In this unsettling new fantasy novel, the psychiatric community has confused Empathic personality traits with mental illness with tragic results, leading two Empaths--Francis Nettleton and Katherine Spencer--who live three hundred years apart, on personal journeys to learn the true nature of Empathy. Transcending time and death to right a centuries-old wrong, they inadvertently uncover a multibillion dollar conspiracy in which millions of Americans are being misdiagnosed and drugged for no other reason than the enormous income they generate. Finding Emmaus, book one of The Lodestarre series, is a complex, dark, historic fantasy about human frailties and courage. It is an intricate, meticulously researched, deeply disturbing, suspenseful tale of love and sacrifice, obsession and the abuse of power, and the indisputable human right of free will. It is a story with a cast of characters who will keep you guessing as to what they will do and what choices they will make as they weave in and out of the story and each other's lives.
Ms. Glasner is a published author, social advocate, historian and film maker. She has a popular blog on the Huffington Post and has also written several short stories. To date, two of her works ("Finding Emmaus" and "The Calicoon") are being produced as feature-length films.
Originally from New York City, born in 1953, Ms. Glasner moved to Connecticut with her family at eighteen. A Dean's List student, she graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University with a degree in English and secondary education, with concentrations in psychology and sociology.
Her novel, "Finding Emmaus", book one of The Lodestarre series, is a docu-drama which focuses on the treatment and mistreatment of the mentally ill over a period of 350 years. Because her work requires a considerable amount of historical research in both the US and the UK, in addition to being a member of the Connecticut Historical Society, Ms. Glasner is also a Registered Reader at both the Royal Society of London and the British Library. Additionally, she is a member of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.
She attributes her love of architecture and antique restoration -- two aspects of her life which are woven into the fabric of "Finding Emmaus" -- to her grandfather who, after emigrating to the US from Austria in the 1920's, became an iron worker and joined the ranks of those who left their legacy in the form of New York City's incomparable skyline. But her real hero, though gone nearly forty years, is still her grandmother, whose strength, courage and unfailing faith taught her that "nothing and no one can keep you from your heart's desire without your permission and your cooperation."
Ms. Glasner lives in rural Connecticut and is presently working on the balance of The Lodestarre Series, as well as several other new projects.
