Jackson Radcliffe's Blog - Posts Tagged "yoga"

My name is Jackson Radcliffe. Welcome to my blog. I’m not new to writing and I’m not new to blogging (my personal blog Blog Blogger Bloggest has been online for two years now). I’m not even new to Goodreads, but since my debut novel - The Yoga Sutras, a tale of sex, lies and spiritual enlightenment - has just been published I’m now here as an author as well as a reader.

Goodreads is an amazing place. As a reader it gives you an incredible way to find books, read reviews, get new books recommended for you personally, and also to connect with authors and other readers. But as an author it’s even better. It gives authors a chance to connect with their readers and find out what they think. That can be scary (‘I think your writing sucks, Jackson.’) but it can also be exhilarating. If you think that’s it’s awesome to talk to your favourite author, I can tell you that it’s just as awesome for an author to hear from a reader.

Let me tell you a secret. You are my favourite reader. I wrote my book just for you. If you were to buy it and read it, I would be in ecstasy. But even if you’re too mean to buy it, I don’t mind. I want you to read my book so badly that I’ve made it available free to read on Goodreads. Just visit my book’s page and click the button that says, ‘read book’. It’s that easy.

You can read the book online in your web browser or you can download it in epub format. Click the 'download ebook' button. You can read an epub on your iPhone, iPad, Kobo reader or even on an Android or Windows phone if you’re smart enough to install the right app. I know that you’re smart enough to do that. I know that you will read my book. After all, you are my favourite reader.

I’m a keen yoga dude, so a few years ago I decided to read the ultimate yoga book. The Yoga Sutras is the Bible of yoga. It was written two thousand years ago by the sage Patanjali.

I read the book and it confused me. The more I read, the less I understood. It didn’t seem to be about yoga at all. At least, it was nothing like my weekly yoga class. The book was all about the mind, the soul and things beyond. It talked about reincarnation and karma. It talked about gaining the ability to levitate. Whoa!

I finished the book and began to understand it a little. I thought it over and it precipitated an existential crisis.

Because of this I decided to write a book to explain the Yoga Sutras in a way that’s more accessible to modern readers. And a whole lot funnier. And with some gratuitous sex thrown in for good measure.

I created a character, Dave, who would read the Yoga Sutras and have an existential crisis so that you won’t have to. Instead you can laugh at Dave and learn about the Yoga Sutras through his own words. If you read my version of The Yoga Sutras, you won’t have to read Patanjali’s original version, which is just as well, because it’s written in Sanskrit verse. And there are hardly any jokes.

So that’s what my book is for. I hope you enjoy reading it.

PS. I forgot to say that if you read my book you will discover the secret of happiness. Wow! Plus lots of jokes and some hot sex too!

PPS. You don't need any previous experience of yoga to read the book.

When people ask me about my book The Yoga Sutras I tell them it’s a comedy. ‘Yeah, but what’s it about?’ they ask. I tell them it’s about yoga, but they’re still not satisfied.

‘It’s about belief systems, gender identity and the fundamental philosophical questions of existence,’ I say. Then their eyes start to glaze over, so I hurriedly add, ‘But it’s very funny. And it has some strange sex scenes.’

‘Kinky sex?’ they ask hopefully, but I have to tell them, ‘No. Not kinky. Just strange.’

At this point they either agree to read the book or they leave the room.

The problem, I think, is genre. Is comedy a genre? I think it’s more of an attitude, a way of seeing the world.

I don’t really read genre books. I prefer books that don’t fit into any identifiable genre; books that surf the boundaries of classification and laugh in the face of taxonomy. I don’t often read humour as a genre. Romance … mmm. Thrillers … maybe. Paranormal … perhaps. But a vampire lesbian mystery romance with a post-apocalyptic urban setting, based on elements of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and with plenty of dark humour – yeah, I’ll read that, that’s my genre.

All good things must come to an end, and my Goodreads giveaway of The Yoga Sutras has now finished. Amazingly, over 800 people signed up for a chance to win the book. Was it the cheeky title that attracted people? The enticing blurb? Or the outrageous front cover image? I don’t know, but what I do know is that sadly only one person was able to win a copy of the book.

So to make the book available to the widest number of readers, I am doing two things this weekend.

Firstly, I am selling the Kindle version of the book at half price. That’s just $1.67 at Amazon.com or 99p at Amazon.co.uk. The price will return to normal on Monday.

Secondly, I have made a free copy available for download in epub format. Just visit my book’s page on Goodreads and click the button that says, ‘download ebook’. It really is that easy. You can read an epub on your iPhone, iPad, Kobo reader or even on an Android or Windows phone if you download the right app.

On Monday the free download will be cruelly snatched away and the book will return to its usual monstrously expensive price. So grab this opportunity before it vanishes forever. Click the link. Click it now!

In my novel, The Yoga Sutras, my protagonist Dave is searching for the secret of happiness. His yoga teacher, Kali, and his friends Chris and Mike are eager to offer him their recipe for happiness, but none of their advice rings true for Dave.

‘When we practise yoga,’ said Kali. ‘Our body, mind and spirit work together in perfect harmony. As we move, the body releases endorphins, which makes the mind happy and allows the spirit to soar.’

Dave wasn’t entirely convinced by that argument. It was hard for your spirit to soar when you spent half the yoga class upside down or staring at someone else’s bottom. Although admittedly, there were some very nice bottoms in the class. Pert bottoms, brazen bottoms, jaunty bottoms, spirited bottoms. Even bulging bottoms and swollen bottoms; voluptuous bottoms and wanton bottoms. Women really needed to start worrying less about their arses. They needed to wake up and smell the testosterone. It was rare to find a bum that wasn’t a complete man magnet. Men simply weren’t that discerning.

But were endorphins really the secret of happiness?

‘The secret of happiness,’ Chris had once told him, ‘is a cold beer and a big screen TV.’

‘The secret of happiness is WARM BEER and a TRIO OF NAKED GIRLS!’ was Mike’s opinion.

Dave had said nothing. He didn’t know what the secret of happiness really was. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been so unhappy, obviously. But he suspected it was something altogether different, less ephemeral.

It probably didn’t involve beer at all.

Dave’s quest for happiness takes him on a spiritual and philosophical journey and leads him to question his core beliefs and even his sexual identity. His search leads him to an answer, but will it be too late for anti-hero Dave?

And what is the secret of happiness, you’re wondering? You’ll have to read my book!