Redefining the Path

Deep Dives, Collaborations, and Travelling Through the Imagination

Distraction and Direction

As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been a little missing in action for the past few weeks. While this has mostly been down to wading through “real world” distractions and issues, I’ve also been rethinking my approach to this publication and my writing in general.

So, here I am, jotting down my thoughts and forming a plan. While this is primarily an exercise in reshaping my own path, I hope it is of interest to you. I want to summarize the three main pillars of my work, and more importantly, redirect and redefine them.

1. McAllister’s Mates

McAllister’s Mates was and is the cornerstone of my Substack world. What started as a small review section on my poetry blog has blossomed—perhaps even evolved. It has helped me recognize and understand high-quality writing. More importantly, though, it has sharpened my own philosophical and spiritual lens as I dig into others’ works, finding hidden aspects of the self there, while forging real friendships with incredible authors and artists.

Until now, the format has been weekly round-ups of two to three stories I enjoyed, accompanied by my thoughts on each one. I believe this has value, and I’ve received some incredibly generous and positive feedback. However, the best issues of these reviews are always the ones where I return to a second or third piece by a previously reviewed author.

Why? Because you have to truly dig into a good author’s work to understand the psychological questions they are grappling with. It is entirely possible to enjoy a single story or poem, getting drawn into the plot or the imagery. But when you take the time to experience a writer’s catalogue, you come to know them and their work intimately. You begin to catch the subtleties hovering at the edges of their consciousness.

When I go deep into an author’s work, my reviews become less about smooth cadences or memorable characters (always important, of course). Instead, I find myself writing about how their entire portfolio has shifted my consciousness, challenged my deepest beliefs, or enriched my worldview. These reviews are always more exciting and intimate—the author’s words shifting my own understanding. Two minds meeting, ropes stretching across the ether.

Going forward, I will be doing deep dives into an author’s work rather than reviewing solitary pieces. McAllister’s Mates may become a little less frequent, but it will be significantly deeper. I intend to start these profile-style reviews with two beautiful authors and very dear friends James Kenwood and Derek James Kritzberg.

2. Collaborations

Now, I haven’t been spending all my time away from writing up to my eyes in spreadsheets and SQL queries. I’ve actually been working with my literary brother, Derek, on a project we’re both very excited about. As I mentioned, true immersion in another author’s work can open up new horizons; this effect is increased tenfold within an artistic collaboration.

We’ve just finished a joint piece, which is currently unpublished while we investigate release options. What I can tell you is that working within the Bellageist universe has pushed my writing in directions I couldn’t have foreseen a few years ago. While we certainly have a lot in common—especially an interest in conceptual science fiction and metaphysical psychology—we have very different approaches to the craft.

Where I tend to concentrate on symbolism, lyrical cadence, and mood, Derek constructs entire histories: the rise and fall of civilizations, and the consequences of those shifts across millennia. Working with his stories has brought balance and “grounding” to my usual flights of metaphysical fancy.

To be clear, grounding doesn’t mean a loss of esoteric ideas; it means channeling and heightening them through physicality and drama. I’m delighted to say he liked the results, and we’re already planning more work together.

I’m greatly looking forward to sharing this piece with all of you. If there’s an author you admire out there and you’re feeling shy about approaching them for a collaboration—just go for it. Working with an author who has a complementary approach will enhance your writing tenfold. It will strengthen your weak spots, curb your indulgences, and provide immense enjoyment. Go on—send the email.

3. Poetry and Art Books

Of course, I started my journey as a poet and artist, and I am deeply committed to this path. I’ve published four books https://www.graememcallister.com/p/books and I am currently working on two more. However, even in this process, I feel the need to step back, reframe my work, and cast a new light upon it.

As my writing has developed, I have come to understand my own drives and seekings more clearly. Unfolding philosophical and psychological clues across a portfolio of years is an internal process, too. I have come to recognize an ongoing exploration of the imagination—not so much as a game of creating ever more weird and wonderful fantasy places or creatures, but as an alternative method of moving through life’s experiences and being in the world.

My books and poems have been moving through a cycle of imaginative experience: from wonder at the mind’s creations, to meeting the challenges of archetypal gatekeepers, tempering imagination through the will, integrating it into daily life, and finally returning to a state of naive wonderment.

While an email newsletter system is an amazing tool for authors, the cohesive sense of a “body of work” can easily get lost in linear, chronological postings. Individual poems can lose the context of the larger collection, let alone the messages revealed in their connections across my entire portfolio.

To combat this, I plan to create miniature triptychs from my works. I will select poems from different collections that touch on the same themes but from different perspectives—joyful exuberance, mature rationalism, esoteric reverence, and so on. My hope is that weaving previous works into new essays, stories, and contemplations will reveal new meanings to both my readers and myself.

Closing Thoughts

In writing this all down, I now feel somewhat vindicated—and a lot less guilty about my recent lack of activity.

I know that many of you reading this are authors and artists too, and I encourage you to take some time and space to collect yourself and just think about your process. In the current age, we are compelled to always be visible and active. But sometimes, the most powerful action you can take is to just stop for a moment.

I hope you enjoyed reading these thoughts as much as I did recording them. I’m looking forward to sharing this new direction with you, and, of course, continuing to read your work.

Best wishes,

Graeme