Do you believe in past lives and reincarnation? I do. I was always open to the idea. It seemed to make sense to me but I wasn’t sure why or how.

Little did I know that the novel I had always wanted to write since I was 13 was really an account of several of my past lives, plus the past lives of family and friends. I thought I wanted to write one book. It has since expanded into a series with multiple sequels and prequels.

I was an emotional mess in my early thirties. But, I found and took advantage of a unique energy healing method called Sunan therapy. It enabled me to attain profound emotional and spiritual resolution, in part by exploring some of my past lives and resolving issues I uncovered. I loved it so much that I trained to become a Sunan healer, and began helping others resolve emotional and spiritual issues. As I did, I realized that creativity and spirituality are intimately linked. It’s not possible to delve into one without diving straight into the other. Our innate spiritual beings are the source and conduits of our creativity.

That’s helpful for a would-be novelist to know, right?

It was also useful to have chosen journalism as my profession. I learned to write well under tight, often multiple daily deadlines. No time for writer’s block when your editor is glaring at you, and glancing at the clock. While I was a reporter for varying newspapers, and then a trade journal, I tried to write my novel twice. But, both times I made little progress, and eventually abandoned these efforts.

But, my dream of writing a novel would not go away. Throughout a period of tremendous self-discovery and spiritual awakening via Sunan therapy, I still yearned to write fiction. I thought often about those characters driving me nuts, and the tantalizing bits of their lives and stories that I had gleaned over several decades of research and introspection.

In May of 1998, halfway through a community college technical writing program, I decided that was not for me. Two months and a course on flower essences later, I awoke one Saturday morning with total recall.

It was one of the most astounding experiences I had ever had, and my energy healing work as both client and healer have been full of amazing experiences ever since! I knew it all. I knew who my first-generation protagonist (Helen Andros) was, and all about her early life, which had entirely eluded me for more than three decades. I knew what happened to her once she found her father. I knew how other characters, for whom I formerly had only just names, were related to Helen or were involved in her life.

That strange morning, the entire story for four generations unrolled before my awareness like a long carpet. Even more astounding, I felt Helen’s emotions, and the emotions of the other characters, for the first time.

I began writing nonstop, in the mornings before work, after work, and on weekends. Eventually, my spouse, Jana L. Simons, took over as my editor. My awakened soul memories stirred those in Jana, who identified with the character of Judith Altair. Once Jana reclaimed her awareness as Judith, she was able to contribute in a major way to improving the books’ content. By the time I completed a first round of writing 14 months later, I had the rough drafts of the first two novels in the series.

I feel as though my life’s purpose is to tell the tale of Azgard’s tragic, avoidable spiritual downfall and utter annihilation. I have written two unpublished novels that completed Helen’s tale, and have started on the story of her daughter.

ABOUT BOOK ONE

Lt. Helen Andros is an illegitimate, presumed orphaned physician with a gift for healing. She always wears about her neck a green gemstone with hidden potentials she recived from her mother. Helen is also a despised half-breed: her mother was a Turanian and her father an unknown Toltec.

The medical officer for the 163rd Regiment, Helen is secretly in love with her commanding officer, Colonel Jackson Orlando, who returns her feelings but does not dare pursue her. Helen goes on a holiday visit to the Andros farm, where she encounters Lord Justin Atlas, a second cousin and a half-breed.

A native of Los Angeles, C. L. Talmadge is a professional writer and energy-healer who takes clients to meet their spirit guides. In 1999, under the byline Candace L. Talmadge, she co-authored nonfiction about emotional and spiritual healing based on the Sunan approach. She recently completed a self-help work that teaches a simple method of communicating with souls after death–and before birth.