The Eva Dillner Story

A Fall Changed Her Life

Writing Career Started with a Broken Ankle

Eva Dillner slipped while mowing the lawn. Laid up with a broken ankle, she finally wrote the book she'd carried in her mind. Seven years and five books later she's traveled the world to promote her books via Eva Parties and other events. Art Calendars have been added to the mix as well as digital audio and e-books.

What's an Eva Party?
The idea surfaced when a friend suggested she'd like to invite a few friends into her living room to meet the author.
- Ah, you mean like Tupperware?
- Yes, but instead you get Eva Dillner, live and in the moment, sharing stories from her life and books.
Thus the Eva Party was born. A personal talk and book signing in one package.

From Stockholm to Seattle
Eva was born and raised in Sweden, but moved to Seattle as a teenager. She studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington, doing her Master's Thesis on a NASA Traineeship. At Scott Paper Company in Everett, WA she started as a project engineer, became their first woman engineering supervisor, moved to logistics/procurement taking the packaging supply management into the computer age. Then onto France, a dream come true, to help build a new factory outside Orléans. Then, after fifteen years of doing high speed career, it was time for a change. As so often happens, the universe helped set it up.

From Rocket Science to Inner Space
Too chicken to quit outright, Eva took a three month leave of absence. In the midst of yet another reorganization, she got laid off. Now what? She'd always been interested in the "why are we here?" type questions. She especially wanted to understand how the energy flows in our bodies, not just the chakras. The phone rings…
- I've just had the most marvelous session of energy work, says Eva's friend. It was like champagne bubbles popping all over. You have to try this! The method is called Shen.

Eva made an appointment, and before she knew it, she was on a journey of self discovery that would eventually take her back to Sweden. She trained as a Shen Therapist, Hypnotherapist, Gemstone Therapist, joined the Sound Healers of Washington, co-facilitated Life Mission Circles, studied Meditation and Life Energy, Huna and Time Line Therapy as well as Personal Presence. In Sweden she picked up Creative Dance, Vedic Art and Lomi-Lomi Massage. Her studies took her to Norway and the UK. She went on to train as an Instructor in Shen, and just as she was packing to go pick up her diploma, the organization split into Shen and Kairos. Instead of following her mentor into Kairos and starting over, the universe had another path in mind for Eva.

Spirit Intervenes
It was a summer day with signs of something odd, a feeling of a message. Eva laid in the hammock, a butterfly came, and stayed. The thought immediately turned to her dear friend who'd passed over, who'd been Eva's co-facilitator in the Life Mission Circle. The butterfly was trying to convey something. But what?

As the day cooled down, Eva went to mow the lawn. She slipped on the grass and heard a faint pop as her right foot caught under her. Hoping it was a twig that broke, she decided to play it safe and have it checked out. The moment the doctor told her she had a broken ankle and would be laid up for 6-8 weeks, she KNEW the message was to start writing that book. Now! Her fellow Swede, Astrid Lindgren, got started the same way. She wrote down the now world famous “Pippi Longstocking” story after spraining her ankle.

The Books Come like Pearls on a String
Eva's first book “God put a Dream in my Heart” is the handbook she wishes she'd had when she started her journey of self discovery. It includes many exercises you can do on your own and explains what happens in your body, with your emotions and your mind as you set things in motion. Readers comment that the book is simple, yet very useful, like a breath of fresh air.

Once Eva started writing, she couldn't stop. At some point in everyone's therapy journey, especially if you've had a lot of baggage to deal with, it's important to tell your story. Whether you do it verbally, paint it, write it or dance it, is not important. What matters is that you get the whole story out and be heard and acknowledged. When Eva wrote, she totally suspended the idea of publishing. She wrote because it healed her. Before the ink was dry, her mentor asked to read it, and convinced Eva to go ahead and publish “The Naked Truth.” Who would have thought that therapeutic writing could be so exciting, keeping readers riveted to the story until the last page?

book 7 The second edition of “The Naked Truth” was released in October 2008, in print, audio and e-book formats. Expanded by a third and retitled “Secrets of Transformation,” it was showcased at the London Book Fair, Book Expo America and the Gothenburg Book Fair, and entered into the 2009 Nautilus Book Awards and Foreword Book of the Year competition.

In the third book there's a change of pace; a synthesis of views and ideas on the possibilities in relationships and business. Hailed especially by NLP type consultants who work with individuals and organizations, “The Pathfinder Process” is an exploration to open up your mind to see things in a different light. Typically we try to put people into predetermined roles and boxes, here we start by understanding who we are, then examine where we might meet, with the idea to let go of the rest.

Men with Blue Eyes
In the summer of 2005, just before taking off on a pan European tour, that would take her to ten countries in 2-1/2 months, she spent an evening with friends. As the conversation meandered…
- You have a wonderful voice, said the man with blue eyes. Why don't you do audio books?
- I'd love to read what you have to say, said the other blue eyed man. Why can't you write in Swedish for us?
With persuasion like that, how could she say no?

High Tech meets High Touch
Remember Eva started out as an engineer? She researched audio books and discovered that Sweden and Germany were leading the industry in Internet distribution of mp3/iPod audio. A long time Mac user, Eva found an excuse to upgrade to get Garage Band, bought a digital microphone, asked a lot of questions on the Apple discussion group, and proceeded… She soon discovered that recording something she'd already written felt stiff and formal. Then the penny dropped.
- Why not do the audio book the same way I do the Eva Parties, live and in the moment? she thought.
It worked like a charm and the 7 CD “Livs Levande Eva” quickly climbed the library charts after its release in the summer of 2006.

A return to the mother tongue
Writing in Swedish turned out to be a more arduous task. Eva had left the country after finishing eight grade, and needed to brush up on grammar and writing conventions. A journalist friend and other language experts helped out, and “Våga Leva” (roughly “The Courage to Live”) was polished into a very well written book, according to one retired language teacher.

Exploring the Unknown
So the next writing adventure, on the spaces in between, after one thing is complete, before the next begins, where magic and healing happens, is a book in English titled “Z 2 A.” Readers can follow along on Eva's blog as the book takes shape.

and exploring the known
At the same time Eva has started another book project on her Swedish blog, on how to publish your book. At her talks, the number one question is "how do you do it?" Thus, exploring the known, she will share all that she has learned about the book industry.

rejection opens new doors
Twice, Eva applied to be part of the annual gallery walk hosted by local artists. Twice, she was turned down. Spurred by the door slamming in her face, she started to explore other ways to make her art available. As the conversation meandered with kindred spirit Karin Swanström, the idea of an art calendar was born. Again, God had another plan for Eva. Seldom does life turn out the way we plan it! To make her art visible to all across the globe, Eva also set up a virtual art gallery on Picasa, complete with slide shows. She recently returned from a trip to India with TellusArt, where artists from Scandinavia and Asia made workshops and exhibits in Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh and Dharampur.

About Eva Dillner and Divine Design
Eva Dillner is a writer and artist specializing in creative and therapeutic processes for inspiration and transformation. Through her company Divine Design she publishes directly via Lightning Source, making her books and calendars available worldwide through major distributors and on-line retailers as well as the Espresso Book Machine. For audio she has teamed up with leading edge provider ELib in Sweden and Audible in the USA. Her e-books are available via Elib's network and on Amazon's Kindle. Next up is a partnership with Mi-Vox for preloaded audio players to be released by spring 2010.

Updated March 2010

Articles

New Age in Sweden
New Age Retailer Magazine, USA, May/June 2004

Boundaries disappearing for writers, publishers
North County Times, San Diego, CA 1/23/2004

Former member publishes book
Swedish Center News, Seattle, WA 10/ 2003

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