Author Interview

Hi, ya'll. Happy Labor Day Weekend. I had the opportunity to interview C. L. Talmadge, Author of the series, The Green Stone of Healing. The series features four generations of strong-willed female characters who inherit a mysterious green gem ultimately revealed to mend broken bones and broken hearts, protect against missiles, and render its wearers undetectable.
For more information about each book, please visit http://www.greenstoneofhealing.com/

So lets get down to business. :)

Deborah: Hi. Thanks for stopping by to answer a few questions. Can you tell us a little about your latest release?

C.L.: My latest release will be out Oct. 1. It is called Outcast, and it is the fourth book in the Green Stone of Healing® speculative epic. This series chronicles four generations of outspoken female characters who own a gem with previously hidden properties and potentials. In this fourth novel, a mystical alien named Maguari teaches first-generation heroine Helen Andros how to use her jewel and a mysterious energy called kura for healing and protection. The plot against the life of Helen’s father reaches its tragic climax, and the theocrats who end up destroying Helen’s country, an island nation called Azgard, accelerate their schemes to obtain ultimate power and control.

Deborah: Sounds interesting. What or who inspired you to write it?

C.L.: I dreamed of being a novelist since about 1966-67, when the mother of my best friend put a Taylor Caldwell novel in my hand and told me, “You can write a book like this.”

After college I decided to become a journalist, just like a lot of other graduates in the mid-1970s, immediately following the Watergate scandal. But I eventually found work on newspapers, magazines, and even a newswire.

My own question for healing also inspired me to write this series. I spent my early adult years looking for healing for my deep emotional and spiritual wounds. I found it in a powerful method called Sunan therapy. I co-authored nonfiction about this approach to healing emotional and spiritual wounds called Hope is in the Garden: Healing Resolution Through Unconditional Love. After 12 years of Sunan therapy on an as-needed basis, the past-life memories that form this series came roaring back to my conscious mind. I finally started writing it after two previous failed attempts.

Deborah: How long have you been writing, and did you know at a young age you wanted to be an author?

C.L.: The Taylor Caldwell experience with my friend’s mother happened when I was 12 or 13. But I didn’t really start to consider writing as a career until much later, when I realized it was just about the only gift I had. I was terrible at math and science, but I could write and always had images, characters, and stories running in my head.

Deborah: Do you have a special place in your home where you like to write? If so, what does it look like?

C.L.: I write in my office, which takes up the entire den. It used to be a lot more cluttered. But I bought a decent desk and reorganized it last year, and how it is more open. I have lots of stuffed animals and toys close by, because I like to stop and play with them when I am thinking about what to write next or sequencing the next series of events in my fiction.

Deborah: Okay, it’s time for a list of your favorites:
A. Color—Teal
B. Number: 17
C. Food: Ice cream
D. Drink: Frozen pina colada
E. Music: Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah
F. Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
G. Actor/Actress: Cary Grant/Vanessa Redgrave
H. Movie: Julia

Deborah: If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could have only one person there with you, who would it be, and why?

C.L.: That person would be my best friend and life partner, Jana Simons.

Deborah: What advice would you give someone just starting out in this business?

C.L.: Write about your passion, not what you think will sell or what’s hot at the moment. If you don’t love and believe in what you write, how can anyone else love or believe in it? If you try genre fiction, be sure to read in that genre, but then forget about it and write your own story, in your own voice. Be willing to consider criticism because it might just teach you something. Some comments on my work have made it much better. Other observations were not helpful so I let them go. Never give up on your writing. The world can be unkind at times to new talent. Just keep on trucking.

Deborah: And last but not least, is there anything else you would like to tell your readers? Perhaps something that no one would guess about you?

C.L.: I am an energy-healer in addition to being a writer. I use the Sunan method (www.sunan.com) of emotional and spiritual healing resolution. It saved my life, and a lot of what I learned about myself and healing at that deep level of self is in my fiction.

Deborah: Again, thank you for stopping by.

C.L.: You are most welcome. Thanks for allowing me to visit with your readers.

Deborah: It has been a pleasure talking with you.

C.L: I enjoyed chatting with you, too.

Deborah: Take care.

C.L.: And you, too!

Candace will be giving away an autographed set of all three books in the series to one randomly drawn commenter from the tour

Please follow C.L. Talmadge's blog tour; the more you leave comments, the better your chance of winning. You can follow the tour here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2009/08/virtual-series-tour-green-stone-of.html

Again, Happy Labor Day,

Deborah