Laurie Conrad is a clairvoyant and spiritual healer who works with the Distant Healing Network. She lives in Ithaca, New York, and is also a concert pianist and composer. Her love for all creatures and her wish to help them inspired her first book, "The Spiritual Life of Animals and Plants", a collection of true stories, many involving miracles. On a more personal note: I decided to write a book for many reasons. As a classical song composer, I have often written my own poetry and words for the songs I write. And as I compose, the music follows the words just as often as the words follow the music. Music might be the universal language, but the beauty of words and their special abilty to bring knowledge and truth to the world is unparalleled. Yes, as a concert pianist, I can bring my feelings about animals who are treated cruelly or thoughtlessly into my playing - and touch many hearts. However, no one in the audience will know that I am thinking about my little cat Figaro, who, in his last days on earth sat on the picnic table near our back steps and watched every being that came his way and listened to every sound with such loving and grateful attention. That he taught me the value of everyday, ordinary life in his last days and hours on earth.Nor can the beauty of the Chopin Sonata I am playing tell the story of my little tan dog Dominique, and how she tried to follow the Dalai Lama onto his plane, nor the time I clairaudiently heard the flowers sing.Only words can tell these stories.If there is a perfect way to write words or music, I do not know it. I treat words as the notes of the music I write, stringing them together and building them, as an architect might. A crescendo here, a decrescendo there. A harmony here, a disharmony there. Verbal tempi, key changes and tonalities juxtaposed and superimposed, chosen by the mind and ear. But especially in these stories, for this book - I tried to present, as simply as I could, the truth of what I saw and experienced. That I was using words instead of music I barely noticed. That might seem strange. But in essence, words and non-words come from the same place. They come from us, our inner being. If our inner being unfolds into music, or into words, or into tears or laughter - we, our essence has not changed. We have merely expressed ourselves differently, in a different manner. Our entire life is a creation, a creating.

My first book, 'The Spiritual Life of Animals and Plants' speaks of Healing miracles and the Healing method I was taught by my teacher, John Payne.  'Realms of Light: Clairvoyant Experiences of Life After Death' was written to help those facing death and those trying to recover from the loss of someone they love.  Here the challenge was to find words to describe my clairvoyant experiences of other realms.  I sincerely hope I succeeded, and that this volume helps people in the faith that no one truly dies - and that our Love for each other is Eternal.