Tell
us a little bit about yourself.
I
am a retired high school teacher, primarily in business subjects and
mathematics. I never taught an English class in my life. In fact, as a student
I really never liked English class with all the nit-picking and structural
analysis. I think the only part I did like was the writing, if I could choose
the topic I wanted to write on.
How
did you decide to enter the world of writing?
That is a bit of a
long story. You’d better sit down. It seemed that I always wanted to write and
over a period of forty years or so I started a number of novels, and even
completed a few, but I did not really know what I was doing and everything I
produced was of inferior quality. The light just wasn’t on.
Then, over thirty
years ago, my wife introduced me to one of America’s almost-lost miracle-men.
His name was Edgar Cayce. He is regarded by many scholars in the field as
America’s legendary mystic. Edgar gave over fifteen thousand psychic readings
in a self-induced, trance-like state. His trance state was so deep that, in the
early days of his amazing medical readings, a group of doubting Doctors
performed their own sadistic experiments on him to prove he was duping his
clients. One Doctor took his pocketknife and slid it fully under one of Edgar’s
fingernails. He never reacted and there was no blood. Another sadist poked a
hatpin right through Edgar’s cheek. He never reacted, but there may have been a
drop of blood. But, as you can imagine, when Edgar came out of his trance
state, all hell broke loose!
Throughout
approximately forty years Edgar gave over ten thousand medical readings for
people, many of whom Edgar never met and who could be located a thousand or
more miles away at the time of the reading. On occasion, in his deep trance
state, Edgar prescribed treatments and remedies that had not yet been invented.
As amazing as the
medical readings were, it was Edgar’s life or reincarnation readings that
seized my attention. Some two thousand real live individuals, or their
guardians, requested approximately twenty-five hundred life readings where they
were given information on a few of their previous incarnations, specifically
those ones which were significant to their understanding of the reasons for
their souls selecting the particular bodies that they resided in, in their
current incarnations. Reincarnated souls that appeared in Edgar’s readings went
as far back as the days of Adam and Eve, and included the souls of Mary
Magdalene, Thomas Jefferson and Martha Washington, to name just a few.
If you are curious,
visit my website at http://dousimp.mnsi.net and you can access the articles I have written on
these three historical characters, and many others.
Once certain
individuals, seriously interested in researching ‘the-other-side,’ were
convinced that Edgar was the real deal; they asked inquisitive questions about
Creation and many other topics. One answer, significant to my story, is Edgar’s
account of the Creation of souls. In brief, think of God as an enormous energy
field that can think. After God Created and evolved the Earth with its animals
and numerous other creatures, but no humans, God realized that He had done a
pretty good job but He was lonely. Man had never been in the original plan, so
for company, God Created a calculated explosion in His energy field and all
souls were Created at the same time from the God-Energy. There is much more to
this story, but in a nutshell, God Created humans as residences where souls
could experience ‘life’. Souls incarnate time and time again until they learn
the required lessons to become God-like once more.
After years of
researching the Edgar Cayce readings, I ‘had’ to verify my beliefs so I enlisted
the services of a licensed hypnotist and experienced four past-life regression
sessions and uncovered a number of my past lifetimes.
Now one hundred percent convinced of reincarnation,
I commenced to write my reincarnation articles in 2010, using the Edgar Cayce
readings. I parlayed my knowledge and experience and, along with some helpful
guidance from the other side, wrote my first novel, Soul Awakening. It is a
work of fiction but was inspired by a series of actual events. Probably all of
the major events reported in Soul Awakening have been experienced by me, by
individuals I know, confided to me or individuals I know, or revealed in the
Edgar Cayce readings. Four of the incarnations uncovered by the characters in
Soul Awakening are my actual past lifetimes, right down to the name and
location.
After the completion of Soul Awakening, the ideas
kept flowing and I started right into a second manuscript which turned into
Soul Rescue, Book II of the Dacque Chronicles. It did not stop. I moved right
into a third manuscript which is scheduled for publication in January of 2013.
The current title is Soul Mind, Book III of the Dacque Chronicles.
What
does your family think of your writing?
They
all pretty much believe what I believe as far as survival of the soul and
spirit after the death of the body, and the reincarnation of souls.
Where
do you get your ideas?
There
are lots of sources if one keeps one’s eyes and ears open. The Edgar Cayce
reincarnation readings. Books, television shows and movies that include
reincarnation themes. Articles in the newspapers reporting reincarnation
memories, spirit sightings and communications. And, you would be surprised at
how many people contact me after they have seen my books or articles and share
their personal experiences. Most of us are hesitant to go public with our
beliefs because we are afraid of ridicule from others but once some of us stick
our necks out it encourages the closet believers to come forward. I never use
anybody else’s actual experiences in my books, only my own experiences and the
ideas inspired by the stories of others.
Can you tell us
a little about your books?
Dacque
LaRose, the protagonist in The Dacque Chronicles, is a very unusual Good
Samaritan who has been selected by the Heavenly Powers to assist Them in
rescuing deserving souls in need of rescuing, no matter whether they still
reside in human bodies or have departed from their human residences when the
body passed away. Dacque’s soul has earned this exalted position as God’s
helper through his exemplary actions and clean living throughout his numerous
previous incarnations, as well as his current lifetime. To assist Dacque in
carrying out these noble duties he has been bestowed with unique powers in this
lifetime, powers which allow him to see and converse with spirits as well as
receive direct messages from the Heavenly Powers.
Soul
Awakening is a work of fiction, inspired by a series of actual events. It is a
spiritual mystery/romance involving the apparently accidental, though actually
orchestrated by Divine Intervention, meeting of three total strangers and their
ultimate discovery that they shared previous lifetimes together. It delves into
reincarnation, past lifetimes, spirit communication, messages from God,
past-life regression sessions, Guardian Angels, past-life recall in the awake
state, and soul attraction, the reincarnation of groups of souls together in
more than one lifetime.
Soul Rescue is the recounting of Dacque’s latest
adventure where he is directed to the local children’s hospital to locate and
assist the earth-bound spirits of five children stranded for many decades.
Dacque is rewarded with three touching personal relationships throughout this
adventure and a totally unanticipated surprise at the conclusion of his
Heavenly assignment.
Soul Rescue is a fictional novel inspired by a
series of actual events.
What is your
writing process?
Being retired is
a definite advantage. After my wife and grandchildren have claimed their share
of my time, the rest of the hours are pretty much free to be used to write. So,
I can write at any hour the ideas are screaming to get out of my head.
What was the hardest
part for you when working on your book?
I guess the most
difficult part was making sure that the genealogy of the past lifetimes worked.
Fortunately I have had some experience in recording genealogy.
What influenced or
inspired you to write?
The major inspiration
had to be the Edgar Cayce reincarnation readings. There were so many
interesting stories tucked away in there that I wanted the world to hear about
so I started writing the articles that are on my website. They have been
published in seven countries now. The interest garnered by my articles
encouraged me to take another crack at a novel. This attempt was much easier
than the earlier failures because I was writing on a topic I knew a lot about.
Was there a scene that
you didn’t add or you removed in your finished work?
Not that I recall.
Do
you have a favorite character (from you're book)? Why?
My
protagonist in the Dacque Chronicles, Dacque LaRose, has to be my favorite. He
is totally fictional, but because we are about the same age and possess the
same ideas, I blessed him with a lot of my characteristics.
Do you already know
what to write next? Can you tell us?
My original idea for
the first book was to have Dacque be a Good Samaritan and go around helping
people straighten out their lives, then move on to another one, and another.
His first reclamation project, a young lady young enough to be his
granddaughter, called Dani Christian, turned out to be so interesting that she
stole the entire book. Never underestimate the powers of a woman! So, Dani
pretty much forced me to continue Dacque’s adventures in a second book, and the
Dacque Chronicles were born. I am currently working on Book IV.
Where can we find more
information about you and your books?
Do
you have any last words?
Thank
you, Patricia, for taking the time to interview me and publish my story. I am finding
the most difficult part of writing is not the writing but trying to inform the
world that my books exist. You and the others who interview and publish stories
about our new books, make the lives of us newer writers a little bit easier,
and we are definitely grateful for that.
Doug it has been a pleasure having you visiting and share your work. I look forward to having you back with your next book.
Fun
Questions-
I
love weekends because? Being retired makes my days an eternal weekend. Everyone
should try it sometime.
I
hate? Sales people who bother me with telephone calls and knocking on my door.
If I want to purchase something I’ll go find it, thank you.
My
favorite song is? You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone. I kind-of snuck it into
Soul Awakening.
I
want to travel to? Why? Alaska, to dodge the icebergs.
My
favorite book is? There Is a River by Thomas Sugrue. It is the first of now
over thirty biographies written about Edgar Cayce. A real eye-opener!
Dangerous
Embrace is a romantic suspense novel set in Santa Rosa, California. It’s the
heart of Wine Country and very close to the California Coast. 
Julie born into privilege and a charmed life
is surrounded by love and family. Robert born to a life of violence on the
streets as the solemn gang leader of the notorious Shoresmen. A young, idealistic co-ed meets a jaded,
cold gang member, and cracks his icy shell, allowing the warmth of her love to
awaken his soul. But society, reality and sacrifice can become overwhelming
obstacles. Fate
threw them together while society tried to rip them apart.
Having been betrayed by the man she assumed
she was destined to be with forever; Julie Anderson slapped Robert Holiday in
an angry ending to their brief love affair. Heartbroken that her love affair
didn't end with the fairy tale Happily
Ever After, Julie leaves town to pursue her dream of being a dancer. As
fate has a curious sense of humor, eight years later, they wake up in bed
together. Now it is up to love to fix what time cannot mend.
Ricky is in a hurry getting out of his carro. Damn it I’m almost out of time. We have a meeting with the new client. I have to make sure that the contracts are correct before I turn them over for Jose Enrique’s review. Si I hate running behind schedule. I’m always on it. I don’t usually arrive so early at the office, thinks Ricky grabbing his portfolio from his carro.
Christian Arturo De La Cruz is a Navy SEAL. Christian lives for excitement. He loves it when the risk is great, dangerous, and complex. He enjoys the thrill of conquering the enemy when on a mission and the chicas when he’s on leave.
Where
do you get your ideas? I don't know – somewhere
deep in my brain where my creativity lives.