My book has found a publishing home!
Monthly Newsletter | July 2025
Listen via audio:
Hi friends, I have some exciting news to share! If you’re reading (or listening) to this, you’ll technically already know it from the title... Nevertheless! The words are so sweet I just must say them again. Here goes — my book has found a publishing home!
An incredibly magical series of events has led to having a contract with Shambhala Publications.
They are an independent publishing house who specialise in books, audiobooks, and online courses that promote personal and societal transformation through mindfulness, compassion and wisdom. And they are distributed by Penguin Random House, one of the biggest book distributors in the world.
When my now editor and I had our first call, she shared with me that she found my work through a series of online lectures I gave with the Psychedelic Society. She then attended one of my online courses, in which I happened to mention I was working on my first book.
For those of you who have been here a while, you might recall that back in November last year, I took myself to Bali for five weeks to work on my manuscript (I ended up synchronistically meeting a Balinese healer who initiated me into his tradition, and writing a 2-part series on Balinese shamans) but that is a story you can read on below:
Well, during my time in Indonesia, my lovely soon-to-be editor reached out asking if I had a publisher for my book yet.
Interestingly, I was on quite a remote island with limited connection when she contacted me, and it took a few tries before her email reached me. I find these kind of strange difficulties seem to accompany the big stuff.
Anyway, on a third attempt or so, her email finally reached me. In it, she divulged that she was the managing editor at Shambhala Publications, and that my project could potentially be a match.
It all flowed from there.
I just realised, the piece I wrote during my time in Bali was called To Live as the River Flows, and was an ode to that Taoist approach to life that teaches going with the current, especially during times of personal struggle.
Pouring myself into my writing during my time in Bali, and letting go of trying to heal and resolve the things I was wrestling with in my personal life, I found myself back in that sacred river that ensures nothing that is meant for us will miss us.
And things really did flow from there.
It’s actually really insightful to reflect on this as I write to you. I hadn’t realised it was that piece I was working on when she reached out, and writing about it all again now brings back the emotional landscape I was sitting in at that time. It was a really turbulent time in my life, and the one thing that held me steady was letting go of holding anything at all.
To live as the river flows, as John O’Donohue wrote, carried by the surprise of our own unfolding.
What was even more extraordinary was that the day before her emails finally reached me, I had just received the Writer’s Handbook in the post (a bible for writers with a comprehensive list of publishers and agents by genre and the publishing process).
I kid you not: the first page I opened to… was… Shambhala…!
It all—quite literally—flowed from there.
On the last day of my research trip in Greece and Turkey last week (which was really more of a pilgrimage), I signed the contract.
I’ll now be hunkering down for the next few months to finish writing. My first draft is due on November 1st.
I can’t quite articulate how grateful I am to all of you who have been supporting me by being here, reading my work, upgrading to paid subscriptions, and donating to my recent field trip.
This is all incredibly surreal.
I can’t wait to share more with you as the journey toward publication unfolds. With only about 1-2% of writers getting traditionally published, I’m aware of my absolute good fortune here. And I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and awe!!!
Here I am on that first morning in Bali, waking up in the jungle feeling tender and filled with wonder and terror in equal measure in the face of the quest I embarked on: what it takes to write a book. I had arrived late the previous night and, for reasons beyond my jet-lagged brain’s comprehension, was upgraded to a king suite at no extra cost. It was one of the most regal places I have ever stayed in, and on waking that first morning I burst into tears for feeling so deeply held and supported in this endeavour.
No doubt the old gods I’m writing about have had a hand (or furry paw) in this.
Thank you, again,
xx Gabriela
Poetry Offering
As is the custom for these free monthly newsletters, here is a poem followed by my upcoming events.
Dream of the Lynx
John Haines, from News of the Universe: Poems of Twofold Consciousness
Beside a narrow trail in the blue
cold of evening the trap is sprung,
and a growling deep in the throat
tells of life risen
to the surface of darkness.
The moon in my dream takes the shape
of animals who walk by its light
and never sleep, whose yellow eyes
are certain of what they seek.
Sinking, floating beneath the eyelid,
the hairy shape of the slayer appears,
a shadow that crouches
hidden in a thicket of alders,
nostrils quivering;
and the ever-deepening track
of the unseen, feeding host.
Announcements
JULY 24 | Monthly Ritual Dismemberment
You can sign up for an individual ceremony, or for the next six months (and get 1 month free) to introduce more ritual into your life. This is the only ritual I am currently holding live.
Mentorship
This month, I have three openings for 1-1 mentorship. This is for anyone who would like support and/or supervision within both creative endeavours, spiritual work or personal support drawing on myth, stories, shamanic and animistic techniques for inner transformation.
These personalised sessions are structured to meet once a month for 3 months.
The Ochre Papers Advice Column
Here is the new landing page for the Ochre Papers advice column. Looking forward to receiving more of your questions!
New!
The Ochre Papers advice column is an exercise in our shared humanity. It is a refuge and reminder that the things that bring us together are far greater than those that separate us.
LATEST SERIES FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS
You can upgrade your subscription to receive the essays on the world’s great mystics to your inbox. I have just sent out the last part of the series on Mirabai!
Congratulations! Excited to read 💛
So excited for your book!!!