Subscriber Spotlight: Storyhealer and Paranormalist Candace Lynn Talmadge
How many other business-journalists-turned-consciousness-curators do *YOU* know?
IN CASE YOU’RE NEW HERE, Jenna’s Side Subscriber Spotlight is a perk for paid subscribers who have something they’d like to share with the class. Think of it as show-and-tell for grownups—except instead of fossilized dinosaur poop or your used bandaid collection, it’s your business, project, or genius idea. Upgrade today and get yourself on the list!
Candace Lynn was a fairly new subscriber to Jenna’s Side when she submitted two absolutely chef’s kiss essays for consideration in my anthology, Yankee Doodle Soup. (Both essays made it in; the gal’s got chops for days.) You’ll soon see why my first thought was, “This is someone I'd love to have dinner with, preferably over nine or ten hours in an old mansion with creaky floors, sipping absinthe.” Blessed with a watercolor soul and an inimitable way with words, her Stoneslayer series is based on a handful of her own past lives and those of family and friends (no biggie). My ghostbusting friend is now a generous paid subscriber, prolific commenter, and all around lovely lady.
“When the patient is ready, the healer appears,” Candace Lynn writes on her website. Get yourself some sage and a comfy chair and enjoy. :)
WHO EVEN ARE YOU?
I’m an author, storyhealer, and paranormalist. (Dying to be a chicken in stilettos, even though I could never walk in heels higher than half an inch.) I spend my days writing and publishing the Stoneslayer high fantasy series, which is based on four of my past lives and the past lives of family and friends.
I have known I wanted to write fiction since I was 13. It just took me until age 44 to get going on it, and now that I am supposedly retired I am making a run at it. This is my purpose and passion—to tell the story of a powerful country that destroyed itself and most of the rest of the world. Every day, this story gets more and more relevant to our world now.
PITCH THE [BLEEP] OUT OF ME.
“His power seeks to destroy it all. Can she rise up to stop him? The Stoneslayer high fantasy series charts a lost world of political scandals, explosive family secrets, and the reincarnation of a line of extraordinary women who challenge the cataclysmic rampage of an ancient, demonic foe.”
I am writing this series for readers to enjoy and get swept up in the struggles of the heroines who care and try to make this better.
GIVE US SOME DIRT.
On occasion, I talk to dead people. They are just like so-called living, except they don't have physical bodies.
NOW YOU GET TO BRAG!
I'm a one-trick pony. I can write, although I would never try to humor as hilariously as Jenna does. She's in a class all by herself on that score. But I can slap English words around pretty darn well when I am inspired to do so.
WHAT’S A HILL YOU’D DIE ON?
Ice cream > anything! A whole food group unto itself. My queendom for a scoop of butter pecan, a scoop of cookies n Cream, and a scoop of chocolate covered in fudge sauce and swarming with pecan halves. Yes!!!!!
SHARE SOMETHING GOOD.
First nugget: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” (Mohandas K. Gandhi) [Hint: He was talking about who you are, your character, not what you do. Doing is one thing. Being is another. Discerning the difference is the first step to greater wisdom. Still trying to get the hang of that myself.]
Second nugget: “Love the lord thy God with all thy heart and love thy neighbor as thyself.” We could all do a better job of following those words of Jesus. Think good Samaritan when you think about strangers from other lands and open your heart to them. It’s a sign of strength and courage, not weakness.
WHY DO YOU SUPPORT JENNA’S SIDE?
Because your writing makes me laugh out loud. Not much does that these days and it’s a welcome relief. Thanks for this possibility to introduce myself and my writing to your readers.
WHAT IF WE WANT MORE?
I hope you enjoyed getting to know the lovely Ms. Talmadge. Now, please go show her a supernatural amount of love!
Introducing... Jenna's Side Subscriber Spotlight!
I don’t know about the rest of the reading population, but I’ve noticed more and more Substacks I follow have started tossing frustrating, unexpected paywalls into the middle of their pieces like plot twists no one asked for. Worse is when they’re not even in the middle but pop up
This is such an inspiring idea, to introduce us to other intelligent and thoughtful individuals in a time that appears to be celebrating mental illness and mediocrity. Thanks, Jenna!
I love reading these biographical snippets of your supporters. I find people’s stories so fascinating. Thanks for doing this!