running a video showing how a homeowner can light her water on fire from methane released during fracking.
  • I have a kinetic energy ball to demonstrate the Universal Energy field,
  • I created fliers on how to be a Climate Activist
  • Examples of reusing and upcycling – baskets made of candy wrappers and shorts with visible mending
  • My Be a Climate Activist, Be a Catalyst for Change banner

The Environment in Fiction and Fact

What can you do to be a catalyst for change? Environmental degradation can feel daunting, but there are all kinds of things YOU can do that help care for our planet and make a more sustainable future. Come meet YA fiction author Tracy Richardson to learn about her new book Catalyst and how fictional narrative and real life facts can both help us think about our environment more complexly.

Tracy Richardson is the author of the young adult series The Catalysts, including Book I, The Field, and Book II, Catalyst. The Field won the Eric Hoffer Award and a Bronze Medal for the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, and was a Finalist in the Science Fiction category for the American Fiction Awards. Catalyst won the New Age category and was a Finalist in the Young Adult category for the American Fiction Awards. Tracy has a degree in biology, and her science background plays a significant role in her writing; her books include science themes such as quantum physics, collective consciousness, and the universal energy field, as well as strong environmental themes. There is no second planet. Tracy lives in Indianapolis and enjoys crafting, cooking, and being outdoors. Visit her at www.tracyrichardsonauthor.com.

Catalyst Cover

Endorsements for Catalyst

by with No Comment Catalyst

Just received these lovely industry endorsements for Catalyst! Also sharing a terrific review by Athena – OneReadingNurse who shares a name with a ‘character’ in the book and TOTALLY gets Catalyst! She even compares it to The Celestine Prophecy!!!

Go to the BUY page to get your copy – Ebook out now, print book in September.

Endorsements

“Tracy Richardson has created an intriguing premise that blends the worlds of sci-fi, spiritualism, and climate activism.”

—Allen Johnson, Screenwriter, The Freemason

“An ode to the responsibility of taking care of our one and only Earth, Catalyst offers an energetic and immersive experience that spotlights alternate dimensions, energy fields, and our very own human potential.”

—Genese Davis, Game Writer, Author of The Holder’s Dominion series

“Catalyst frames a portrait of collective humanity for each of us to find our likenesses rendered within a profile of the human condition.”

—Rita Kohn, Senior Writer for the NUVO Cultural Foundation

Review by Athena – OneReadingNurse

This book contains a lot of really great messages for young readers, first and foremost the environmental consequences of our actions.  Marcie and her team are dealing with an energy company that wants to expand fracking in the area, and there is a great amount of info about that and other environmental disasters.

Marcie has an interesting character arc as well.  She knows there is something about the world that she can sense, but isn’t sure what it is.  With the help of Zeke and Lorraine, two grad students on the dig, Marcie and the other teens learn about the Universal Energy Field and the implications of the fourth, fifth, and dimensions beyond.  Leo is the other main character and provides the opposing point of view on fracking, as his father works for the energy industry.   Their relationship is interesting because it pretty accurately portrays how teens have trouble with opposing viewpoints, and how to talk around issues and make compromises. I really shipped them.

I’m also Greek and ran cross country and share a name with the alien space ship…so…yeah, there are those things too.  I liked Marcie a lot.  The book reminds me of The Celestine Prophecies, which I was obsessed with in high school, and I’m really glad that this generation of young readers gets a book like this too.

The book turns from fairly normal, to paranormal, to sci-fi Jesus in a spaceship REAL quick, and I loved it.  I thought the context of spiritual leaders made sense, since it would be pretty egocentric to assume that the gods and goddesses and religious leaders are only dedicated to one planet.  The sci-fi element is definitely a bit out there in left field but it worked for me.

The book is relatively short at 248 pages.  The pacing is pretty even and I’m sad that it took me so long to start because once I did, I read it in two sittings.  I was never bored at all. I would totally and fully recommend this for teen readers as an environmentally and self-conscious read that has some great examples of conflict resolution and interpersonal relationships within the team.

The Catalysts Series

by with No Comment CatalystEnvironmentIndian SummerScience StuffThe FieldWriting

Catalyst

First some updates on Catalyst. Due to Physical Distancing and Social Connections (as I prefer to call it) the paperback release date has been pushed back to September 22nd. However…

the Ebook release date is still June 2nd!!!

Less than two weeks away! Order your copy today!!

I hope to do a Book Tour for Catalyst this Fall. Check out my Events Page for details later this summer.

The Catalysts Series

The Catalysts Series will consist of four books.

The Field – Book I

Catalyst – Book II

Indian Summer ­– prequel

and the untitled Book III that I’m working on now (80 pages in!!).

Book III is the only true sequel (to Catalyst). The other three books can be read as stand-alone books although many of the same characters appear throughout. I’ve included an environmental theme in all of the books.

The Field is about Eric Holton, a high-school soccer goalkeeper with a super-natural ability to know where the ball is going to go before it gets there. He’s connecting to the Universal Energy Field. The environmental theme compares burning coal to other clean renewable energy sources like wind and solar and also the idea of extracting energy from the Universal Energy field in the air around us. And he’s having the high school experience of trying to get the starting goalkeeper spot, deal with friends being jerks, and trying to get the girl.

In Catalyst, Eric’s younger sister, Marcie, is the protagonist, but Eric and his girlfriend Renee are also featured characters. Eric has just graduated high school and Marcie is a junior.

Marcie, Eric and Renee are spending the summer working at an archaeological dig site in southern Indiana. Things immediately shift into the paranormal when Lorraine and Zeke, two mysterious dig assistants who claim to access the Universal Energy Field with their minds, assert that Earth and its resources are in grave danger. Marcie must decide if she’s brave enough to do her part to save the planet. The environmental theme in Catalyst is the dangers of fracking.

In the first book I wrote, Indian Summer, Marcie is in middle school and is spending the summer at her grandparents’ lake cottage. She discovers that a wealthy property owner is secretly trying to develop an old-growth forest into an exclusive gated community. In her quest to thwart his efforts, Marcie connects with the spirit of a Native American girl. Indian Summer has been completely revised and will be re-released in 2021 as a prequel to The Field and Catalyst.

Book III is in the works right now! I’m writing it from both Marcie and Eric’s point of view. There are two concurrent story lines. Eric and Renee are in France and Marcie is in Washington DC. There is some interaction between the two threads and everything will come together at the end.

During this Great Pause we are having I hope you’ve been able to consider how you might chose to change your behavior going forward. Have you re-evaluated your priorities? Will you focus more on what’s important to you and let other, non-important things go by the wayside?

Protecting the environment and saving planet Earth is very important to me and I think essential for our quality of life going forward. I hope my books make you think and consider what you can do to be a Catalyst for change.

Take care and be well, my friends.

THE FIELD – Soccer Field and Universal Energy Field

by with No Comment EnvironmentScience StuffThe Field

The title of my novel, The Field, has two meanings. The soccer field and The Universal Energy Field. Nikola Tesla postulated in the last century that there is enough energy in a cubic inch of space anywhere in the Universe to power New York City for a day. This field is also called the ‘Zero Point Field’. We know that the air around us is filled with energy waves or forces. Magnetic, sound, light, radio, television, microwave, radiation, etcetera. Most of these waves are outside the realm of human perception. However, we can measure them, and we know that animals can hear sounds that are imperceptible to the human ear, and we benefit from the action of these waves when we watch TV, use our cell phones or microwave our dinner.

Imagine if we could access the Zero Point Field as a totally clean, renewable energy source. No more drilling for oil or natural gas or mining for coal. No more burning fossil fuels and the resulting air pollution. No need for nuclear power and radioactive waste.

I’m a science geek and a passionate environmentalist. The Field includes an environmental theme comparing so-called ‘clean coal’ to wind and solar power and the idea of accessing energy from The Universal Energy Field.

Quantum Mechanics has demonstrated that there is no such thing as a vacuum or nothingness. The Universe is a sea of energy. Scientists are calling it ‘Dark Energy’, and while we don’t know exactly what it is, Einstein predicted its existence when he postulated using a ‘cosmological constant’ to explain the expansion of the Universe.

As Dr. Auberge says in The Field, “We have to set aside what we think we know about the world around us and open our minds to new discoveries. Just because you can’t see it and you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”

Happy Earth Day!

by with No Comment EnvironmentIndian SummerScience StuffThe Field

Being a responsible steward of the Earth and the environment is very important to me – and critical to the survival of the planet and plant and animal species. All of my novels have an environmental theme. It is my way of shedding light on the damage we are doing and how we can do better – how we must do better.

The Field focuses on the renewable energy sources of wind and solar and the potential energy source of The Universal Energy Field, and compares them to so called ‘clean coal.’ Indian Summer, Spring 2020, is about saving an old growth forest from development, and Catalyst, Spring 2021 is about fracking and it’s negative impact on the environment.

Scientists un-equivocally say that climate change is due to the actions of mankind. Today, on Earth Day, let’s take a look at what we as individuals can do to make small changes and what we as a global community can do to make big changes. Love Your Mother!

We are all in this together. The Earth is our only home.

Premonitions and Intuition

by with No Comment Science StuffThe FieldThings That Occur to Me

Have you ever had a thought or feeling about something that later came true? Did you realize what it was at the time? If you had known that it was a premonition would you have acted differently?

I recently had two separate traumatic occurances where I had a premonition about them beforehand. It wasn’t as though I ‘knew’ what was going to happen, more like a fleeting thought crossing my mind that I remembered after the event.

The first was a car accident. I had been driving all around central Indiana a day in mid-December and was headed home. It was early evening – dark and raining. Visibility was bad and I was concerned about getting into an accident. I had a fleeting thought that I might get rear-ended, but it was just that – a fleeting thought. It occurred to me and then I moved on to other thoughts. I had been in a rear-end collision on a similar dark and rainy night in October, so I attributed it to that connection.

The car in front of me stopped on the four lane, busy road to turn left. I wasn’t able to pull past her into the right lane so I waited for her to turn. After a few moments I heard a screeching sound and then BOOOOOM! someone crashed into me from behind hitting me so hard that I crashed into the car in front of me and hit my knees on the dashboard. It wasn’t until later that I remembered the fleeting thought of the rear-end collision. Could I have avoided it if I had known it for a premonition? I’m not sure what I could have done.

The second premonition was about my nephew breaking his arm. Over Christmas I went to California to visit my brother and his family and to watch his two kids while he and his wife took a little ‘adults only’ vacation. My niece and nephew and I were having a great time on our ‘Auntventures’ going to museums, roller skating and going to the movies and the library – they love to read!! My brother suggested I drop them off at a bouncy-house play center on Friday evening so I could have a few hours to myself. I remember thinking – ‘Ben is going to break his arm’. Again, it was hardly even a solid thought, just a fleeting idea. I dropped them off and went into the little town to shop and have dinner.

Midway through my dinner and into my second glass of wine I got the call. I thought – ‘here it is’ – before I answered. Ben may have broken his arm, they said. When I got there I was met with a fire truck, ambulance and police car all with lights flashing. He did in fact break his arm pretty badly, but I’m happy to report that the cast was just removed last week and he is healing beautifully!

What if I had paid closer attention to my intuition or premonition and not taken them to the play center? Would Ben not have broken his arm? Probably. Was it really a premonition or just me thinking of a possible likely scenario? The doctor who treated him said they see kids with broken bones from those bouncy houses all the time.

In The Field, Eric has frightening dreams that he doesn’t know what to do with. Is he connecting with The Field? The Collective Consciousness? Was I? What do you think?

The Field Publishes April 23rd!

by with No Comment Science StuffThe Field

The Field pub date is April 23rd! Pre-order your copy today!“


 “We have to set aside what we think we know about the world around us and open our minds to new discoveries…Just because you can’t see it and you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”

Can we really all be connected by the same energy field, the same power, the same consciousness? As Eric Horton learns more about these concepts – in his science classes, from the experiments his girlfriend’s father is conducting, even through his own bizarre experiences on the soccer field he still finds it all hard to believe. But he must open his mind to all the possibilities before him if he is to succeed in saving what he could never forgive himself for losing.



“Just because you can’t see it and don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.” ~ Dr. Auberge on The Unified Field in THE FIELD

by with No Comment The Field

Dr. Auberge is a nuclear physicists on a two year research stint at the university. He is a guest speaker at Eric’s AP Environmental Science class. Here is is explaining The Universal Energy Field to the class.

“The ‘Zero Point Field‘. It is easiest to think of it in this manner. We know that the air around us is filled with energy waves or forces. Magnetic, sound, light, radio, television, microwave, radiation, et cetera. Most of these waves are outside the realm of human perception. However, we can measure them and we know that animals can hear sounds that are imperceptible to the human ear, and we benefit from the action of these waves when we watch TV, use our cell phones or microwave our dinner.”

Dr. Auberge paces back and forth in front of the room gesturing for emphasis. “Scientists theorize that there is enough energy is a cubic inch of space anywhere in the Universe to power all of New York City for a year.” He stops and looks around the room. Someone coughs and clears his throat.

“What we don’t fully know yet is how to harness these powerful forces as an infinite energy source. That is the focus of my research and experiments for the next two years.”

Dr. Auberge continues. “Think of the implications of a totally clean, infinitely renewable energy source. No more drilling for oil or natural gas or mining for coal. No more burning fossil fuels and the resulting air pollution. No need for nuclear power and radioactive waste.”

“The Universe is essentially a sea of energy. Scientists are calling it ‘Dark Energy’, and while we don’t know exactly what it is, Einstein predicted its existence when he postulated using a ‘cosmological constant’ to explain the expansion of the Universe. We have to set aside what we think we know about the world around us and open our minds to new discoveries. Remember, we once thought the work was flat, and Galileo was thrown into jail for suggesting that the Earth revolved around the Sun. Just because you can see it and you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.” 

Spirituality is the Solution – What you can do to help the World

by with 2 Comments The Field

Neale Donald Walsh, author of the Conversations with God books has written a new book, God’s Message to the World – You’ve got me All Wrong. In an article he wrote about the book in Watkins MIND BODY SPIRIT magazine he concludes  “What we can’t seem to see, or are simply refusing to admit, is that the problem facing humanity today is not a political problem, it is not an economic problem, and it is not a military problem. The problem facing humanity is a spiritual problem, and it can only be solved by spiritual means.”

But what kind of spiritual means? In my novel, The Field, the main character is connecting to the collective consciousness or The Universal Energy Field, what you might envision as the thought energy of every human being, and possibly every other kind of being, in our world and in the Universe. This energy connects us all to one another and connects us all to God, or The Divine, because it is part of God just as God is part of us and in everything in the Universe.

Lynne McTaggart talked about it in her non-fiction books entitled The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe and The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World. We learned about it in the movie The Secret but the movie didn’t focus strongly on the important element of spirituality.

In essence – our thoughts are powerful when used with a spiritual focus. Studies have proven that prayer can affect the health outcomes of cancer patients. Even if they are prayed for by someone who doesn’t even know them.  In McTaggart’s book The Intention Experiment, she gives multiple examples of situations where thoughts and intentions actually change events and outcomes.

Other studies have shown that our fights against things – the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty, the War on Terror, campaigns against bullying – actually cause those problems to increase! As Mother Teresa said “I will never attend an anti-war rally; if you have a peace rally, invite me.” What you focus on becomes your reality, so we need to focus on what we want, not what we don’t want.

Quantum physics has proven that everything in the Universe is connected at a subatomic level, which means that we are all connected to one another. What physicists can’t explain is how we are connected. It is the Unified Field, the noosphere, the collective consciousness – God- that connects us all. Everyone and everything. Neale Donald Walsh also says “The biggest misunderstanding of all is humanity’s idea that human beings are separate from God.”

So that brings me to what you can do to help change the world. I know that many, many people want to have a positive impact, but feel powerless or don’t know how. You are more powerful than you know. Your thoughts have power when combined with spirituality. Pray for peace. Meditate for wisdom for our leaders. Envision prosperity and universal love. Pray for healing for the Earth. Ask for help from Divine Source in raising your consciousness. Find other spiritual seekers and connect with them. Now is the time. We are awakening. Blessings to you all.