Instant Karma: The day it happened- pre-order

Available for pre-order now!

           

I am thrilled to let all my subscribers know that my new novel is available for pre-order right away. Publication date is 9 November - only a month to go!

Some of you may recall helping me choose a cover a few weeks back. I really appreciate all your feedback. Trying to represent karma visually is a tough ask, but we based our final choice on the design option that the majority of you voted for. The black and white, yin and yang, work well and the overall design packs a clean, contemporary punch.

I had a lot of fun writing this novel, which explains how karma plays out. The book has a very different feel from either the Dalai Lama’s Cat or Magician series, but I hope you will enjoy the brisk storylines, dark comedy, and the always-sublime presence of Lama Tashi.

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By way of a summary: what if we all woke one day to discover that every act of generosity was followed, soon after, by an unexpected windfall? Any theft or betrayal led to rapid calamity? Within minutes, the effects of instant karma would be felt by everyone. Within hours it wouldn’t just be ordinary folks trying to figure out the new order – it would be the whole country from the President down.

Instant Karma is a roller coaster ride through one of the biggest-ever unexplored “What ifs?”  

In New York, Amy Robbins drops a coin in a homeless man’s cap.  In Omni, Colorado, Bob Martin is seen by his wife kissing another woman. In Montpelier, Vermont, terminally-ill Grace Arlingham rescues a bee on her way for a cancer scan. Across the nation, dramatic outbreaks of food poisoning spark fears of a contagion, shutting down transport networks and public buildings.

Early adopters are quick to capitalize on the new dynamics – like Wall Street trader, Karel Sharma,  earning fortunes by giving money away. Karma change deniers like Rev. Jeremiah Bellow vehemently oppose what’s happening. 

Meantime a little-known Buddhist monk, Lama Tashi,  is suddenly TV’s go-to man, sought out for the wisdom he imparts with such compelling benevolence, explaining which causes lead to which effects.  What makes some causes more powerful than others. And why karma is as much about your mind as your circumstances.

Amy Robbins’ modest donation sees her win a luxury cruise which she gives her parents, in turn sparking a major inheritance. Bob Martin, forced to choose between his wife and young mistress, opts for the latter - to find that her only interest in him is as a storyline for her online porn journal. After her bee save, Grace Arlingham’s scan shows a spontaneous remission, encouraging others in her cancer support group to save their own lives by saving the lives of other beings.

The food poisoning turns out not to be a contagion but the karmic result of intensive animal farming – America soon becomes a vegetarian nation. The biggest mass shooting ever happens when the leader of the National Gun Association kills over 60 of his members at their annual meeting in Washington, D.C., injuring the President himself.

Opposition to instant karma reaches its dramatic “Karmageddon” at the same time that the dynamic becomes irrefutable.  Which is when the nation’s leaders make desperate attempts to reach Lama Tashi, all wanting an answer to the same question: is instant karma here to stay?

Uninterested in celebrity or influence, Lama Tashi proves elusive, but he leaves a message closely watched by a nation whose behaviour has fundamentally changed.  24 hours of instant karma has turned America into a place where being “wisely selfish” prevails - everyone seeking for others what they most want for themselves.

Somewhere between the exuberance and the poignancy of the drama, Instant Karma takes us to unexplored places.  How much would human behaviour change if we had to live with the immediate consequences of our actions?  Is our sense of reality shaped more by our minds than by circumstances?  And does focusing on the wellbeing of others truly hold the key to our greatest flourishing?

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I really hope you enjoy the book, which offers a chance to really get under the bonnet on the subject of what karma is and how it works.

Amazon pre-orders are really helpful to me as a writer, because the more pre-orders there are, the more other readers Amazon will show the book to, and the more chance there is that the book will be noticed!

And I’m hoping that Instant Karma may appeal to a wider audience than some of my other work.

If you’d like to get your hands on an early copy in hardback, paperback, Kindle or Audio format and, in so doing, help me - and therefore karmically your future self! - just click the relevant country link for USA, UK, Australia, or Canada.

Alternatively, if Apple, Nook, Kobo or other e-format alternatives are what float your boat, please click here.

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I have been so very honoured to have received the following endorsement for Instant Karma from Duncan Baird, one of the UK’s leading Mind, Body, Spirit publishers:

Story-telling is a gift, and David Michie imaginatively creates interconnected pictures of lives and situations that we all recognise to bring about an understanding of karma, and through these stories we learn how a recognition of this can help us live better lives. He sets up the characters and contexts very swiftly and skilfully, all with their own particular and recognisable realities to deal with. Human drama and romantic comedy are combined with Buddhist wisdom, science and philosophy into an inspirational and joyful read that is a life lesson.

We learn that we can change our lives, and the lives of others, if we can live with a more awakened awareness of karma - of the cause and effect of our actions.

Instant Karma is optimistic, funny, provocative and transforming. It deserves to find a wide audience - "may all sentient beings find Happiness". There is no more important message. 

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