You’re Gonna Love This Story!
The Roots of Resistance Is Coming In November.
 Greetings, everyone! As promised, here’s a special glimpse of the cover. Isn’t it a beauty? I’m having a blast getting ready for the release. It’s been a whirlwind week of editing, meme-making, and gathering quotes and excerpts. Starting tomorrow, I get my last round of chemo, so wish me luck and speedy full recovery. Everything is going well in the healing department … and I promise to take it easy and fully rest up even as we get ready for the release. It’s a minor miracle that The Roots of Resistance is coming out in November. (And you’re going to have a lot of fun with the Community Publishing Campaign … I have so many surprises up my sleeve. Thanks in advance for your enthusiasm, and for helping to to spread the word far and wide.)
Also, I’ve included an inspiring little excerpt from The Roots of Resistance, which you’ll find below the main newsletter. As you can imagine, a story that references underground depths in its title has both strength and darkness in its plot. Our friends Charlie and Zadie are rising to challenges like never before . . . and what gets them through is their hearts. All of my novels offer inspiration for our times, and this book holds out a parallel to some of the difficulties we face today, as well as carving out elbow room for possibilities we can barely imagine!
Speaking of inspiration, we now have Be kind, Be connected, Be unafraid bumper stickers. After four years of asking, we finally made them! I’ll be slipping them into thank-you gifts during the Community Publishing Campaign, and after that, we’ll order another batch that you can get through our website. (See the bumper sticker below in the Novel News section.) This quote from The Dandelion Insurrection remains one of the most popular slogans. It seems as the world gets dark and challenging, the light of our hearts has to shine brighter and bolder. It takes some practice. It’s not always easy. But it’s always appreciated, and sometimes, our kindness and love makes all the difference.
Enjoy the excerpt … there are no spoilers. I hope.
Love, gratitude, and excitement
Rivera Sun
Excerpt from The Roots of Resistance, by Rivera Sun
The roots of resistance run deep through time and chapters of human history: Egyptian pyramid craftsmen striking for bread wages; Roman plebeians refusing to work for patricians; pagans veiling the sacred in secrecy to escape death on the pyre; Gandhi’s pinch of salt multiplied in millions of Indian hands; African-American children facing fire hoses and attack dogs; Estonians singing for independence; miles of Baltic hands joining to end occupation; striking millworkers and miners walking out by the thousands; Danish families saving the Jews; the Madres de la Plaza crying out for their disappeared children until regimes toppled at their feet . . . across the globe and throughout time, the roots of resistance run deep, broad, and thick through the story of humanity’s struggles for justice.
They show up when a mother teaches her child to love; when embittered enemies wage peace, and when the person who caused harm speaks out to right wrongs. Resistance is more than a battle; it is the indomitable presence of life against forces of destruction. It is laughter when fear is mandated; respect when hate is demanded, compassion when cruelty is ordered, and generosity when greed is expected. Resistance is singing your grandmother’s songs so the next generation will know them. Resistance is loving the soft, round, humble honesty of origins. Resistance is weeping when rivers run oily and vowing to redress the harm. Resistance is listening to the stories untold. Resistance is standing up for a stranger.
The Dandelion Insurrection’s true roots of resistance were the stories Charlie and Zadie had tracked down of people driven by love to use nonviolent action to stand up to injustice and organize for change. These were the anchoring structures that had weathered the storms of dangers. These were the nourishing roots that fed a nation hungry for change. They reached down into the fertile soil of history and pulled up the essential minerals of inspiration from the lineage of nonviolence all around the world. The true roots of the Dandelion Insurrection’s bold resistance gave rise to the golden blossoms of creative, joyful, indomitable action. Love was the means of the ends they were making. Love was the acorn, the oak, and the forest of the world they longed to create.
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