Lorna Howarth

MY STORY

My newly-published novel, 'Sandpaper for the Soul' tells one version of my story – a version steeped in the magical waters of love, friendship and destiny, yet stirred by the realities of fear, loss and heartbreak. We all have multiple stories that describe our life journey. Below is the parallel universe I lived in whilst Sandpaper for the Soul germinated in my imagination.

For 18 years, I worked as a writer and editor for various publications, including Positive News, Living Lightly and Resurgence, the UK’s leading magazine on ecology, spirituality and the arts. During this time, I interviewed many inspirational teachers who helped shape my thinking, including Jonathon Porritt, James Lovelock, Deepak Chopra, Vandana Shiva, John Seymour, Anita Roddick and others, although perhaps my foremost teacher was Editor Emeritus of Resurgence and a Gandhian philosopher and peace activist, Satish Kumar.

Then, in 2008, I joined my friend and colleague, the musician and activist Kenny Young, to work as Development Director for the NGO Artists Project Earth. We funded over 350 climate change mitigation projects around the world, as well as supplying emergency funding for disaster relief. During this time, I was fortunate to attend the international COP Climate Conferences in Copenhagen, Cancun and Durban, seeing first-hand the impenetrable barrier between inter-governmental decision making and civil society activism.

In 2012, I set up my publishing agency, The Write Factor, inspired by the words of my good friend and writer, John Moat, who said, “Your story is imperative to the completion of the all-important Universe Story.” My aim was to support people who fell between the gaps in the traditional publishing industry to tell their stories. At this time, I helped edit, design and publish over 60 books.

In 2020 after participating in the Soulistic Journey, I honed my publishing agency into the imprint, Panacea Books, which specialises in publishing books that ‘Re-imagine the world’. I am co-author with Genevieve Boast of The Soulistic Journey and together with William Blyghton, a novel entitled The Language of Love. My semi-autobiographical novel Sandpaper for the Soul was published in September 2023, and the first draft of my next novel, The Wellspring is now complete and due for publication in Spring 2024.