Despite the paucity of my posts lately, I haven't been entirely idle. I finally got around to writing my book on the afterlife, which I call The Far Horizon: Perspectives on Life Beyond Death.
I was planning to self-publish this short (45,000-word) book and maybe sell a handful of copies. But when I announced it on Facebook, a helpful Facebook friend, Maryam Ebadi, contacted Jon Beecher, who runs White Crow Books, the well-known niche publisher of paranormal titles. Jon was interested in handling the book and got in touch with me. We had a very friendly FaceTime chat—one of the few times I've ever used FaceTime—and agreed to do the deal.
So the upshot is that The Far Horizon will come out in both paperback and digital editions through White Crow, probably within the next three months or so.
Here's the blurb I wrote for the book when I was planning to self-publish. It gives you the gist:
THE FAR HORIZON
Over the past century and a half, a wealth of evidence has emerged that is consistent, at least, with the hypothesis of life after death.
• Near-death experiences
• Deathbed visions
• Mediumship
• Apparitions
• Past-life memories, and memories of a between-lives stateYet even those who are inclined to take this evidence seriously may struggle to make sense of it. How can the idea of an afterlife be integrated into our everyday experience? How can we connect the seemingly nebulous notion of postmortem survival with the hard, tangible reality of life on earth?
Through metaphors, images, and analogies—illustrated with dozens of documented cases drawn from the literature of parapsychology—this book suggests ways of looking at life beyond death, not as a baffling anomaly, but as a logical extension of our experience of reality here and now.
The hope is that we can learn to see reports of an afterlife as something more than mere ghost stories … and to sharpen the focus of our gaze on The Far Horizon.
———
The book offers four main metaphors or "models" of the afterlife, all of which have been discussed on this blog:
- the virtual-reality simulation model
- the spectrum of frequencies model
- the Flatland model; and
- the diamond model.
There's also a concluding chapter that examines the meaning and purpose of it all.
Although my focus is not on "proving" postmortem survival, the various models are illustrated with case studies that serve as evidence. I have to say that most of the material (both the models and the case histories) derives from posts I've already published on this blog, which is how I was able to put to the book together pretty quickly. However, it's not just a compilation of blog posts. I extensively rewrote most of the content and structured it into what I hope is a coherent presentation.
One thing I discovered when rereading old blog posts is how many typos there are. I never realized there were so many. Oh, well. You get what you pay for, and this blog is free. The book will cost money, but it will also be professionally proofread.
Cheers!
Nice, Michael, congratulations!
I think I'll buy the paperback and enjoy it in an analog fashion!
Very happy for you...
Posted by: Matt Rouge | September 09, 2020 at 03:54 PM
That’s great news. I’ll keep an eye out for it.
Posted by: Paul | September 09, 2020 at 05:59 PM
Can't wait!
Posted by: Harrison | September 10, 2020 at 10:18 AM
I hope you cull more books from your threads here, especially one on the theme of "Why I Am Not a Skeptic." Such a book should sell OK and fill a niche; and there should be a niche publisher willing to handle it. (I'd copy-edit it for free. I've done so for five books already.)
I also hope that you include comments from those threads. Obtaining permission from a dozen of the regulars here should be easy.
Posted by: Roger Knights | September 10, 2020 at 09:23 PM
Congrats and very much looking forward to reading the book (in analogue).
Posted by: Eric Newhill | September 11, 2020 at 10:15 AM
Congratulations! Looking forward to reading it.
Posted by: Philemon | September 11, 2020 at 10:50 AM
Excellent,Michael! Looking forward to it. Most certainly I will buy the hard copy version.
Smithy
Posted by: Smithy | September 13, 2020 at 10:58 AM
I am sooo looking forward to this book.
Posted by: Rabbitdawg | September 15, 2020 at 11:47 AM
Apparitions are some of the best evidence given that apparitions of the living, which are reciprocally experience by the sender and the receiver are mirrored by those of the deceased.
Posted by: Shaun | September 16, 2020 at 01:54 AM
The empirical scientific method does not prove anything. It provides us with highly probable truths. And the survival evidence is convergent and difficult to explain on other grounds. Psi is goal driven so if there is no discernible motivation, then super-psi is a highly unlikely explanation a specific case.
Posted by: Shaun | September 16, 2020 at 08:37 PM
"the virtual-reality simulation model
the spectrum of frequencies model
the Flatland model
the diamond model."
Excellent choices, Michael! I confess that when you originally spoke of four models, I was concerned that one of them (remembering many discussions and posts) would be information-processing or computer-related. That’s never interested me so I’m glad it’s not featured. (Though I suppose the virtual-reality model—which I’m sure is valid in itself—may lean in that direction.)
Flatland is endlessly mind-bending—exactly what’s needed for a book like this. And the spectrum-of-frequencies viewpoint is another great choice. As I began to transition from my rigid skepticism, it was my first way of making sense of an invisible spiritual realm.
Finally, I remember your post on your diamond-related mystical experience as being one of your best.
Sounds like you’ve got the makings of a winner here.
Posted by: Bruce L Siegel | September 18, 2020 at 04:38 PM
Thanks, Bruce! However, I have to tell you that the VR model, as I present it, essentially is the information processing model. And yes, there’s a lot about "it from bit," the idea that what we call physical reality has its origins in pure information. ("It from bit" is a phrase coined by physicist John Wheeler.)
My only doubt about the book now is whether we'll still have a world left for it to be published in. I’ve never seen current events at such a hot boil. The closest I can come to it is the summer of 1968, which I only dimly remember. I’m concerned enough that I’ve begun putting my personal affairs in order. If the worst case scenario plays out, a lot of us will be learning about the afterlife without the need for a book!
Posted by: Michael Prescott | September 19, 2020 at 12:15 PM
"the VR model, as I present it, essentially is the information processing model"
Well, it looks like I'll be interested in 3/4 of the book then. :)
"I’ve never seen current events at such a hot boil. The closest I can come to it is the summer of 1968."
I'm old enough to have been traumatized by the Cuban missile crisis. That could have been curtains for all of us right there. I vividly remember doubting that I would get to enjoy my upcoming Bar Mitzvah.
But yes—these are troubling times indeed. Though part of me, thank God (literally), lives on a separate "track” entirely, far removed from politics and elections. Having a spiritual perspective makes a difference.
Posted by: Bruce L Siegel | September 19, 2020 at 01:52 PM
Recent new article about "reality"....
A quantum experiment suggests there’s no such thing as objective reality
"Physicists have long suspected that quantum mechanics allows two observers to experience different, conflicting realities. Now they’ve performed the first experiment that proves it." ...
"And today, Massimiliano Proietti at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and a few colleagues say they have performed this experiment for the first time: they have created different realities and compared them. Their conclusion is that Wigner was correct—these realities can be made irreconcilable so that it is impossible to agree on objective facts about an experiment."
https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/03/12/136684/a-quantum-experiment-suggests-theres-no-such-thing-as-objective-reality/?fbclid=IwAR31Ws81_EDoJNhKTym8bALydrLMsmmzV19HWboRswjwKKrWg1-3oan6YX4
Remember everything we call real is made out of things that can't be considered as real (Niels Bohr, founding father of modern quantum physics.
Posted by: Art | September 21, 2020 at 03:54 PM
'I’m concerned enough that I’ve begun putting my personal affairs in order. If the worst case scenario plays out, a lot of us will be learning about the afterlife without the need for a book!'
Considering how things are going, I honestly wouldn't mind that.
Posted by: Ian | September 22, 2020 at 04:41 AM
"Considering how things are going, I honestly wouldn't mind that."
I've been feeling the same way, myself. I feel a little bit like Cicero at the end of the Roman Republic. Not that I'm any Cicero, of course — I just mean emotionally. As a friend of mine put it, "Things are going to get worse before they get worse."
Posted by: Michael Prescott | September 22, 2020 at 02:47 PM
\\"As a friend of mine put it, "Things are going to get worse before they get worse." - MP//
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That literally made me laugh out loud... I'm still chuckling. {snort!} - Art
Posted by: Arthur Riechert | September 22, 2020 at 04:32 PM