Two Books End Cycle of 26 Years

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to write two books in the early 2000s. One about my spiritual path (which I now call Animism) and the other about my experience as the oldest child (and only daughter) of a two tour combat veteran of the Vietnam war. He suffered from PTSD until he died in 2004. I was in my early thirties when I wrote them. My father had just died and my spiritual life was beginning to unfold. I was proud of both books.

As the years went by, and I got older, I knew I needed to update the books with a more mature voice, and with current language/understanding. During the Covid summer of 2021 (at the age of 53), I decided that this was the time to do it. I needed to change the name of the spiritual book from the original “A Tribe of One” and the new name became WE-The Beginner’s Field Guide to Full Circle Animism. I had help with a first round of editing (Thank you Caitlin!) and by August I was knee deep in changing what was ready to change.

Then the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan began, and I got a clear message that this was the time to update the PTSD book because the end of the 20 year Afghanistan war would open old wounds for veterans. I pulled out all my old files from the original book “Accepting the Ashes-A Daughter’s Look at Military PTSD” and edited the old info out, and wrote in the current situation with the end of two decades of war. I knew this was important because the 20 year “anniversary” of 9/11/2001 was coming and that event deeply troubled my father because he knew what it would lead to….20 years of war.

I created new covers for both books. In the paperback version of “WE” I added black and white sketched mirrored images of photographs I had taken in the 2000s in fantastic nature places around the western United States. In the Kindle version, I included the original color images, which will become an oracle deck called Sacred Nature Portals. see below.

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I gave myself the deadline of Autumn Equinox to finish both books, and I finished a bit early. Both books are available in Kindle and paperback. I am so relieved that both stories are now how I want them, so they can speak to people today with what we know now, and to prepare for what is coming. These are challenging times, and we all need as much support as we can get. I am soooooooooo grateful that these two stories are now out of the digital drawer, hiding away, and can be helpful to those who need them. I am also grateful because these two books are the encapsulation of my past 26 years of life (half my life so far), and I am looking forward to these stories feeling complete, so I can look forward to creating and sharing my emerging stories of the next 26 years.

See more details and order info at https://quynn.com/books/

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“Accepting the Ashes is both an easy read (short, to the point) and a difficult read, because of its truth and directness. The advice is straightforward and obviously comes from the heart. I applaud this book.”
COL CHARLES W. HOGE, M.D., (RET) PAST DIRECTOR OF PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROSCIENCE, WALTER REED ARMY INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH AND CO-AUTHOR OF “BATTLE MIND”.

From the beginning of WE, QUYNN’S GRATITUDES

I offer gratitude and honor for my Mother, Sue Ellen, and my father, George,
as well as my Animist Ancestors who have always been there with me.

Help along the way: I am still doing this work because many people helped me, especially in the early years. I write the names of the Elders who housed, supported, fed and financed me and this work. I list them here (in order of appearance) to say thank you, and I ask for forgiveness for any misstep along the way.  To those who have passed, I look forward to reconnecting again. Thank you to Burton, Walter, Tahlia, Ken, Peggy, Maria, Thomas, Jacob, Gayle, Linn, Ellie, Uncle Bill, Elisabeth, Steve and Dee. 

Finally, big gratitude to all who have sat in circle with me over the last two decades. It is you who have kept me on this ever unfolding path.