LANCASTER, Texas (Dec. 6, 2007)—She can keep her legs shut, but not her lips.

She is Lieutenant Helen Andros, outspoken heroine of Fallout, the second installment of the Green Stone of Healing™ epic fantasy series now in print for the first time as a downloadable ebook from HealingStone Books.

In Fallout, Helen clashes with Lord James Mordecai, her newfound parent, one of Azgard’s highest-ranking Toltec lords and its top military officer. Anger and shame keep Helen from acknowledging him as her father. Restrained by his fears, Lord James cannot tell Helen he loves her.

Helen incurs the painful ire of the powerful Temple of Kronos and suffers a military discipline for an unthinking comment. While recovering, she is visited by Maguari, a member of an otherworldly race called the Mist-Weavers, who appear and dissolve at will. He reveals a past life to Helen and urges her not to allow her anger to divide her from the same father in this life.

Just before Lord James’ trial for his relationship with Helen’s Turanian mother, the Temple unexpectedly orders Helen to attend the proceeding. Watching her parent plead for her, Helen has a change of heart and summons the courage to express it.

“My biggest problem with this second book is how long I must now wait for Number Three…” writes Anne Garber, managing director of evalu8.org. “…This second book [is] just as gripping a ‘page-turner,’ and the characters even more deeply and convincingly drawn. Mysterious twists and turns make for absorbing reading.”

Critics have also praised The Vision, the first in the series.

 “Those who love deep intricate stories, full of mystery and action, dripping with power struggles and battles for dominion, this work is for you,” author and critic Shirley P. Johnson writes in Midwest Book Review, giving The Vision five stars.

“Helen is a formidable protagonist,” notes Kirkus Discoveries.

Over several generations of strong female characters, the series explores how state support for exclusionary religious practices leads to the complete destruction of an island nation called Azgard and worldwide cataclysm.

Throughout, the heroines and their mysterious green gem attempt to offer a healing, inclusive alternative to a government that persecutes those who do not look like or share the religious beliefs of those in power.

Readers who become fond of Helen and other characters will be delighted that they reincarnate, affirming that not even death can separate loved ones (or enemies).

Author C.L. Talmadge’s writing career began in 1976. A weekly political columnist syndicated by North Star Writers group (www.northstarwriters.com), she has been a staff reporter or freelanced for numerous media including Business Week, the Dallas Times Herald, Forbes, the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times and Reuters America.

eBook:          $6.95

Format:          .pdf only

Pages:           282