The Light Direction Project

I'd like to introduce Ces Creatively, a business mum and logo designer who has overcome adversity following the death of her fourth child to go on and create a wonderful project supporting other small businesses in his memory.

Can you tell us what The Light Direction project is Ces?

The Light Direction is the name of my book series. It signifies the path to your destiny... your light direction through dark times, overcoming whatever obstacles are placed in your way. "If there is one thing I know to be unequivocally true, it is that nothing will ever stop you from reaching the light."

The content is a fast paced love story with passion, betrayal, intrigue and mysterious supernatural powers. The story is told from the perspective of several different characters and is written in a way that will engage an audience so they feel as if they are going on a journey with the characters as the story unfurls.

This is much more than a book series though, I feature real small businesses which are seamlessly written into the script providing innovative novel promotion and creating a sensory brand experience for The Light Direction.

That sounds like a great idea, can you explain more about it?

In the story the characters stay in a cottage which is described in detail. This is a real luxurious holiday cottage owned by a holiday lets business www.besidetheseaholidays.com and once you have read the book, you have the opportunity to actually stay in the very same place the story describes.

We even offer chances for fans to win holidays there! Similarly, the beautiful "Tri-Love" necklace featured on the cover of "Taste The Light Direction" and designed by talented jewellery maker Sarah Marks of www.tiny-gems.co.uk was created especially to capture the love triangle theme of the book and is an important gift from Jez to Em in the story.

Now fans can purchase their own "Tri-Love" necklace and if you are lucky, even win one through one of our many Give Aways. What a wonderful way to adorn yourself with the literature if you have enjoyed the read!

Cupcakes, Jewellery, Chocolates, Bags, Flowers, Restaurants, Hotels... there are lots of real small businesses who have created something special to be involved in the project and mentioned in the story.

Is the book available now?

The first printed book will be released next year. In order to introduce the novel series to an audience in advance of this, I am releasing a series of FREE 2 Chapter ebook downloads. The "Taste The Light Direction" pdf is available to download FREE at www.the-light-direction.co.uk/taste/taste_home.html NOW! It will soon be available for kindle too. The second FREE ebook in the series will be available in November 2011.

How exciting. What or who inspired you to do this Ces?

I am a self employed designer by day job, designing logo's facebook fan pages, websites and marketing material for clients on a daily basis. I have also always had an interest in creative writing but had never pursued it. This year was a real turning point for us as a family.

After a long hard struggle since the death of our son, my husband Jay and I worked so hard to be able to move back to Poole Dorset "where our heart is" and finally made it in time for the fifth anniversary of our little boy's death. I wanted to do something to help others in his memory.

I also run www.supportivebusinessmums.co.uk and www.biz-brand-buzz.co.uk helping and supporting small businesses with my skills so this project was a natural progression on from that.

I have also been greatly inspired by Before The Door which is a ground breaking production company setting an example others would do well to follow. Founded by Zachary Quinto (the actor and director currently best known for his incredible portrayal of the character Sylar in global hit series Heroes and also the younger more handsome Spock in the last Star Trek Movie) along with Neal Dodson, Corey Moosa also their talented friend Sean Akers the guys work tirelessly collaborating with amazing creatives on an array of wonderful projects.

At the heart of BTD, the guys support and create opportunities for and with others all the time, from feature films to graphic novels, pushing boundaries, exploring new media, engaging with audiences and I'm sure, inspiring many, as they inspire me. You can find out more about them at www.beforethedoor.com

The character art you have for The Light Direction is amazing Ces, do you have any favourite characters?

Thanks. I think it is really important to engage with your audience visually and I worked really closely directing illustrator Tris Rossin to create these wonderful character images.

I may have gone down the model/photographic route to bring the characters to life, however I was introduced to a beautifully illustrated and compelling graphic novel "LUCID" written by Michael McMillian (the actor who played Steve Newlin in True Blood) earlier this year which inspired me to bring the story to life in illustration.

My favourite character is Jez. Because he is gorgeous and I also love the way his character develops through the series to see his good and bad points, both his vulnerabilities and his heroic moments.

What is next for The Light Direction then?

The project is developing all the time. As more people come on board the possibilities are infinite. Right now I am working with skilled professional audio book creator Jozefa of Learning Voice and also voice over artist and actor James Fawcett www.jamesdfawcett.com who are helping to create exclusive online content and audio books which will be released FREE #watch_this_space.

The sound of The Light Direction is really important to engaging with the audience, creating atmosphere and telling the story in a memorable way. Another exciting collaboration underway right now is with a wonderful charismatic man, Richard Ziler, a talented musician and composer who is creating soundtracks and theme music for the series.

I am currently driving my family crazy by repeatedly humming the tracks created so far. They are fantastic, catchy and really capture the story perfectly. I shall #Squeeeeeee extensively when the audio products are ready to be released. I am honoured to be working with so many awesome people. On that topic, we are featuring several amazing singers within the story.

I have been so impressed by the awesome voice of Christopher Dallman an amazing singer and musician, I am featuring and recommending him in The Light Direction series. You too can be impressed by this talented man by downloading his 2 free tracks at http://christopherdallman.bandcamp.com/album/redstar-free-downloads

I'm also delighted to have been able to feature Zoë Bestel in The Light Direction. Her wonderfully enchanting singing voice and captivating performances of the songs she has written just blow me away. WOW she gives me goose bumps. The fact that TLD is able to bring opportunities to awesome young talents like Zoë and James just means the world to me. This is what it is all about. I am also collaborating to take The Light Direction into film media as the project develops. It's all GO 😉

How do you find time to do all this Ces?

LOL. I hardly ever sleep. Most of The Light Direction project work is done at night because with my design work for clients, @sb_mums #BizBrandBuzz, my new "author branding" products plus a hubby and 3 kids to look after there just aren't enough hours in the day.

I love doing this though and I still find time to enjoy the beach and Poole Harbour and appreciate living in Dorset too. I am quite happy to sit up night after night in order to tirelessly champion small businesses and work with other creatives.

Seeing the opportunities created for so many to reach new audiences who enjoy and value what they find makes it all worth it for sure.

Thank you for telling us about The Light Direction. Where can people go to find out more?

We run ongoing give aways of gorgeous gifts and jewellery from facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheLightDirection

You can win a gift(available with international delivery) by looking at our MEET THE CHARACTERS section here http://the-light-direction.co.uk/meet_the_characters.html then clicking the LIKE button on our Facebook page and posting a comment on our facebook wall to tell us who is your favourite character and why. http://www.facebook.com/TheLightDirection

Follow us on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/light_direction for all the latest TLD news and check out the TLD blog: http://www.the-light-direction.co.uk/blog

The FREE ebooks are available here at: www.the-light-direction.co.uk/taste/taste_home.html

Readers have the chance to win holidays and gorgeous jewellery as featured in the story by posting a review of the free ebook and the project as a whole either on their own blog site or sending it in to us at ces@the-light-direction.co.uk so that we can put it up on our site.

We really appreciate and value the support we get for this project. By reviewing and recommending The Light Direction you are supporting a whole community of small creative businesses.

I recommend you do download the free ebooks at www.the-light-direction.co.uk/taste/taste_home.html  and Ces is also offering readers of this interview an exclusive chance to win a gorgeous bracelet by going over to The Light Direction blog on this link: http://the-light-direction.co.uk/blog/author-interviews-taste-1/   and posting a comment about discovering The Light Direction through reading this author interview!