Pamela Heath, MD, PsyD, has practiced medicine for nearly 30 years and is the co-founder of the Paranormal Research Organization. Her second book with Jon Klimo, Handbook to the Afterlife, discusses the stages spirits encounter in the afterlife, exploring the purpose of each stage, and ways for the living to help stuck spirits move forward in the process. Her first book with Klimo, Suicide: What Really Happens in the Afterlife? received praise from Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things, among others. Heath has also authored The PK Zone as well as journal articles on psychokinesis (PK), place memory, and experiential research.
What book is on your nightstand now?
I read all the time. My favorite books are Jim Butcher’s Dresden series. He writes an irresistible mix of humor, surprise, adventure, and deep insight into human life. The two books I keep closest to hand are White Nights, where I’ve bookmarked page 251 (hardcover) on the meaning of pain, and Small Favor which has a scene in chapter 44 with the eldest Billy Goat Gruff that just slays me. I read it and his other books whenever I need a smile.
Is there a book that changed your life?
That’s easy. Loyd Auerbach’s ESP, Hauntings, and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologists Handbook. It totally changed the course of my life. Before I read it, I didn’t even realize parapsychology existed as a field outside of Russia. Because of that book, I moved to California to learn the research and get a doctorate degree in parapsychology. It was a real thrill for me to meet Loyd and work with him and other true parapsychologists, such as my co-author, Jon Klimo and others. And, of course, it kicked off my transition from medicine to parapsychology and writing as a career.
Who are some writers whose work you admire?
I call myself an omnivorous reader. I used to devour 5-7 books a day in summer. The only genre I don’t read is horror. So, it’s hard to do justice to all the authors whose craftsmanship and work I admire. The top of my nonfiction list would undoubtedly be the witty and erudite Dean Radin. I buy everything he puts out. Other nonfiction authors are Alice Bailey, Dion Fortune, D. Scott Rogo, George Anderson, Robert McKee, Gertrude Schmeidler, Hiroshi Motoyama, Sogyal Rinpoche, and, of course, my friend and colleague Loyd Auerbach. For science fiction and fantasy you can’t do better than Jim Butcher, but I also enjoy Lois McMaster Bujold, Patricia Briggs, C. Dale Brittain, Teresa Edgerton, Doris Egan, Barbara Hambly, Robert Don Hughes, Mark del Franco, Kathryn Kurtz, Patricia McKillip, Robin McKinley, Moira J. Moore, Kevin O’Donnell Jr., and many of the “classic writers.” For mysteries: Janet Evanovich, Dick Francis, Joan Hess, Tony Hillerman, Martha C. Lawrence, and Gillian Roberts. For romance, I love Elizabeth Peters, Judith Merkle Riley, Betina Krahn, Lynn Kurland, Amanda Quick, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Katie MacAlister. For westerns, I like Max Brand and Luke Short. And these are just my short lists! I love to read.
When did you think about becoming a writer? Was there someone who got you interested in writing?
I never thought of myself as having any writing talent growing up. Writing was what other people did well, not me. However, I’m good at seeing patterns in data and finding a way to organize that information. So, I did that. And somehow, along the way, I got nice feedback from folks that my writing wasn’t so bad, and it encouraged me to continue. As for my fiction writing, that evolved for my own entertainment. As you probably noticed in the last answer I read a lot. In fact, it’s near constant. And much of that (if I’m not doing research for a book) is fiction. In 2000, I polished off my last new book and went off to the bookstore for some new meat, only to discover there was nothing of interest there that I hadn’t already read. Horrors! So, I decided I’d write my own story. I finished the novel in one month, and, in the way first drafts always are, it was terrible. But I had so much fun doing it that I took it to the rewrite phase. I handed that draft around to some friends, and, somewhat to my own surprise, they liked it. So, I wrote more. And that morphed into screenwriting. However, what’s interesting is that it greatly improved my nonfiction style by pulling me out of the academic double-talk I’d been trained into. Because of that, I always work on two projects in tandem, one fiction and the other nonfiction.
What’s the greatest influence on your writing?
My initial style probably comes a lot from my mother. She had this wonderful, dry sense of humor that used to just slay everyone who was lucky enough to get her letters. But there was also a cut-to-the-chase quality in her that I adopted. I’ve also been influenced in dialogue and narrative by all the writers I’ve read, and, in terms of how to construct a good characters and story, by Donald Maas, Robert McKee, and Chris Soth. For comedy, Steve Kaplan was a big influence.
What made you decide to write this book?
This book grew out of my experiences after Jon and I published Suicide: What Really Happens in the Afterlife? There was a lot of good information in that book, not just about suicide but the afterlife in general. However, people wouldn’t read it. The topic was just too sensitive; they couldn’t do it. And I thought what a shame that was, because a lot of questions they came to me about were answered there. So, I approached North Atlantic Books and Jon about doing a book that would summarize that other material on the afterlife and add new information and analysis. Jon didn’t want to put out the book unless we could present the afterlife in a way that no one had ever done before, and I think we did that.
Is there any particular story to tell concerning the writing of this book?
Readers would probably laugh, but Jon and I are such academicians that this book really made us both nervous to write. Because we had to make a choice. We could make it accessible to the public, or we could dot every “i” and cross every “t” with references and the defensive double talk to protect yourself from academic attack. We went back and forth on it. But I wanted to make this a Cliff Notes version, a simple guide to the afterlife and dealing with the dead, so we choose the former. It’s a first for us, especially as I seldom speak of myself as a psychic or how work with ghosts. Even so, it morphed into something larger than we originally intended. Jon’s one chapter introduction turned into a multi-chapter Part I. I have to laugh, though. It seems like every book I write has three sections.
What is the one thing that you want readers to take away from your book?
Two messages really. First, a lot of people get too focused on the afterlife as a place rather than a process. It’s not about whether you live in golden palaces or on clouds. The afterlife really is a continuation of lifespan development (or, more accurately, life is a continuation of the growth and development that takes place in the afterlife). It’s about cleansing, spiritual growth, letting go of your personal stories and pet grievances and seeing the bigger picture. And second, we’re still linked with the dead by the emotions forged in life. We can help them when they get stuck, just as they may try to help us. Anyone can do this. You don’t need to be “psychic.”
How do you write? Do you have a daily routine? What’s good about it? What do you hate about it?
Unless I’m sick or on the road, I write every day. My normal routine after I get up is to make myself some tea and putter at the computer for a bit, answering emails and surfing the internet. That settles me. Then I either open Word (if it’s fiction/nonfiction) or Final Draft (for screenplays) and just start typing away. I take some breaks, but that will be what I’m doing until lunch or I work out. Then it’s back to writing again. I don’t have a problem with discipline and love setting my own hours and deciding what to work on next. If one manuscript bores me, I switch to another and keep going. Sometimes I’ll work until the wee hours of the morning. There’s nothing I hate about writing. The closest I can come to that is to say that I don’t enjoy the third or fourth round of proofing, trying to find lurking typos. It’s hard not to tune the words out. And you always wonder how folks are going to respond to the book. It’s a very personal thing, writing. It goes beyond the actual message or content. The author really has to put themselves out there, in public, for all to see, with their writing style. Sometimes people like your “voice.” Sometimes they don’t.
How did you find the publisher for this book? What has your experience with the process been like?
This is my second time working with North Atlantic Books, and I found it every bit as delightful as the first time. We choose the publisher based on several things. Jon had put out his classic book “Channeling” with them, and told me he’d had a good experience. Plus our work fits in well with their other titles. And they have a very Buddhist approach to publishing—often putting out titles not for profit but as a kind of service. They’re passionate about their titles and are one of the few who publishes works they feel are important and need to be available to folks regardless of whether it follows popular trends—that really appeals to me. They’ve always supported parapsychology. So, if anyone deserved to have their names on what Jon and I hoped would become an important work, we felt they did. I have to admit, that I recommend North Atlantic Books to other writers. I love working with them and hope to do so again.
What are you working on next?
So many things! In terms of writing, I have another title, Mind-Matter Interaction: Historical Reports, Research, and Firsthand Accounts that will be coming out from McFarland this summer, probably late June. It’s very much of a dry textbook, which is why I went with a company known for that kind of work, which sells to libraries and academia. The copy-editing process for it will tough, because it’s an enormous book and very detail oriented. On a lighter side, I am polishing the drafts of two paranormal romantic comedy screenplays and a paranormal romantic comedy novel. I’m also finishing up a manuscript about the unconscious personality and how to work with it using self-hypnosis and other methods. It’s amazing how few folks seem to realize what a distinct personality their unconscious minds have or how they need to approach it in order to make successful changes.
What have you learned about human nature that isn’t common knowledge?
People often assume if they can’t do something, it’s because they don’t have that ability. Although there may be cases where it’s true, most of the time, it’s more an issue of what interests (or bores) their unconscious minds. Most of us have no idea what our true potentials are—it hasn’t been revealed yet. So, we tend to box ourselves in over things without trying.
What single thing might people be surprised to learn about you?
There’s a part of me that’s like a little kid. I love Christmas and wrapped presents and action-adventure movies, especially with comic book heroes.
The question no one asks, the one you’re itching to answer is…
What’s it like behind the scenes of paranormal ghost hunting shows? Are they for real? The stories I could tell…but won’t.
For more info on Pamela Heath and her work as a paranormal expert, please visit her website at PamelaHeath.com or read her blog at http://blog.pamelaheath.com, and click the link below for more info on her latest book, Handbook to the Afterlife.
