LANCASTER, Texas (April 4, 2005)—Less than three months after she began writing her fantasy series, Green Stone of Healing,™ author C.L. Talmadge knew that she was chronicling a life she had lived before—and that certain characters in her novels would return after death to pursue unfinished business.

“I woke up one morning in October of 1998 with the horrendous memory of a trauma suffered by the first-generation heroine, Helen Andros,” Talmadge says. “I was devastated—deeply depressed. My emotions were so profound and painful that I realized this went way beyond trying to imagine how a character in a book might feel or behave. I was literally in Helen Andros’ tragic shoes because I was—and still am—Helen Andros.”

In The Vision—Book One, launched today by Quiet Storm Publishing, Helen is an opinionated, tough-minded physician who wears a mysterious green stone. She is also emotionally wounded and vulnerable, an illegitimate half-breed in Azgard, a nation divided by race and rank. Caught in political machinations that almost cost her life, Helen learns her father’s true identity as one of the country’s most powerful Toltec lords. Helen struggles with unaccountable rage unleashed within her by their meeting.

The revelation that impelled Helen’s Turanian mother to bear a despised half-breed comes to light thanks to the otherworldly Mist-Weavers. These ancient, secretive beings, appearing and dissolving at will, know of the jewel’s potentials. Targeted for death by the Temple of Kronos, Helen is unable to reconcile with her newfound parent. She must learn to make full use of the stone and necklace and an energy called kura if she is to survive and fulfill her spiritual path.

Since childhood, Talmadge has always been open to the possibility of past lives, an attitude shared by more than one-quarter of adult Americans. According to a Harris Poll® survey on this topic, 27 percent of U.S. residents aged 18 and older believe in reincarnation.

The Green Stone of Healing™ series offers a unique twist on reincarnation.
¬Instead of looking solely backward, as the series progresses through four generations, dead characters return as different people still struggling to resolve their issues. Soul mates and dear friends, heroes and villains meet again, but the outcome is by no means happily ever after, even if the love (or hatred) between them does not change.

“It’s impossible to ‘prove’ reincarnation to the conscious mind,” Talmadge points out. “The best affirmation of the validity of a past life is how your re-experience of it resonates with you emotionally and spiritually.”

The troubled life and flawed character of Helen Andros resonate at a very deep level for the author. Equally compelling is the powerful impact that the process of writing the Green Stone of Healing™ series has had on others.

One of these people is Colorado resident Susanne Doucet, a registered nurse and licensed professional counselor. Another person is Jana L. Simons, the author’s partner.

Doucet initially approached the concepts of past lives and energy-healing with a great deal of skepticism. “I don’t come to this super gullible or willing to be fed ideas. Yet always underneath was a core part of me that insisted on experiencing my own spirituality. And that led me eventually to my life as Miriam Andros.”

A close friend of the author, Doucet recognized herself in the character of Miriam while reading an early version of Books One and Two. After assuming the role of series editor, Simons soon realized that she had lived as Judith Altair, Miriam’s best friend.

Doucet’s initial past-life recognition had as devastating an impact on her as Talmadge’s realization on her. Both needed emotional and spiritual healing to help resolve the issues these former lives had brought back to their conscious awareness.

As a result of this healing, the relationship between Talmadge and Doucet altered. “I had always been terrified of Candace’s anger,” Doucet says. “I thought of her like an angry T-Rex and just tossed it off as personality differences between her and me. But I realize now that anytime you have a strong reaction to a person, positive or negative, that’s an indicator of a past-life association.”

Over the next few years, Doucet and Talmadge undertook further therapy sessions to resolve more past-life issues. As they did so, they experienced additional healing transformation.

“No one wants to be forgotten,” Talmadge adds. “The effort to make a difference (and thus not be forgotten) drives many lives. It certainly drove Helen’s life and
it’s what drives my life today, although in a far different, happier direction.”

These days the author aims to make a difference by stirring readers’ soul memories with the story of the Green Stone of Healing™.

“This series is really one long look at the true meaning of free will and personal responsibility,” Talmadge says. “Outside of the language of traditional religion, I am exploring our connection to God, to each other, and to ourselves. Like Book One’s heroine, most of us feel a sense of alienation from God, from others, and most important, from ourselves.

“The question then becomes, what causes this separation? Western religions traditionally ascribe the cause to ‘sinful’ human nature. My series argues for a different explanation—one that is tied to healing at the deepest levels of self —just as it posits a different definition for evil.”

More information is available to the media by contacting the author at +1.972.227.8233 (author@greenstoneofhealing.com) or by visiting www.greenstoneofhealing.com/press.

Hardback: $26.95
Pages: 240
ISBN: 0-9744084-9-2

About the Author
C.L. Talmadge, whose career as a professional writer began in 1976, is familiar with the link between spirituality, energy, and healing. In 1999, she published non-fiction she co-authored about emotional and spiritual healing resolution based on the Sunan method of working in the energy of human consciousness. In this book, Talmadge provides an expanded definition of energy that demonstrates the connection between matter, spirit, heart, and mind. More about the series is also available at www.greenstoneofhealing.com.

About Quiet Storm Publishing
Based in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Quiet Storm Publishing was founded in 2002 by mystery author Clint Gaige, who believes the bigger publishing houses miss too many quality books and authors. Although Quiet Storm focuses primarily on mysteries and sci-fi/fantasy, it also has published a selection of quality non-fiction. More is available at www.quietstormpublishing.com.

About Harris Interactive®
Harris Interactive (www.harrisinteractive.com) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll®, and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, Harris Interactive combines proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts international research from its U.S. offices and through wholly owned subsidiaries—London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com), Paris-based Novatris and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan—as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of independent market- and opinion-research firms. Find results of The Harris Poll® #11, February 26, 2003, “The Religious and Other Beliefs of Americans 2003” at http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=359.