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About the EARTHKEEP Books
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Not only has Spinsters Ink Books re-published THE WANDERGROUND: STORIES OF THE HILL WOMEN. It has also published two books, THE KANSHOU and THE MAGISTER, which constitute the present EARTHKEEP BOOKS. Both books are now available at bookstores and at Amazon.com.
THE EARTHKEEP BOOKS will be of interest to environmentalists, feminists, animal advocates, students of human sexuality, science fiction/fantasy buffs, New Age metaphysicists, and any reader who is interested in the roots and nature of violence. In 1987 when I began writing the EARTHKEEP material, I intended to address three questions. First, "How would the world be different if women ran it?" Second, "Is violence gender-related?" Third, "How should violence be addressed in the best of human societies?" The EARTHKEEP BOOKS tackle these questions through the stories of not one but two protagonists, each a world leader. These women love each other across an abyss of political and spiritual differences surrounding the question of violence and the appropriate handling of it. But as the writing progressed, another more complex purpose emerged: the EARTHKEEP material was clearly intended to make its author – and its readers – confront a far wider range of personal and metaphysical questions. At the outset, my exploration of violence included my grief over our treatment of animals and the environment. I was convinced that the Earth would be better off if the human race simply died out entirely. Further, I was conflicted about being a Professor of Speech and Communication, for I understood that even persuasion, the heart of that discipline, was in itself a form of violence. Moreover, I was burdened with the notion that our ideas originate in physical reality, and I believed in the existence of Evil. I was committed to political activism, fighting hard for justice and equality. All this changed substantially in the course of my writing these books. Before the EARTHKEEP' BOOKS can come to resolution, both its protagonists must journey toward each other from a number of opposite poles, and those successful interactive journeys finally trigger a massive paradigm shift in human culture. I thus emerged from the process – and hope readers will similarly emerge – not only with a totally new understanding of violence and its place in the human psyche, but with a new way of perceiving reality, a new vision of society, a new appreciation of the human spirit, new strategies for social change, and new understandings of the necessary relationship between humans and animals. I hope you will read – and spread the word about – these books. ---Sally Miller Gearhart |
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