Carol Boyer asked Constance McKee:

Do you have any paranormal or psychic ability yourself to connect with the spirit world or is it just your prior profession that gives you ideas for writing? What was the main impetus for writing this particular novel?

Constance McKee Hi, Carol,

Thanks for your great question. I do not have any paranormal or psychic abilities. I wish I did--I'm fascinated by the paranormal! There's so much we don't know about the brain, the mind/soul/spirit, and about the universe, that having psychic skills could help shed light on what it's all about.

My prior work in psychiatry gave me tons of ideas for writing. I spoke with some people who believed they'd had paranormal experiences. They were either mentally ill, or something paranormal had actually happened to them, and sometimes it was hard to tell whether it was "real" or not. These cases--in particular, the case of a woman who'd had a near-death experience-- were what impelled me to write this particular novel. Also, after seeing an episode on "Nova" about the actual scientific possibility of "multiverses"or parallel worlds, I thought that concept would be an interesting, science-based way to begin to understand what appears to be the paranormal.

I hope to write further books about psychiatry and the paranormal.

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