Conversations with Writers

In addition to writing short stories, John Eppel is also an award-winning poet and novelist . His list of achievements is impressive. His first novel, D.G.G. Berry’s The Great North Road (1992), won the M-Net Prize in South Africa. His second novel, Hatchings (1993), was short-listed for the M-Net Prize and his third novel, The Giraffe Man (1994), has been translated into French. His first poetry collection, Spoils of War (1989), won the Ingrid Jonker Prize. Other poems have been featured in anthologies that include The Heart in Exile South African Poetry in English 1990-1995 (1996) while his short stories have appeared in anthologies that include Writing Now: More Stories from Zimbabwe (2005). In a recent email interview, John Eppel spoke about his writing. When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? About age 12. Around that time I stopped believing in God, I became consciously aware of my mortality, I began to feel uneasy about my privileged status as a white b...

Dr Susan Shumsky is a healer, counselor, prayer therapist, teacher and an author. For over three decades, she has been teaching meditation, self-development, and intuition to students in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Far East. She received a doctorate in Divinity from the Teaching of Intuitional Metaphysics in San Diego, and has written several books on meditation, prayer, and spiritual healing. Her books include Divine Revelation (Fireside, 1996); Exploring Chakras (New Page Books, 2003); Exploring Auras (New Page Books, 2005); Miracle Prayer (Celestial Arts, 2006) and Exploring Meditation (Career Press, 2008). In email interview which took place between October 9 and November 22, Dr Susan Shumsky spoke about her experiences and the books she has written. How did it all begin? What motivated you? I have been practicing spiritual disciplines for 40 years. I spent 22 years in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , founder of Transcendental Meditation and guru of the Be...