Wendy Gillissen : Profile of an inspired lady

Psychologist and past life regression therapist, writer, and celtic harpist, Wendy Gillissen (Delft, 1969) has always been fascinated by dreams and the supernatural.
After graduating in Clinical Psychology, she specialized in dreamwork and past life therapy.
She taught her first course in dreamwork in 1998. Feel free to visit her site on this subject

Wendy is also a certified member of EARTh Member of Gcoach and of the NVRT

The urge to write and her love for the world of castles, elves and ghosts stem from the time she was five years old and her parents first took her to the ancient hills of England, Scotland and Wales.
Inspired by a journey to the Greek island of Kefalonia in 2005, Wendy began writing 'Curse of the Tahiéra'.

Magic, ancient curses, star-crossed love, heroism against great odds and an unknown evil from the distant past, these are just a few of the elements that master storyteller Wendy Gillissen draws upon to deftly craft an engaging, 444-page fantasy that truly grips the readers fascinated attention from first page to last in "Curse Of The Tahiera". A half-blood Tzanatzi outcast, Rom is persuaded by an Einache shaman that it's up to him to prevent the re-emergence of an ancient war through his ability to 'dreamwalk'. All this is further complicated when Rom finds himself falling in love with the shaman's daughter Maetis, a spirited young girl with a mind of her own! Imaginative, complex, detailed, laced with cliff-hanger complications, "Curse Of The Tahiera" is a superbly written and highly recommended novel for the dedicated fantasy fan.

Creative inspiration began to spread to different areas, and in 2006 I started making jewellery inspired by ancient cultures and symbols. Feel free to visit her site on this subject

http://www.inspiredbylegend.com/

In 2007 I started to play the Celtic harp and became a member of OBOD, the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. She currently takes the bardic course.

Currently Wendy is writing part two, 'The Search for Tzanáta', of what will probably become a trilogy,

The Dutch edition of 'Curse of the Tahiéra' was published in the Netherlands in December 2008. The English edition was published in the US in May 2009.
Feel free to read a sample of her book at :

http://www.wendygillissen.com/indexenglish.htm

Some reviews are posted at
http://www.wendygillissen.com/reviews.htm

Hereby other cool links regarding he works:
Blog
Facebook
Youtube
Myspace

Questions and Answers - An Official Press Interview

Q: What inspired you, a therapist with a degree in psychology to write a fantasy novel?

A: I was trained as a psychologist but I have worked professionally with dreams and past life therapy for years. I am also a great lover of fantasy and all things Celtic and shamanistic.

There aren't that many fantasy novels that combine spirituality and fantasy successfully. For years I

felt a craving to read such an adventure, but as I found it difficult to find one, I decided to go and write one myself!

Q: You were born in the Netherlands, yet you write in English. Why is that?

A: One of my first memories is sitting at the kitchen table at age six, writing down a list of English words and their translations. My parents took me to England many times when I was young, and I have loved the English language ever since. It seemed only natural for me to write in English.

Q: In the book's 'about Wendy' and on your website you state that Curse of the Tahiéra started life as a short story. However, after an inspiring trip to the Greek Island of Kefalonia you ended up with a four hundred page novel! So what happened in Kefalonia?

A: Well, I always knew there was a story living inside of me – I just never worked up the courage to

sit down and write. But when I visited Kefalonia for the first time something happened which I can’t quite explain. As if the spirit of the island opened a door in me which I knew would never be shut again. I feel a connection to the place, especially the Mycenaean ruins (+/- 1600 BC), which has me wonder – did I live there before? Is there is a connection to the mysterious Tzanatzi people’s origins and ancient Mycenae? These are questions I’m still pondering, while writing ‘The Search for

Tzanáta’ – it’s still a mystery, even to me, and I discover bits and pieces of the truth as I go along, so

I discover them at the same pace as the reader!

Q: You use two unique languages, Einache and Tzanatzi in your fictional world which help the reader step into this magical land. How did you come up with these languages?

A: I make them up as I go along, trying out different words and sounds, while keeping in mind the

‘feel’ of the languages and the people they belong to. The Einache are a very ‘earthy’ people and the language has to reflect this. The Tzanatzi have a sinister side which their language has to reflect as well.

Q: Most reviewers agree that your debut novel is clearly influenced by your expertise as a dream worker and past life therapist. Could you explain what these entail?

A: As a past life therapist I help people resolve issues that have their origin in past-life trauma. I actually work a lot with problems stemming from childhood trauma as well. Unresolved trauma in past lives and childhood can result in what shamans call ‘soul loss’ – parts of the soul, of self are frozen in time, and need to be released or re-integrated so the client can realize his of her potential more fully in the present.

Dream work is a term I use loosely to encompass many techniques of working with dreams – but

they are all geared towards helping the dreamer understand what their dreams are telling them. There are no cut-and-dried explanations for dream symbols, they are the unique expressions of the

dreamer’s subconscious, their higher self, and communications from other ‘worlds’ – for instance from spirit guides and helpers.