I did something I’m proud of and if you’ll indulge me for a moment I’d like to share.
All my life I dreamt of writing and even as a very young toddler I scribbled on pages forming stories only I could read. As a young girl I saw thoughts as texts. And as a teen I began to dabble in what artists called automatic writing. In my 20s I felt writing and its passion for expression begin to bubble up and I found an outlet in working for publisher Rungh Magazine in Vancouver. I met and interviewed authors. I wrote for myself and I wrote about other writers. I volunteered at the Writers Festival in Vancouver and sat side by side author Rohinton Mistry and handed him the books to sign at his reading. I felt the flow of something even more leading edge than the writing itself: the publishing and the distribution of books. I didn’t know that feeling of flow would lead me to launch my own publishing company, ASEI Arts. I didn’t know I would be publishing the creative writings of visionary authors from four continents and raising funds for Habitat for Humanity in the process. And I didn’t know my kids would be inspired and ask me to share more about the book creation process, because they found it so interesting. I didn’t know the thrill and pride of giving a first printed copy of ASEI Arts’ first international anthology to my sons to hold and to ponder. Didn't know the excitement and delight of having my husband read aloud the Foreword to the family when the test print of the book was first cracked open. It is a true pleasure to introduce this member of the family: Anthology House: a visionary ecology project, including poetry, short stories and novel excerpts from authors around the globe, and with all profits benefiting Habitat for Humanity’s “Habitat Hammers Back” initiative. The book is published to coincide with the new moon. It is available in print and ebook format worldwide, and it may be ordered by bookstores and libraries through Ingram. Individuals wishing to purchase the book will find it through the usual channels in your home country: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indigo, etcetera. You may also ask your local independent bookseller to order the book. I hope you will purchase, read and review; your enjoyment of the work goes to support rebuilding of hurricane-hit areas of the Southern US and Caribbean. Thanks go to our editor Jillian Magalaner Stone, designer Lori Dalvi, and of course to our authors, including Brian Burt, Elizabeth Esguerra Castillo, Marguerite Harrold, Anne Ipsen, Devanshi Jackson, Ann Malaspina, Ndaba Sibanda, C.E. Wagner and Colin Waterman. I also have a piece in the anthology. It is with pleasure that I share with you Anthology House: a visionary ecology project.
Maia Kumari Gilman, founder, ASEI Arts, a division of Light Vibe LLC