Award-winning Author in American Idol Style Contest

Award-winning author Laine Cunningham is in the running for an American Idol style contest called The Next Top Spiritual Author. James Twyman, bestselling author The Moses Code and Robert Evans, founder of the Messenger Network created the competition. Hampton Roads Publishing is offering a contract to the winner.

Hillsborough, NC April 6, 2010

Laine Cunningham, Spiritual Messenger and Modern Shaman, is competing in a worldwide talent competition called The Next Top Spiritual Author. Several judging rounds rely heavily on public votes, so the public who enjoys her message can rally behind her and the New Spirituality.

The Next Top Spiritual Author contest was created by bestselling author James Twyman and Messenger Network founder Robert Evans. The pair have teamed up with Neal Donald Walsh, author of Conversations with God, Marianne Williamson, who wrote A Return to Love, and other industry insiders. The winner will receive a publishing contract from Hampton Roads, one of the nation’s leading spiritual publishing houses, and a marketing campaign worth $50,000.

Over 2,500 contestants have enrolled. Individuals from Australia, Canada, and all across America have joined. Although only a percentage of them have already written a book, every contestant has their own thoughts to share. Topics range from abundance to astrology, from dating to depression.

Cunningham’s focus is on a concept she calls New Spirituality. “People today are undergoing a spiritual transformation the likes of which has not been seen for thousands of years,” she says. “We no longer think the Creator is separated from us. Now we know that divine energy lives in our hearts.”

The best of Native American, Australian Aboriginal and Hawaiian shamanic systems blends with metaphysical ideas. The resulting spiritual system focuses on the human heart. By emphasizing love for all people and things, her ideas make our global society resonate with compassion.

Cunningham’s journey began back in 1993 when she spent six months camping alone in the Australian outback. During the day, she bumped over rough desert roads in a twenty-year-old Ford sedan. At night she cooked over an open fire and listened to the dingoes circle her tent. She also learned to play the didgeridoo, a traditional Aboriginal wind instrument.

After returning to the United States, she began attending Native American rites and ceremonies in the Midwest. Then she moved to North Carolina and explored her family’s roots in Cherokee. In 2005, Cunningham was ordained as an interfaith minister. This step took her deeper into the spiritual messages she spreads through her books and stories.

A short time later she was certified as a shaman. Although she connected with spiritual energy all her life, the official training allowed Cunningham to refine her approach. The result was a series of books, workshops and videos that address spiritual challenges with ancient knowledge from around the world.

This summer, Cunningham will launch the first nonfiction book. Seven Sisters pairs Australian Aboriginal stories with essays that help readers address modern problems. Although technology has changed the day-to-day details of how we live, we still face the same issues. Cunningham says, “Our lifestyles have changed but our hearts are the same.”

Since so much of our ancient and modern lives are based on relationships with other people, Seven Sisters offers quite a bit of advice on love, marriage and family life. The book is also a valuable resource for enhancing compassion, implementing a lifelong dream, and understanding conflicts between neighbors and nations.

Cunningham has already been quoted on MSNBC’s The Well-Mannered Traveler, The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia, Austria’s largest newspaper Die Presse, US-based Awareness magazine, and dozens of radio and TV shows in three countries. In recent appearances she discussed the native take on the swine flu, the Hawaiian system for creating abundance, fearlessly pursuing life goals, and loving relationships. To vote for Cunningham, visit NextTopAuthor.com and enter author code 416.

Her novel, which weaves Aboriginal culture and shamanism into a modern story of suspense, also received quite a bit of support. Message Stick won two national awards and was featured in a celebrity swag bag for Dionne Warwick, award-winning playwright Woodie King, Jr., and actors from the TV show The Sopranos.

Cunningham has performed workshops on spirituality and personal growth on White Earth Reservation and for the City of Sacramento, churches and spiritual foundations, art and cultural organizations, colleges, and K-12 schools across the United States. For more information on the workshops and her novel, visit www.lainecunningham.com.