Dusty White

Dusty White is a professional astrologer and psychic with over 15,000 clients internationally and the creator of many magical toys that have captured the imagination of the public throughout the years.

Dusty White is the author of several texts, including The Easiest Way to Learn the TarotEver, How to Get ANY MAN to do ANYTHING You Want, How To Find The Ones You Really Want, How To Get Them To Buy You Stuff and others. Dusty White is a former professional Beverly Hills psychic, astrologer, teacher, and card reader with an international clientele of over 15,000. He is also the creator of the Nightshade sensual oil reputed by many to have potent aphrodisiac prowess, and the founder and creator of Faerie Spell magical herbal candles, soaps, and papers.

Retiring from individual consultation to focus specifically on research and teaching metaphysics in small classes, he now invests his time working on easily accessible educational devices for the general public and advanced instruction for serious students. More information is available upon request.

Dusty White in his own words:

Have you always wanted to be a writer

I can tell you the exact moment I decided to be a writer. It was the completion of my first book, which was promptly published by sheer magic, timing, and no small amount of effort. If it had not been published as quickly as it was, I might never have gotten to book two. I knew of a medium-sized publisher who specialized in the exact type of information my book covered, so I approached them directly, and they gave me money. From that point I was pretty much hooked on the whole concept of writing professionally.

The first book came as a complete surprise to me; I woke up early one morning sitting at a very old computer in my living room with 40 pages of small white text, formatted into paragraphs and chapters, on a mesmerizingly blue screen staring at me. This was of course back in the day when computers ran on DOS and the pretty white pages of Microsoft Word had not been invented yet. Everything I typed on that thing was pretty much one long, scrolling blue screen with endless paragraphs of small white letters. I knew where pages ended by printing out copies of what I wrote.

I have vague recollections of sitting at the computer for several hours the previous evening writing in a sleep-trance. I saved whatever it was and hurried off to work. It wasnt until I got home later that I realized what I had and decided to finish it.

This was not the first thing I had ever writtenI had put together a short how to booklet for work a few years earlier, but this felt entirely different. It had a weight I could feel even in its most raw stages. I could clearly see the depth of thought I would have to express, and the idea of getting this information out to the world carried me through the next few tedious months of writing, rewriting, and editing. I was extremely fortunate to write on something I felt so passionate about that I never restricted myself by wondering if I could or should write a book. I allowed myself to be consumed with the project, even at the cost of my (then wildly popular) social life. In hindsight, I must say that writing has caused me to become something of a hermit, but it is an addiction I would never try to kick.

What genre do you write? Why?

I stay pretty much in the self-help area. I have had several story ideas over the years, and even have a few graphic novels and film scripts I would like to see completed one day, but I know that I should leave the bulk of the creation of these to the professionals. I can tell you all about my idea for a new Star Trek franchise, one from the Klingons point of view; where Captain Kirk is The Great Satan, and how they see themselves as the victims of Federation imperialism. The idea has American drama written all over it: action, blood, violence, lots of explosions, honor, and vibrant, colorful characters. I can even give you a plotline and character motivation, but when it comes to writing the scenes or a novel I get lost. Writing self-help books allows me to focus on the information I want to share instead of the nuances of fiction that plague an analytical mind like mine. Besides, I really enjoy working on projects that empower people, that make their lives better or more fun. For me, the most direct route is helping them develop a skill. I deeply admire fiction authors, but I am happy where I am at.

Tell us a bit about your book "The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!!"

This workbook is part of a larger course, which includes free online education and optional advanced training. The whole of it is a revolutionary look at an old system of divination. The book itself is centered around a set of easy-to-learn (and hopefully fun-to-do) exercises that allow you to use your eyes to see what the cards are saying instead of relying on memorizing meanings someone applied to each card. Look, if I gave you a fixed set of card interpretations and had you memorize them over the next 6-12 months, and then you found out that Agrippa or Levi had completely different views on the cards, where does that put you? Who do you believe then? What if someone write a book next year that says the complete opposite of what we have been told throughout history? There are thousands of Tarot experts, and everyone is naturally entitled to their own opinion; and that is what this book is all about.

We teach you how to look at you cards, from day one, and see the image that is on the card, and decide what that image means to you. They are your cards after all, and you will be he ones reading them for your clients. I certainly wont be reading the cards for you, nor will any author whose book you ever read. We can tell you what works for us, what has been intended (by design) over the years. But when your client or friend is sitting across the table from you with those huge puppy-dog eyes full of trust and hope, it is your intuition that you will be pulling information from. Tarot is not a science; it is an art that blends intuition with symbolism and pattern recognition. To be a truly great Tarot reader you must develop your personal psychic powers, and that is what we focus on in this course. Every exercise in this book is carefully designed to develop several Tarot related skills at once, in a fun, entertaining way. Of course we have included our interpretations of what each card means in the back of the book in case you want to know our expert opinion.

So far people really love this book and the techniques we employ to help them learn the Tarot quickly and easily. I am deeply appreciative of that.

What makes you qualified to write this book?

Other than my stunning good looks and humility? Well, I have been studying metaphysics, philosophy, and religion since I was 11. I knew I had a passion for this as early as age 4, but I couldnt really put a label on it back then, other than wizard. I made the mistake of mentioning my aspirations to an adult once and was promptly laughed at, so I kept my dreams to myself and it wasnt until I found a few books on divination and witchcraft that I was able to compare the reality I was programmed to believe against this new information. Suddenly I was aware of an infinite array of possibilities I could choose from. I had a growing understanding that I really could shape the world around me, instead of allowing circumstance to dictate the reality I subscribed to. Over the years this stayed a hobby until I found the opportunity to work as a professional Tarot reader. Since then I have helped over 15,000 clients internationally, mostly through the Tarot and astrology. I have also trained several students from complete novice through to professional level abilities.

All of that is nothing more than a series of connected facts however. What I believe makes me specifically qualified to write this particular book is my love of helping people learn. Traditional, dry, stuffy textbooks bore me to tears, and effectively shut down that most important part of my brain: that part which actively wants to learn, the bridge between conscious awareness and intuitive reception. My goal is to help other people learn consciously while simultaneously accessing their higher (intuitive) and lower (stored knowledge) faculties. I like to think of it as total mind awareness. We learn best when we are consciously processing information that taps into facts and patterns we know and recognize, and also wakes our inner muse. At these times we are more fully aware of the subject we are engaging in, and our retention is stronger because we are lighting up our golden triangle (P.M.E.). This is what really makes me qualified to write this book. I passionately hunger for my students to absorb this knowledge and in turn expand upon it in time.

How did you research for this book?

This book pretty much wrote itself, because I knew what I wanted to share with the public, and I waited until the book was ready in my mind to transfer onto paper. In other words, I came prepared: I chose early on to invest decades of my life to the study and comparison of metaphysics, religion, science, and experiential reality (a detailed examination of daily life subjectively and objectively), and come up with answers to questions I heard people asking over and again, questions that have been asked before, by previous generations. I didnt think of myself as any particular expert. I just felt the need to find these answers, and saw no reason I should not pursue them to the ends of the earth. Over time I accumulated direct information on the Tarot from ancient masters and of course my own modern teachers, but also indirect information from seemingly ancillary sources. I have found that the interconnectivity of disparate groups of people, events, and forces teaches us more about the individual players involved than a simple, focused study exclusively on any one subject can reveal. I compared what I knew to work with the results of others, both modern and ancient. I also gained permission from the masters of my own school before sharing much of this information with the general public.

Do you have any tips for new writers wanting to enter this writing genre?

Hmmm . . . Got a few hours? Let me see how brief I can be on this subject (you may want to pee now, we could be here for a while). First: Dont write to become rich or famous. That will happen on its own if you write a good enough bookso take that as an eventuality and dont let it affect your writing style, subject matter, or confidence level. Write from your heart, but use your head; think about what you want other people to know. Look around you now, but also look a few generations into the future. When you are long gone, what do you want people to know about your subject? Explain details you feel your students will have difficulty understanding. Write with verbosity and let your editor hack away at your prose months from now, without interference from you. Dont try to anticipate what your editor will cutanticipate what your readers will want to know, and write everything they will need to understand (and use) the knowledge you are sharing. Your editor will help you shape your final draft into a masterpiece of instruction, so now is not the time to second-guess whether a particular sentence is worthy of inclusion in your book.

Tell me what you know. Tell me what you want me to know. Find your writing style and stay with it, no matter what anyone says. Dr. Seuss had the most peculiar writing style of anyone in the 20th century, but his books are still top-sellers every year. Take a lesson from the good doctor. Dont allow others to limit how you express yourself. If you are having trouble finding your voice, try writing how you speak to yourself when no one is around; and dont ever apologize for doing so. Some people will like your voice, others (who no longer matter) will not. Write for you, but write TO your readers.

Use visual illustrations if you feel the need; use cliches, analogies, metaphors, and similes. Tell me directly and also infer. Do this as you see fit and not how you think I will want to learn. But give me all that you have and let your editor decide how much is too muchlater, when you are in the post-creation phases of the book you are engaged in right now. And while I am at it, I want you to write what you want to tell me, even if a hundred other people have already written on the same subject. Your point of view is unique if you truly understand and have a passion for the subject you are writing on. Your collection of experiences and your highly personal advice will help me more thoroughly comprehend the topic, which is why I am reading your book after all. I may have read fifteen books on the Runes only to find that I have reached a plateau I cannot ascend from until suddenly your book opens in me new ways of thinking, paths that lead me to great revelations of awareness. Ignore the protests of anyone who says that you should not write a book on a subject that has previously been written about. If you know something that is worth sharingshare it with the rest of us.

Also: Dont take yourself, or any other expert too seriously. We all had to start our lives the sameas screaming babies. We all had to spend years learning how to process information before we could even begin to study the information we are now authorities on. Perhaps you will write your book this year only to find out that ten years from now you know much more about the subject. That doesnt mean that you should wait another ten years to write your book; but it does mean that you should always consider your knowledge of reality as a work in process. This removes a lot of pressure on you to be right every time you open your mouth. Consider what you know now to be valuable enough to use and act upon, with the caveat that tomorrow you may know more. Allow yourself, and others, to grow and learn, even as you help people by sharing what you know up to this point. Seeing yourself and your world in this light will make writing infinitely easier.

Where can people find out more about you and your writing?

All of my currently published works are on Amazon.com. By typing in Dusty White in the search box, they should be fairly easy to find. I own a few domains, most notably dustywhite.net (which admittedly needs some help). Heres another tip: pick a domain and build on it. Start with the basics: book, blog, author info, and grow from there. My mistake has always been having too many good ideas and not enough organization to outsource them to other people to complete. I strongly recommend new authors choosing one: bookorauthor website, and building that, rather than trying to do both (or more) at once.

My AdvancedTarotSecrets.com is far more complete, because it is tied directly to a book I am passionate about. It is the (free) support site for The Easiest Way to Learn The TarotEVER!!

Anything else you'd like to add?

In fact, yes: Write the best book you can. Then hire the best editor you can afford. You can find some great editors (and illustrators) on guru.com at no cost to you. They take a small percentage of the freelancers pay, rather than charging you a fee. I have used them for several projects and I will never use any other service. They have an escrow service I like where you can deposit money once you set a deal with a professional you are hiring. This shows them they will not get screwed, but it protects you in case they dont fulfill their end of the deal. Elance may have something like this, but I have not used them.

After you have completed your book and you are ready to share your information with the world, you have a few options for publishing. You can go the traditional route, or you can take matters into your own hands and publish with BookSurge, Createspace, Lulu, or LightningSource. All of these services are good. There are other options as well, but I prefer going directly to the source. BookSurge and Createspace are owned by Amazon, which means that you will be guaranteed listing on Amazon, but more than likely you will not be on BarnesandNoble.com. The other services (including ones not mentioned here) will list you on other websites, but there my be additional fees and hurdles you have to jump through. This is a highly personal decision, and one you really need to seriously consider based on your goals and needs.

Promoting your book will be fun. You absolutely, positively need Amazon reviewsthe more the better. Even 100 3-4 star reviews is better than 3-4 5 star reviews. People like to see popularity, and Amazon likes to see activity surrounding a book. No matter who publishes you, YOU are the only person responsible for promoting your book. YOU will have to get out there and bang the drum. Online promotion is the easiest for most authors. After all we write because we do that better than we speak in front of crowds or a TV camera, or we would be actors or politicians. Being an author is much, much more than being able to scribble out words on paper, or hire someone to ghostwrite a book for you. Being an author is about relying on literary expression to share your thoughts with the world. Most true authors are pretty bad at speaking in front of large crowds or shamelessly marketing themselves on the radio or TV. This is why the internet is such a wonderful invention.