by Iona Morrison | Aug 22, 2015
“Life was meant to be lived,
and curiosity must be kept alive.
One must never, for whatever reason,
turn his back on life…”
~Eleanor Roosevelt~
Sometimes I get the feeling this world which is so full of magic, waits patiently (or not so patient) for our senses to grow sharper. The hidden waits for us to become curious enough to search, and to listen. It waits for us to desire, to awaken, and to live before we die. We often just survive. We rush to work, we rush through our day, we come home only to arise, and do it all again. But what if… an extremely powerful thought…what if. A question that writers, filmmakers, and artists try to get us to think about. The amazing possibility of more. What the world might be like if we did this or we didn’t do that. What might happen if we could see what is going on around us hidden in the shadows.
I write because I like to imagine the possibilities of what if. I like to think about a protagonist who might have sharpened their senses. Who see and hear that which is unseen to most of humanity. I want a character who refuses to turn their back on life, and lives in each moment. I like to write because for a period of time I can live through my protagonist and I can see something beyond myself.
Yes, I know it’s only fiction but it’s my small attempt at caring. I feel very strongly about the subject in my new book, ‘Not For Sale’. The scourge of human trafficking, finding those enslaved, and the amazing people who work with tracking dogs that find real people everyday. I wanted my main character Jessie to represent what might happen if we actually tuned into the cries of humanity around us. Anyone of us, ordinary folks, could be a real hero or heroine. We could make a difference.
by Iona Morrison | Jul 21, 2015
I’ve read a few blogs recently that started by asking the question; if you could go back in time and talk to one person who would it be? Honestly, I never can think of just one person, much less what we might talk about for a moment. But the blogs are filled with replies that amaze me. People have given a thought to the one person they would like to speak to and the conversations they might have with them.
At some point, I hang my head because I still can’t settle on just one. There are many great people who have spoken words that resonate long after they have passed from this life; not to mention the great artists, poets, teachers and leaders of nations. To settle on only one is like eating one chip, or a single M&M.
I do sometimes wish, however, that I could go back in time and talk to myself. What was I thinking? Life moves by fast enough without being in such a hurry. I would look myself in the eye and say; slow down, you may not believe this, but times goes fast. I mean really fast, you’ll be old before you know it.
Those quirky little things you do are what make you, you. I would smile at me with a knowing smile. People will want to change that about you but don’t let them. You can give up many things, but not who you are in your heart of hearts. You probably will to fit in, but keep fighting to hold on to who you are.
Daydreams, don’t hurt. Believe in your dreams and you’ll reach some of them. You’ll be often told they’re impossible but hold tight to each one they will bring you joy when the naysayers are gone.
Smile often, love deeply, show kindness and lend a helping hand. Live simply so others can simply live. Be happy to be, in every stage of life given to you. Enough said for the truth is, I would be so shocked to go back in time and see me, I would say nothing at all.
by Iona Morrison | Jun 7, 2015
Not for Sale was released on May 22. Its first review are up.
“Not For Sale”. By Iona Morrison caught my attention immediately! She knows how to start a book, because it is that good, you don’t want to put it down! The intensity of this story moved me deeply as I experienced it page by page. I was glad to see Jesse and Matt, the characters we remember from her former book in this one. Jesse and Matt are intriguing, to say the least, as you follow them thru their unique investigative style! I know you will enjoy this book. Iona Morrison has a unique gift of bringing you into the life of her exciting mysteries with descriptive language. Easy, exciting, and fascinating reading.”
“Iona Morrison’s book, Not for sale, is as good or better than her first novel, The Harvest Club. In this book, she wastes no time diving in head first into the plot, because she had familiarized the main characters in the first novel. Woven through the book is a great love story that grows through time. Iona writes about important issues like child trafficking and the police work behind it in such a way that I found it intriguing and insightful. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a story with lots of twists and turns.”
Check it out now on Amazon.
by Iona Morrison | May 10, 2015
I give you a small taste of Not for Sale.
Jessie cleared her throat. “I believe the one who can tell you the most is Abigail. She saw it, which is another good reason we need to find her. This morning she sent me a picture showing me her surroundings. Are there some abandoned cabins in the area where you can still hear the ocean?” Jessie looked at her notes. “She showed me many trees and a road that was more of an overgrown pathway.”
“More than a few, I’m sure.” Matt looked …skeptical.
“Sent you a picture, how?” Dylan looked at her, puzzled.
“In my mind…I know, weird, huh?” She smiled at his expression. “It must be the drinking water in this town.” She looked at her phone when it buzzed, reading a new text. “But don’t fry your brains trying to figure it out. I can’t, and it’s happening to me.” Amusement lit up her eyes. “By the way, Frank’s in the parking lot if you want to get started.”
They’re here!!!! Not for Sale print books are now up on Amazon.
by Iona Morrison | Apr 7, 2015
I like real people. You know the type. People who aren’t afraid to say that their lives are often a mess. I can relate to these people, I’m one of them. I know what it’s like to succeed and to fail. I’ve been in the in-group and just as quickly in the out feeling like a misfit, one of the weird. I used to worry about impressing others and living up to some unseen expectations. But if I can speak frankly for a moment, I like freedom more than the precarious sense of belonging where rules can change tomorrow. I may talk too much at times, or be too quiet in the next, and on occasion get carried away on a subject that I’m wildly passionate about.
There is a certain beauty in the ugliness and mess of life. It comes with its own hard lessons on what’s important and what’s not. I think this is what the world is begging for, real people, loving passionately, and living their simple real lives.
by Iona Morrison | Mar 15, 2015
I like new ideas, yes, even radical ones. The kind of statements that reach inside of you and grab you. They stop you in your tracks, make you think, and often change the way you think. They shake things up, and make you question your own thoughts on a subject, which can be a good thing. (Even when those around you think you’ve lost your ever loving mind.)
With a twenty-four news cycle, every book imaginable on all most every subject, and the internet I’ll be honest it’s easy not to ever question or think for myself. That’s why I love it when something comes along that grabs my attention and stirs me to consider something other than the way I’ve always seen it. My favorite teachers through the years were not the ones who told me what to think but those who challenged me to think. They’d get in my face when I gave a cliché answer and ask me what I really believed on the subject. I had to dig deep and would be surprised by my own answers.
If I’ve learned one thing in life it is that the longer I live the less I know, no one has the corner on all the truth, and questions, contrary to what I was taught, are very good. By asking them I have often found a new position to think from or sometimes it simply strengthens the one I already have. In no way have new ideas or questions diminished me, but they have challenged me.
The good that has come from being open to new possibilities is that I can hear someone who believes different from me and not become defensive. I can listen, hear another perspective, and walk away having learned something new about another person. In some ways it eliminates the fear of those that are different and obliterates the me verses you and us against them mentality.
I spent many years in a rigid system in which I was right and others who didn’t see it the same way were wrong. I was in they were out. I had it they didn’t and the list goes on. (As if I could possibly know.) But, life has its own way of challenging us by throwing everything our way at once and such was the case with me. For the first time I found that my pat answers weren’t enough, I had questions, and I needed to think through the new ideas I was hearing. I was stopped in my tracks, grabbed by those ideas, which changed little and yet changed the way I saw everything. I’ll admit that I’m cool with it, I’m a little less arrogant, and a tad nicer to be around.
