Decades ago, I served as a (minor league) spiritual teacher in a Hindu-ish spiritual organization. Having been the first disciple of a brand new guru, I was put in charge of a branch office, shepherding a handful of rookie seekers. So I know more than most novelists about that world, and the ideas behind it.…
Way, way, way back in the 1980s, when I was already a not-so-young adult, I read Martin Gardner’s Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus. That book included an essay entitled “The Irrelevance of Arthur Conan Doyle.” In that essay, Gardner argued that Arthur could not have created Sherlock Holmes because the two personalities were so different.…
Inspiration for the book? Oh, darlings, that is a fairly simple story. One day I was at Starbucks, yes, I suffer from an affliction in that I simply must have a latte everytime someone even says the name Starbucks. It’s trying, truly. Anyhow, I was drinking my coffee when I overheard the conversation of a…
The Story Behind the Book 