Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. Karma and Kismet with Michael Shandler Award-winning, multi-published author, life coach, and organization development consultant Dr. Michael Shandler has spent the better part of the last forty years coaching individuals in their psycho-spiritual development and well-being. Growing up in a dysfunctional family during the apartheid era in South Africa, Michael spent most of his childhood and teen years surrounded by conflict, abuse, and guilt. Filled with poor self-esteem and serious psychological damage, Michael reached adulthood, lost with no real sense of meaning or purpose. Setting out on a transformational personal journey that would span over the next 15 years and across many continents, Michael experienced life through many cultures, lifestyles, and settings that eventually helped him discover a deep meaning of place and purpose, earn him a master’s and a doctorate, and eventually help him find a sense of home with the love of his life. Now, in his new book “Karma and Kismet: A Spiritual Quest Across Continents, Cultures and Consciousness,” Michael shares his journey in this heartfelt memoir about overcoming bad karma and the role of kismet, or fate, and how it shapes your life and destiny.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Karma and Kismet”?
A2. Since Karma & Kismet is a memoir, challenges arose regarding content to be included and/or excluded. I worked to an algorithm that helped make the necessary choices of inclusion in terms of how they furthered the story. Because it is such a deeply personal book, writing about difficult scenes and episodes meant being scrupulously “clean”
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. Bryce Courtney — The Power of One, Rian Malan — My Traitors Heart, Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception,
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. Cape Town and the Western Cape Province in South Africa where I was born and spent the first twenty years of my life. It is arguably one of the most dramatic geographical areas on the planet. I don’t live there anymore, but I like to return to the southerly tip of Africa from time to time.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘Karma and Kismet’?
A5. The stories in Karma & Kismet have been with me my entire life. Only when I reached a ripe old age did I have the perspective necessary to understand what had happened. I knew that some remarkable things occurred, but it took a lifetime (now pushing eighty) to gain perspective and write about it.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Karma and Kismet’?
A6. About eight to ten years
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. Amazon, B& N, BAM
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Karma and Kismet’?
A8. The manuscript was completed before the cover was designed by Suzanne Bradshaw, a designer at my publisher – Koehler Books. The book’s structure — Part One — “Karma” covers the challenging karma of my childhood and youth. Part Two — “Seeking” details the internal and external journey undertaken in search of belonging and reconciliation with my painful past. Part Three — “Kismet”- shows how the negative karma of my youth was transmuted and transformed by fate or the unseen hand of God, including the miraculous reconciliation with my abusive father and my finding love and belonging.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A9. I strived to be completely present in my writing sessions, to be patient, to write and rewrite until I was satisfied, and writing in the present tense, except for flashbacks.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
A10. Be true to yourself. Write honestly even when it is embarrassing or challenging in some way — trust the truth as the ultimate arbiter.
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