Theocrats Put Death Mark on Heroine,
Punish Father in 3rd Fantasy Saga Book

Lancaster, Texas (July 16, 2008) -- Some people just need killing.

Will the ones to die be Helen Andros, outspoken first-generation heroine of the Green Stone of Healing® fantasy saga, and her newly reconciled father?

The astonishing sequel to The Vision and Fallout, The Scorpions Strike debuts today in paperback and ebook versions. Helen and Lord James Mordecai endure proscription and savage punishment by the state-sanctioned Temple of Kronos.

Under a Temple death mark, Helen learns basic energy manipulation from Maguari, the otherworldly Mist-Weaver, and first uses her green gem for healing and saving lives. Lord James' political enemies hound him relentlessly and a treacherous ally plots his assassination.

"The Scorpions Strike is fast-paced, action-packed and full of surprises," writes Anne Garber, managing director of evalu8.org. "Just when you think you have figured out where these events might be heading, everything you imagined is thrown out the window."

Calling the series "masterful," Garber concludes, "Hooray for Helen Andros and the behaviour-models she has spawned. What an important void this character, and C.L. Talmadge's inspirational story have filled!"

HealingStone Books today also made The Vision and Fallout available as paperbacks. Readers may browse through all three books online for free at http://www.greenstoneofhealing.com/browsebooks.shtml.

The first two novels in the series have drawn high praise.

"Exceptional job of writing, and keeping this story tightly together in a genre that is certainly difficult to do such, our author is top-notch," Shirley P. Johnson writes about Fallout in Midwest Book Review. "If you love an intense read, packed with sinister power seekers, grueling heartless characters, yet laced with mystical moments, the lure of peace and healing, and the hope that goodness will prevail, this read is for you."

"Helen is a formidable protagonist," Kirkus Discoveries says about The Vision.

Over several generations of strong female characters, the saga explores what happens when politics and piety collide--how state support for an exclusionary religion leads to worldwide cataclysm and the utter destruction of an island nation called Azgard.

Author C.L. Talmadge describes the series as, "a blue-state version of 'end-of-the-world' fiction without a traditional religious viewpoint. Instead, it examines alternative spiritual themes and sets forth a different interpretation of free will and good and evil."

Throughout the tale, the heroines and their mysterious jewel offer a healing, inclusive alternative to a government that persecutes those who do not look like or share the religious beliefs of the ones 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).

Talmadge's writing career began in 1976. A political columnist syndicated by North Star Writers Group, she has been on staff or freelanced for numerous media including Business Week, the Dallas Times Herald, Forbes, the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times and Reuters America.

The author discusses this latest book and how the series speaks to events today:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/07/prweb1097104.htm

The Scorpions Strike
Paperback:       $16.95
Pages:      248
ISBN:      978-9800537-5-3

eBook:   $6.95
Format:    .pdf only
Pages:    312
ISBN:   978-0-9800537-2-2