Romantic Fiction, Reality Shaping and The Work

[SMM]

Recently finished reading What A Duke Dares, and the last few chapters helped offer insight into communication, communication styles and communication dynamics when with other people.

A warning this might contain spoilers for those who haven't read it.

In Ch. 39 OSIT, Cam approaches Pen very slowly and gently before confessing he loves her. When I initially read, I must admit I was curious as to what was going on from the characters' perspectives - why Cam decided to take that approach specifically in those moments, not before. It had been a few months since first starting the book so I thought that was why. I read on until the end of the book then slept early, and slept well. That was two nights ago.

Today, I was doing some research and preparing a presentation when I came across information on different communication styles. Some communicate more visually, some more auditory while others more kinesthetic. This research for the presentation reminded me of this part of the book.

In summary w.r.t. communication styles, visual communicators are more animated and energetic when communicating and tend to communicate with words such as 'seeing' and 'vision'. Auditory communicators are less animated, more relaxed and steady. They usually have a relaxed, calming tone and use words such as 'resonate' and 'sound'. Kinesthetic communicators are usually slow, and at times sparing and use silence and pauses in their communication, using words such as 'feel' and 'sense'. They're most likely to follow gut instinct and intuition.

After a moment of pausing and reflecting on the book, Pen came across as more of a kinesthetic communicator while Cam was more of a visual communicator.

Without going into great lengthy detail, more visual communicators can come across as harsh, direct and intense to more auditory and kinesthetic communicators if they're not aware thus not adapting their communication style for more effective communication with whom they're interacting with.

In those moments in Ch. 39 when Cam choice to consciously approach Pen differently, Cam adapted his communication style to communicate better on a kinesthetic level - seen in his greater care and awareness of the space and feeling between himself and Pen.

This gave some awareness on how my own more visual communication style clashes with other communication styles. This happens especially with more kinesthetic communicators and is worse when combined with other negative, damaging cognitive-behavioural patterns, habits and character traits.

 

[thorbiorn]

In the latest Session 13 March 2021, there has been some discussion of this reading project: In one reply, Laura wrote (except for the highlighting):

Not only that, but novels DEMAND the use of the brain in specific ways, including putting oneself in the shoes of another. And in many of these particular novels, you have the opportunity to put yourself into a LOT of different shoes in a single book in a direct and remarkable way. The potential for building empathy that exists in this property of reading these novels cannot be overstated.

I would also say that reading is better than listening, but listening is certainly better than watching a movie.

I've noticed a marked increase in my ability to quickly imagine and visualize individuals and scenes that are getting more and more accurate and I suspect that is a talent that might come in handy in 4D.

The above and other posts with comments on the romantic novel project made me look into research done on the effects of reading fiction. I decided to post it here, as it might be more relevant in the long run. If the post is long, then there is an accessible article with a positive message from Psychologytoday.com The Real-Life Benefits of Reading Fiction Research reveals how compelling stories can make us better people. The research findings are more nuanced than this optimistic title reveals. After all, there are different readers, various types of genres and authors. The reading of many books is likely to make one a better and more aware readers thus increasing the quality of reading.

The romantic fiction reading project and the results in the papers
The romantic fiction reading project involves the reading of fiction of select titles and authors. The extent to which the findings in the papers apply to this project and us as readers individually might vary from the research findings. The papers will include one about online reading communities. Next, there are a few about social cognition and its possible development through the reading of fiction, and last a few papers about the reading of fiction, visualization and imagining.

The romance novel reading project as an online reading community
This thread with all the posts and their perspectives share characteristics with an online reading community. In this regard, there is one paper from Russia that was based on a two-year study of one Russian fan fiction community.

Russian Sociological Review Natalia Samutina 1
1 National Research University Higher School of Economics, 20 Myasnitskaya Str., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation

The Great Female Readers: Fan Fiction as a Literary Experience
2013, vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 137–194 [issue contents]

The main object of this interdisciplinary paper is examining fan fiction as a social practice and a literary experience. Its conclusions draw upon the results from two years of field research conducted in the Russian Harry Potter female fan fiction Internet community. Reading communities play a crucial part in this new type of literary communication, even though these communities are completely ignored by the literature industry. These online communities strongly support the readers’ writings, provide an exchange of experiences, encourage the rethinking of different contexts of literary and social behavior, foster the development of literary and social imagination, and so on. While analyzing and theorizing fan fiction in detail as a literary experience, the author draws upon Uses of Literature (2008) by Rita Felski and her concept of the “modes of textual engagement”. The author comes to the conclusion that fan fiction uses even more “modes of textual engagement” compared to institutionalized literature, while minimizing all the factors leading to the rejection of a reader — which helps to understand the reasons for fan fiction’s enormous popularity and the practices of extensive reading.

In the main article, there are some beautiful quotes, no doubt the reading of fiction can nourish and help some people. By now we can go back in this thread and pick out a few.

Social cognition and reading
A term that quite often comes up in the papers is social cognition: From APA Dictionary of Psychology

social cognition
1. cognition in which people perceive, think about, interpret, categorize, and judge their own social behaviors and those of others. The study of social cognition involves aspects of both cognitive psychology and social psychology. Major areas of interest include attribution theory, person perception, social influence, and the cognitive processes involved in moral judgments.

2. in animal behavior, the knowledge that an individual has about other members of its social group and the ability to reason about the actions of others based on this knowledge. In vervet monkeys, for example, after an individual in matriline (matrilineal line of descent) A attacks an individual in matriline B, other members of B are more likely to attack members in A.

For another article on social cognition:

THEORIES SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Social Cognition in Psychology The Way We Think About Others
By Kendra Cherry Reviewed by David Susman, PhD on May 30, 2020

The above site goes into the development of social cognition and explains the concept of a Theory of Mind.

Development
Social cognition develops in childhood and adolescence. As children grow, they become more aware not only of their own feelings, thoughts, and motives but also of the emotions and mental states of others. Children become more adept at understanding how others feel, learning how to respond in social situations, engaging in prosocial behaviors, and taking the perspective of others.

While there are many different theories that look at how social cognition develops, one of the most popular focuses on the work of the psychologist Jean Piaget. According to Piaget, a child's cognitive development goes through a series of stages.

• During the earliest stages of development, children are very egocentric. They see the world from their own perspective and struggle to think about how other people may view the world.
• As children grow older, children become increasingly adept at perspective-taking and have an increased ability to think about how and why people act the way they do in social situations.

More recently, research has provided evidence that children develop the ability to think about the perspectives of other people at an earlier age than Piaget previously believed. Even young preschoolers exhibit some ability to think about how other people might view a situation.

One of the most important developments in the early emergence of social cognition is the growth of a theory of mind. A theory of mind refers to a person's ability to understand and think about the mental states of other people.
It is the emergence of a theory of mind that is critical to being able to consider the thoughts, motives, desires, needs, feelings, and experiences that other people may have. Being able to think about how these mental states can influence how people act is critical to forming social impressions and explaining how and why people do the things that they do.

Sometimes one encounters a concept called social thinking. It can have two meaning, it can be a synonym for social cognition while Social Thinking is a methodology: "The social thinking methodology is a developmental, language-based and thinking-based (metacognitive) methodology that uses visual frameworks, unique vocabulary, strategies, and activities to foster social competence." For articles on this subject applied to school education see: Why Use the Social Thinking Methodology? 19 Concepts to Consider

Metastudies about the effects of reading fiction on social cognition
Engaging with fiction of any kind is not a simple process with easily predictable results. The researchers behind the following meta-analysis ends up suggesting new avenues of research.

Meta-Analysis, J Exp Psychol Gen
2018 Nov;147(11):1713-1727.
doi: 10.1037/xge0000395. Epub 2018 Feb 26.
Fiction reading has a small positive impact on social cognition: A meta-analysis
David Dodell-Feder 1, Diana I Tamir 2
Affiliations expand
PMID: 29481102
DOI: 10.1037/xge0000395

Abstract
Scholars from both the social sciences and the humanities have credited fiction reading with a range of positive real-world social effects. Research in psychology has suggested that readers may make good citizens because fiction reading is associated with better social cognition. But does fiction reading causally improve social cognition? Here, we meta-analyze extant published and unpublished experimental data to address this question. Multilevel random-effects meta-analysis of 53 effect sizes from 14 studies demonstrated that it does: compared to nonfiction reading and no reading, fiction reading leads to a small, statistically significant improvement in social-cognitive performance (g = .15-.16). This effect is robust across sensitivity analyses and does not appear to be the result of publication bias. We recommend that in future work, researchers use more robust reading manipulations, assess whether the effects transfer to improved real-world social functioning, and investigate mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

From APA PsycNet a similar result

Leisure reading and social cognition: A meta-analysis.
Mumper, M. L., & Gerrig, R. J. (2017). Leisure reading and social cognition: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 11(1), 109–120. APA PsycNet

Abstract
This meta-analysis investigates the extent to which people’s leisure reading may produce better social–cognitive abilities. Researchers have hypothesized that experiences of fiction (more so than nonfiction) will improve readers’ empathy and theory of mind. To capture the size of this effect, we aggregated correlations between measures of lifetime reading habits for both fiction and nonfiction with measures of empathy and theory of mind. Consistent with previous evidence, fiction reading had a larger correlation with the social–cognitive measures compared to nonfiction reading. However, the effects were small in magnitude. Heterogeneity analyses indicated that the effect sizes were consistent across studies. We also examined gender, publication status, and design as moderators. However, none of the moderators reached significance. We suggest that the results of this meta-analysis sanction a shift in research agenda toward understanding causal mechanisms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

To the above studies, one might add that this project involves reading many books within a particular genre and of a particular orientation where the idea of service to others is lively.


Reading fiction as mental abstraction and simulation of social experience
The next article from SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals argues that the reading of fiction has functions beyond entertainment, if anyone doubted this, but it expresses it interestingly.

The Function of Fiction is the Abstraction and Simulation of Social Experience
Raymond A. Mar, Keith Oatley
First Published May 1, 2008 Research Article Find in PubMed

SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals

Subscription and open access journals from SAGE Publishing, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

doi.org

Abstract
Fiction literature has largely been ignored by psychology researchers because its only function seems to be entertainment, with no connection to empirical validity. We argue that literary narratives have a more important purpose. They offer models or simulations of the social world via abstraction, simplification, and compression. Narrative fiction also creates a deep and immersive simulative experience of social interactions for readers. This simulation facilitates the communication and understanding of social information and makes it more compelling, achieving a form of learning through experience. Engaging in the simulative experiences of fiction literature can facilitate the understanding of others who are different from ourselves and can augment our capacity for empathy and social inference.

The pdf of the above can be found here and a long summary here.

The mechanics of why the reading of fiction affects the social-cognitive abilities
From Journals | Oxford Academic

Reading fiction and reading minds: the role of simulation in the default network
Diana I. Tamir, Andrew B. Bricker, David Dodell-Feder, Jason P. Mitchell
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Volume 11, Issue 2, February 2016, Pages 215–224, Reading fiction and reading minds: the role of simulation in the default network

Abstract
Research in psychology has suggested that reading fiction can improve individuals’ social-cognitive abilities. Findings from neuroscience show that reading and social cognition both recruit the default network, a network which is known to support our capacity to simulate hypothetical scenes, spaces and mental states. The current research tests the hypothesis that fiction reading enhances social cognition because it serves to exercise the default subnetwork involved in theory of mind. While undergoing functional neuroimaging, participants read literary passages that differed along two dimensions: (i) vivid vs abstract and (ii) social vs non-social. Analyses revealed distinct subnetworks of the default network respond to the two dimensions of interest: the medial temporal lobe subnetwork responded preferentially to vivid passages, with or without social content; the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) subnetwork responded preferentially to passages with social and abstract content. Analyses also demonstrated that participants who read fiction most often also showed the strongest social cognition performance. Finally, mediation analysis showed that activity in the dmPFC subnetwork in response to the social content mediated this relation, suggesting that the simulation of social content in fiction plays a role in fiction’s ability to enhance readers’ social cognition.

The following papers go into more details with visualization and imagining
Visualisation relates to vision while imagining could include more faculties

Renate Brosch,
What we ‘see’ when we read: Visualization and vividness in reading fictional narratives,
Cortex, Volume 105, 2018, Pages 135-143, ISSN 0010-9452,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.08.020.

(What we ‘see’ when we read: Visualization and vividness in reading fictional narratives)

Abstract:
Visualization is defined as the production of mental images in the process of reading (Esrock 2005: 633). This article is concerned with varieties of visualization during an absorbing reading of a fictional narrative, the mental images that range from an indistinct and largely automatic default visualization to the much more vivid images that occur at significant stages in the narrative. Neuroscientific studies of vision have collected a large and impressively varied body of experimental evidence for two major processing streams – the dorsal and the ventral-specialized for vision-for-action and vision for-perception respectively. Further experiments distinguish different dispositional specializations: visualizers with a high spatial visualizing ability demonstrating a more efficient use of resources in the dorsal pathway, and those with a high object visualization and more efficient use of the ventral pathway (Kozhevnikov et al., 2010: 29). We can assume that both types of mental processing will be prompted in fictional narratives with differences in prominence depending on their authors' inclinations and the design and purpose of the narrative text. According to Amedeo D'Angiulli (2013: 7), who conducted elaborate tests of vividness in mental imagery using written descriptive passages as stimulus, dynamic imagery was significantly less vivid than static imagery. These results confirm traditional literary criticism based on introspection which argues that detailed description of static objects elicits an especially lively imagination. However, narratives can provoke even stronger visualizations by rendering subjective moments of seeing in which a fictional character is emotionally involved. In encouraging readers to shift now and then from the default mode of motion-oriented visualizing to a more affective and more conscious object visualization, literary fictions exercise their power to evoke imaginings that one would not generate by oneself. This may indicate that literary narratives can prove a training ground for expanding one's visualizing capacities.

From SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals

Imaginary Engagement, Real-World Effects: Fiction, Emotion, and Social Cognition
Jennifer L. Barnes
First Published June 1, 2018

SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals

Subscription and open access journals from SAGE Publishing, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

doi.org

Abstract
Prior research has shown that cumulative written fiction exposure is correlated with (Mar, Oatley, Hirsch, de la Paz, & Peterson, 2006; Mar, Oatley, & Peterson, 2009) and 1-time exposure to literary fiction increases (e.g., Black & Barnes, 2015a; Kidd & Castano, 2013) performance on an emotion-reading task. However, Panero and colleagues (2016) found that although lifetime fiction exposure is a reliable predictor of performance, the causal effects previously observed may be more fragile (see also Samur, Tops, & Koole, 2017). The current article is an exploration of the extent to which the ability of fiction to affect social cognition may depend not only on what is read, but also how one reads. Specifically, an argument is made that the effect of fiction on social cognition may depend on the degree to which the reader contributes imaginatively to the text and that, although drawing meaning from literary fiction may require high levels of imaginative engagement, popular and genre fiction may allow for engaging in this way. This stance is discussed with respect to the role that emotional investment in a story and its characters might play in influencing readers of popular fiction to read in a “literary” way.

The following paper suggests that the way people interpret text vary, and they do not all use visualisation to the same extent

Visualization and the Vivid Reading Experience
Mackey, M. (2019). Visualization and the Vivid Reading Experience. Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures 11(1), 38-58. doi:10.1353/jeu.2019.0002.

Abstract:
Many teachers' guides about teaching reading suggest that actively creating mental pictures is important or essential to comprehension. This article approaches the idea of the priority of visualization from three perspectives. It presents self-description from undergraduate readers of varied backgrounds, whose analysis of their own reading processes includes a range of approaches, from creating detailed imagery to developing a provisional schema to rejecting visualization altogether. A substantial review of current literature in neuroscience and cognitive poetics reinforces the viability of a more plural framework of interpretative strategies. Finally, the article explores how authors contribute to variation in readerly tactics through foregrounding and other narrative strategies, by means of an analysis of the opening three chapters of Philip Pullman's novel La Belle Sauvage.

The last paper reviews the available research. concerning readers, imagination and literary instruction.

Imagination and Literacy Instruction: A Content Analysis of Literature within Literacy-Related Publications
Pelttari, Carole, "Imagination and Literacy Instruction: A Content Analysis of Literature within Literacy-Related Publications" (2016). Education and Human Development Faculty Publications. 20. https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/ehd_facpub/20

Abstract Through content analysis of research conducted during the last 25 years, this paper identifies five vital uses of imagination within literacy instruction. First, readers use imagination to comprehend text. Second, readers use imagination to engage in the world depicted through the text. Third, readers use imagination to make sense of both narrative and expository texts. Fourth, readers use imagination to learn about self and others. Finally, readers benefit from instruction regarding the use of imagination to enhance reading. A compilation of instructional methods is presented. This analysis establishes the need for classroom instruction connecting imagination and literacy.

The authors of the article have some suggestion as to how to connect imagination and literacy in classroom instruction, though some have applications also for ordinary readers.

Implications /Conclusions
In the last twenty-five years, researchers have identified specific strategies, mentioned in the Findings section, that teachers can use to link imagination and literacy. These findings suggest three implications: 1. Multi-sensory prompts deepen literacy engagement. 2. Students at all levels can be instructed to engage imagination in order to deepen understanding as they read. Across all ages, multi-sensory prompts have been found more effective than relying only on visualization (Roser et al., 2007; Schofield & Rogers, 2004). In addition, abstract, loosely defined prompts have been found more effective than highly realistic prompts (King, 2007). These findings challenge the idea that specific prompts and explicit instruction deliver the most effective methods for incorporating imagination in literacy. Furthermore, even though decoding processes may be slowed temporarily by directing beginning readers to engage imagination as they read (Gambrell, 1982), the benefits to overall comprehension and engagement appear to outweigh any concerns. The research analyzed here suggests the importance of recognizing that reading includes many aspects in addition to decoding. And making meaning involves connecting words on a page to pictures, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches elicited by the text. [...]

Future possibilities
As one becomes better at engaging with the texts using one's imagination, and as one grows in social cognition and the ability to put oneself in the shoes of others, one will read future novels with greater understanding. One could also return to a novel one has already read and reexplore a literary plot from an enriched perspective. Perhaps one could learn to reimagine a whole book at will, as when a play is performed with a new director, new actors on a new stage with a new backdrop? And moving beyond fiction, could not the same enhanced imagination work in history, biology and mathematics.

 

[Debra Lynn]

I started reading The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie and was hooked by chapter 3. I thought it would be a chore to read a book like this but it's not. I find myself thinking about the characters and storyline several times during the day and can't wait to get back to reading in the evening. My daughter ask me why I was reading this book because it is out of character for me. I explained to her why we were reading these books and what we were hoping to get out of this project. She seemed very interested and ask if she could join the group! I sent her the link and told her she could read on the forum before she made the decision to join. I hope she does but I won't push it.

The reason I picked the book that I did is because my late husband was on the autistic spectrum and his family committed him to a mental institution when he was a teenager like Ian's father did. Even back in the 60's they still seemed to not understand these conditions very well. He eventually got out and went on to make a life for himself. When computers entered the scene he found his place in the world. He became a software designer and some even said his designs were beautiful. We met several years later and formed a friendship. We were both really into Science Fiction at the time and related on that level.

Unfortunately I was never able to really help him connect to the world in a loving and romantic way. He was generally kind for the most part but really set in his ways. It didn't really bother me to much at the time because I wasn't all that interested in romance or intimacy either. I had plenty of my own issues from childhood trauma and wasn't to connected myself.

It is bittersweet to gain a deeper understanding of what my husbands inner world was probably like and how I might have assisted him. I am very interested in learning how Beth managed to connect with Ian and what qualities she had that enabled her to do that. Perhaps that will show me certain areas in my own life I can work on. I have some brain damage and learning disabilities related to my past and I've been told I was kinda weird also. It has taken a lot of work to even get to where I am today, but I am always excited to learn different techniques to improve and understand myself and the world better. That sounds kind of corny I think but I am posting this anyway with a big THANK YOU to Laura and the rest of the forum.

I've tried reading the book recommended on the reading list called Healing Developmental Trauma but it was taking forever and by the time I got to the end of a chapter I had forgotten most of what I had read previous to that. I don't seem to be forgetting what I'm reading in this romance book. I'm captivated.

I plan on ordering the rest of the Mackenzie series when I finish the book I am reading now.

 

[Laura]

Something interesting that strikes me is the stark contrast in popular culture promoting and attempting to normalise abnormal relationships, promiscuity and an emphasis on personal pleasure to name a few - and on the flip side, emphasised in these novels, the idea of essentially finding a soul mate and a mutual expression of joy and happiness.

As I have been a fan of science fiction and fantasy novels - it has surprised me how 'grounding' I have found reading this genre. Despite many of the situations eventually finding an almost fantasy idealism, the experiences seem to somehow focus my attention more on attempting to learn the 'human' lessons rather than living with my head in the clouds - which was unexpected.

The first bolded comment above: there are, in fact, quite a number of novels that claim to be "historical romances" that are purely and simply porn and promote exactly what you described above: "abnormal relationships" and "emphasis on personal pleasure" at the expense of others. Be aware of this. It's probably better if you do not wander away from the vetted list.

The second set of bolded comments: indeed, this is exactly what I noted and why I decided to launch this project. Our objective IS to learn the "simple and karmic understandings" and to stay out of the clouds, though it is certainly necessary to use imagination to the max. After all, relationships are the main issues of our 3D reality and we really need to figure out what we've done wrong, to feel the awakening of conscience, to perhaps suffer a bit for it, and learn the lessons that we came here to learn.

This particular genre, by virtue of the fact that it is predicated on "historical" periods and events, gives the necessary framework for working out issues from the PAST by way of the present (as just described, conscience, etc.). Sci-fi future oriented novels do not have this framework and are thus much less suitable for our purposes here. We are trying to learn the lessons of 3D, not anticipate what we might do/experience in a 4D future that we can hardly imagine.

I've had my issues with the quality of writing of some of these stories, as have others, but one thing I have learned is that, when the story and the dynamics are of interest, I can set that aside and mentally correct for the author. I think that there is a certain amount of "channeling" going on with these books, even if the authors are not always masters of syntax and grammar. So, I've learned to set those problems aside and look specifically at the story, the dynamics, the INFORMATION that is being conveyed in the scenarios, and to use my own imagination to get inside the heads of the characters. Naturally, when I do that, my characters use better grammar and small historical inaccuracies are corrected! I may resonate so much with a particular story that I imagine that I have re-written it and improved it.

 

[Laura]

It is bittersweet to gain a deeper understanding of what my husbands inner world was probably like and how I might have assisted him. I am very interested in learning how Beth managed to connect with Ian and what qualities she had that enabled her to do that. Perhaps that will show me certain areas in my own life I can work on. I have some brain damage and learning disabilities related to my past and I've been told I was kinda weird also. It has taken a lot of work to even get to where I am today, but I am always excited to learn different techniques to improve and understand myself and the world better. That sounds kind of corny I think but I am posting this anyway with a big THANK YOU to Laura and the rest of the forum.

I've tried reading the book recommended on the reading list called Healing Developmental Trauma but it was taking forever and by the time I got to the end of a chapter I had forgotten most of what I had read previous to that. I don't seem to be forgetting what I'm reading in this romance book. I'm captivated.

I plan on ordering the rest of the Mackenzie series when I finish the book I am reading now.

You will be happy to know that Ian reappears regularly in the subsequent novels and even ends the series. He's a great character.

 

[Jones]

I've had my issues with the quality of writing of some of these stories, as have others, but one thing I have learned is that, when the story and the dynamics are of interest, I can set that aside and mentally correct for the author. I think that there is a certain amount of "channeling" going on with these books, even if the authors are not always masters of syntax and grammar. So, I've learned to set those problems aside and look specifically at the story, the dynamics, the INFORMATION that is being conveyed in the scenarios, and to use my own imagination to get inside the heads of the characters. Naturally, when I do that, my characters use better grammar and small historical inaccuracies are corrected! I may resonate so much with a particular story that I imagine that I have re-written it and improved it.

I wonder if your next book is going to be a historically accurate grammar perfect Romantic Fiction?!

 

[Mililea]

You will be happy to know that Ian reappears regularly in the subsequent novels and even ends the series. He's a great character.

I love the Mac Kenzie series and also Ian appeals to me the most because he is so out of it and gets down to the nitty gritty. I finished the 9th book in the series within a day the day before yesterday and am now on the 10th and it is captivating me. I use every spare second to read.

I've had my issues with the quality of writing of some of these stories, as have others, but one thing I have learned is that, when the story and the dynamics are of interest, I can set that aside and mentally correct for the author.

I know the problem from my husband, he used to have a record label and several bands. And judges any music whether live or as a record from this point of view. He analyzes it downright. I always find it a pity, because this maybe blocks the experience I think.

You should just feel music, just like our romantic stories, without taking it apart too much in terms of grammar or history. Although I can very well imagine that this is not so easy when you have so much knowledge about it like you Laura.
I always feel a bit like a little kid listening to a story with my mouth open. However, actually torn whether to be sad about not knowing so much about it or in this case glad about it because I just take the story as it is. What I can't help with though are spelling errors, I can't manage to read over those without thinking about them.

On a side note, as far as sexual stories go, my sensibilities have actually changed over time. It no longer triggers that desire as it did in the beginning to be "satisfied" immediately. Instead, I enjoy the scenes and take this feeling with me into my energy. Similar to a meditation. I don't know if I can describe it properly, it's like I can transform that energy.

 

[Korzik18]

Well, I finished my first book by Anna Gracie Merridew - The Perfect Rake!
Many thanks to the Cassiopaeans for encouraging many of us to join this project in the last session! I ran away from him for a long time, because time is short, and not all scientific works have been read yet.

And then Laura posted about the romance novels. Sure, many of us chuckled and felt uneasy that suddenly such literature is a required Work material. But what happened after we started reading and sharing, is that it made us much happier. Don't underestimate the power of a story that takes you on an emotional ride AND has a happy ending!

I understood that it might not immediately turn out to delve into the story, to find a catchy character. When I searched for and saved the Merridew series of books, I chuckled at the descriptions and pictures, like many newbies. The last time I read this was when I was 15-18 years old.

I've had my issues with the quality of writing of some of these stories, as have others, but one thing I have learned is that, when the story and the dynamics are of interest, I can set that aside and mentally correct for the author.

I finished the book in 4 evenings. On weekends I read until midnight and could not tear myself away. Yes, the story is a simple, predictable plot, the work has no artistic value. At first I was not attracted, everything is too banal, a fairy tale for bored ladies.
BUT! On the second evening, I began to think about the heroes. My brains began to move. I began to find that some of Prudence's thoughts were similar to mine many years ago.
After completing the book, the next day, I continued to crawl out memories from my own life, from which I wanted to cry. It turns out that I did not forget them, but simply put them in the farthest corner of the cabinet. And without this novel, I would hardly remember.

So it seems that Laura really does know what she is talking about. The fact that so many have had "Aha" moments while reading these books and found some release of repressed emotions and new knowledge of why they may feel the way they do makes it quite worthwhile to read a few of them, at the very least, to see what all of the hubbabaloo is about.

This kind of reading gives hope. And the nature of romance novels is that they always have a happy ending. And that's what we really need now in order to have the will to continue watching the show. Who knows, perhaps just like Laura said, it provides us with tools and "fuel" to "ride the Wave" and feel ecstasy in the face of all the cr*p that is happening in the world right now.

But the strangest thing for me, despite the fact that my personal life is like a happy ending from a book, where everyone is happy, they found true love, family, mutual understanding ... I still didn't believe that this could be so. The cruelty of the surrounding real world seemed to lodge inside me. The idea that the end can only be bad, tragic stuck and became a habit of perceiving the world, relationships. I wanted to get rid of this habitual outlook on life, sweep it out like rubbish and replace it with light, faith, love.

 

[Laura]

I wonder if your next book is going to be a historically accurate grammar perfect Romantic Fiction?!

Ha! Not likely. I've got too much on my plate already for that. I'll let those who are good at downloading human situations from the etheric fields continue doing it. Some of them might not be good at grammar or spelling, but quite a few of them appear to be really good at tapping into that particular field. I guess I'm hooked up to a different field.

 

[Laura]

I love the Mac Kenzie series and also Ian appeals to me the most because he is so out of it and gets down to the nitty gritty. I finished the 9th book in the series within a day the day before yesterday and am now on the 10th and it is captivating me. I use every spare second to read.

I know the problem from my husband, he used to have a record label and several bands. And judges any music whether live or as a record from this point of view. He analyzes it downright. I always find it a pity, because this maybe blocks the experience I think.

You should just feel music, just like our romantic stories, without taking it apart too much in terms of grammar or history. Although I can very well imagine that this is not so easy when you have so much knowledge about it like you Laura.
I always feel a bit like a little kid listening to a story with my mouth open. However, actually torn whether to be sad about not knowing so much about it or in this case glad about it because I just take the story as it is. What I can't help with though are spelling errors, I can't manage to read over those without thinking about them.

On a side note, as far as sexual stories go, my sensibilities have actually changed over time. It no longer triggers that desire as it did in the beginning to be "satisfied" immediately. Instead, I enjoy the scenes and take this feeling with me into my energy. Similar to a meditation. I don't know if I can describe it properly, it's like I can transform that energy.

It was a little difficult for me at first to get into books other than Georgette Heyer, but I managed. I had that same barrier your husband has, and which has been noted by other forum members. However, I was fascinated by noticing that this genre was so good at depicting values that we aspire to, I was actually reading to try to figure that out. I think I made this clear earlier in this thread. And then, it was in the act of trying to understand a phenomenon that I began to feel the effects of the reading itself. I had put aside my extreme criticisms in order to understand something and in doing that, I allowed the content, the information, to manifest itself to my consciousness. In short, I did what you are suggesting: I was just feeling the stories in trying to understand them, and that helped me to open up a bit to the fact that there was something powerful to be learned from them.

The Cs once or twice (or more), criticized me for being so critical and not realizing that lessons can come many ways from many sources. Well, in this particular exercise, that criticism was pretty spot on. By initially demanding a certain level of competency in one area, I lost sight of the fact that competency has many aspects and clearly, by my own history, my competency in some areas was quite lacking. Just like others involved in this Work, I've had some powerful insights and transformations from the reading; I've had dreams that helped me untangle knots in my own history/karma, and I daily feel the effects of a heightened conscience and awareness of the Unseen dynamics of our world that we so often miss because we are so engaged in Internal Considering.

 

[Laura]

I finished the book in 4 evenings. On weekends I read until midnight and could not tear myself away. Yes, the story is a simple, predictable plot, the work has no artistic value. At first I was not attracted, everything is too banal, a fairy tale for bored ladies.
BUT! On the second evening, I began to think about the heroes. My brains began to move. I began to find that some of Prudence's thoughts were similar to mine many years ago.
After completing the book, the next day, I continued to crawl out memories from my own life, from which I wanted to cry. It turns out that I did not forget them, but simply put them in the farthest corner of the cabinet. And without this novel, I would hardly remember.

The best thing about these books is the internal dialogue that we are permitted to witness. Many times, I've suggested that members read books such as "Inside the Criminal Mind" etc in order to get a sort of caricatured version of the kind of Internal Considering that everyone is subject to. But it is hard to really reduce that to what goes on in a normal person's mind, even if it follows a similar dynamic. But then, I realized that these books do exactly what is needed for just about anyone to "get it".

If a person has a good associative thinking ability (which is not true of everyone), they can easily see the relationship between Samenow's construction and the Internal Considering that we witness in the characters in the romance novels. More importantly, everyone can learn exactly what Internal Considering actually is by reading these stories! If you were wondering, finding it hard to understand what is meant by this label, then wonder no more! Just read!

The examples of false personalities and Internal Considering vs true essence and External Considering are remarkable.

 

[JeanneT]

Ha! Not likely. I've got too much on my plate already for that. I'll let those who are good at downloading human situations from the etheric fields continue doing it. Some of them might not be good at grammar or spelling, but quite a few of them appear to be really good at tapping into that particular field. I guess I'm hooked up to a different field.

Well, Laura, "Amazing Grace" is not a Romance novel but, well before starting this project, reading it had an effect on me that is similar to reading some of these books. I have actually re-read it many times, not for the details, but for the "feeling" I get and the "resonance" that comes up. Consequently, I have noticed that a processing of my own life is prompted each time I read your story. It is like unraveling a mystery to my own early life decisions and the resulting consequences , family dynamics, the trying to please others script, and hurtful betrayals. Also, I relate to deep yearnings to protect the children and the spiritual search of sorting out truth from lies. There are so many archetypal patterns within your journey that have hit me at this deep level. Some, I have healed or at least acknowledged to a point of understanding. There are other things I continue to work on but they have been exposed to me through the reflection of your work. The field you were hooked up with by relating your very candid early life story as part of your own human experience continues to have a huge affect on me on many levels....so, Thank you!

 

[thorbiorn]

Ha! Not likely. I've got too much on my plate already for that. I'll let those who are good at downloading human situations from the etheric fields continue doing it. Some of them might not be good at grammar or spelling, but quite a few of them appear to be really good at tapping into that particular field. I guess I'm hooked up to a different field.

Some of these writers might be like a soul group or associated on a different level. Having read a number of books that form the basis for the excerpt in various chapters of The Afterlife Unveiled by Stafford Betty, along with others, it appears likely that there is collaboration across realms.

Some are probably prepared for their particular mission. If one takes the example of Mary Balogh, her biography reads, as if her work as a writer was well set from childhood. She lives by the way in Saskatchewan, during winter in the city of Regina (also the Latin word for queen) which I find rather amusing considering that she is a queen of Regency romance novels.

If the grammar and spelling is lacking occasionally in some novels by some authors, it may be due to the reviewers, secretaries, editors, and proofreaders not being quite up to their tasks. Like this, it becomes easier to give the authors, the benefit of the doubt.

 

[seek10]

Without knowing how this happened, I have noticed that there are highlights in the spreadsheet beginning from around March 19 at 17.14 UTC. Therefore, whoever has by now picked up on the idea to keep track of what is read in a spreadsheet, kindly do not highlight anything in the original spreadsheet or make notes about what books you have or have not read until the issues we are facing now have been resolved.

I see some folks using it (Being OPEN document, we will not know who they are) and found some data got modified. I locked this sheet to avoid further changes of the sheet. I will restore the original data. You will still be able to see the data.

 

[Mari]

I will restore the original data.

I have the list copy - please say if you are not able to restore data so I can share it with you. Note that I have only authors/books in my excel, so without links to Amazon, other languages, etc. ...