notes & news, March 2025
news & notes
25 March 2025
Update
I’m about halfway through the final editing rounds for the final part of book 3, shaping.
Today I’m working on one of the key chapters, not just for book 3 but for the entire series. It’s full of defiance, thoughts, views, suggestions which are relevant in the present chaos our world finds itself in. That makes it difficult for me to stay focused. It’s like, I have to put myself on a leash so that I continue to write and don’t put all the ideas to a test directly.
But I will – and I have begun to prepare my next steps. I will mostly use Bluesky to start with and added new accounts. Like with my many websites, I decided to use different accounts for clarity and focus. That is to say the Charlie Alice Raya account will soon be totally unfocused because it will repost from all other accounts, but once someone finds a topic, a challenge, a conversation they are interested in, they can go to the respective account and find focus and clarity.
You can find new material for book 3 here:
Also recommendable: A visit to the easy town books website which I have finally updated quite a bit.
Highlights are
- The tour through the easy town story
- specials & extracts from all published books (see list at the end of the website)
- and lists like: locations of the easy town story where you can check out whether your country or city has already found its way into the story
You can find me on Bluesky: @charliealiceraya.bsky.social
plus easy town books
@easytownbooks.bsky.social
plus The playbook for change: @playbookforchange.bsky.social
plus The end of all wars
@end-of-all-wars.bsky.social
and Views from around the universe: @universe-views.bsky.social
The best way to get in touch with me in the coming weeks is via email: contact@charlie-alice-raya.org. However, I’m unlikely to check emails every day. If you need to reach me urgently, your best chance is to contact me via Signal: CharlieAlice.396
Charlie Alice Raya, 25 March 2025
‘Egg division,’ Alice said that night after the speech. ‘That’s what we will do. We start with a single cell and then the cell will split into two and grow, and the two will split into four and grow, and eventually an enormous network will emerge which will celebrate the uniqueness, dignity and ingenuity of every human, a network which will reshape the human habitat and rebuild what previous generations have destroyed, and a network where we rethink everything that might need a rethink. We, our body of work, will be alive and breathe and thrive.’
© Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/3, shaping
news & notes
SPRING
21 March 2025
Spring
I smile
It’s spring
I laugh
life
awakes
The air
tickles me
The smells are
rich, fresh, potent
I love
I laugh
I dance
Spring
I wrap myself
in you
I dance
and skip across the sea
© Charlie Alice Raya
I love the idea of celebrating the start of the spring season. It’s such a wonderful time.
There are many ideas in the air but I want to live, allow the day to touch me, allow my mind to wander and marvel, allow myself to decide on a whim what to share with you and where.
Most likely you will find me on Bluesky online while I travel to my magical lake for the first time this year.
There might photos, videos, comments, quotes, maybe a challenge, maybe a glimpse of what is to come – or maybe I’ll just float on the lake and have an ice cream afterwards.
To find out, take a look at my
Bluesky account: @charliealiceraya.bsky.social
You don’t need to sign in to read the posts.
news & notes
12 March 2025
Out now
book 3/2, shaping
entanglements & silences
In the second part of book 3, personal entanglements take centre stage. It is a textbook case of what happens if we can’t, for whichever reasons, talk with each other openly.
While the main fallout is tragic, some rediscover ‘how intense touching can be, and how the body soaks it up like it’s the best honey in the world.’
Meanwhile the teams complete their final draft for the town, and there is a wonderful chapter with Alice, Andy and chickens. Mind you, Daria bursts the bubble, but Raiden has the idea that gets them back on track – with chickens. And yes, this exploration is of particular interest for US citizens.
Silence is a recurring theme. Sometimes threatening, other times pleasant and sometimes deadly.
The New Year passes, the teams begin to return, but no offer for town site. That’s when a big question begins to loom above all their heads: Where do we go from here?
Like all easy town books, this, too, offers ample inspiration for rethinking and reshaping our lives, our communities, our towns, our world – for all of us.
And instead of reproducing what already failed us, this series explores untrodden paths and is driven by curiosity and a desire to find visions which actually serve us as humanity and as planet.
e-book
282 pages, 90k words
ISBN 978-3-9821289-8-6
Contents
entanglements
11/12 November – Decisions
Consequences & entanglements
26/27 November – A dance and a fall
More entanglements, sex and physicality, a dance and a fall
2 December – A night shift
concentration, body sensations, the town plans, experiments, chickens and millions of eggs
And then there was silence
14-16 December – And then there was silence
last days, photo sessions, parents, a winter party, departures, silence
24 December
Christmas Eve, travelling, family, racism, expectations, coping with Christmas, closed doors, homelessness, grief, many glimpses into many stories
28 December – At the piano
There was silence and it felt like kicking, candles, songs, surprises
6 January – A new year
A cliff, Oh, oh, oh, testing, punching, a talk and others, a win and ambiguity, tourism and new worlds around every corner
