STEPHEN, Lily G(ebhardt) 1943- (Lily Vallerey)

PERSONAL: Born December 19, 1943, in Dayton, OH; daughter of Gerald Leroy (a watchmaker, landscaper, and tree surgeon) and Mary Rosa (a homemaker; maiden name, Vezina) Gebhardt; married James Clinton Allison, December, 1961 (divorced, August, 1970); married Thomas Ray Hardman, 1977 (divorced, 1983); married Robert L. Stephen (a dentist), September, 1996; children: (second marriage) Derrick Ray. Religion: Tibetan Buddhist, Nyingma. Hobbies and other interests: Spirituality and mysticism, gardening, poetry writing.

ADDRESSES: Home—Mount Shasta, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Blooming Rose Press, P.O. Box 1211, Mount Shasta, CA 96067-1211.

CAREER: Schlumberger Well Services, Houston, TX, secretary, 1966-68; freelance photographic model, Houston, TX, 1967-71; Cummings Advertising Agency, secretary and copywriter, 1969-71; Mercy Medical Center, Mount Shasta, CA, manager of communications, 1980-97.

MEMBER: Small Publishers Association of North America, Publishers Marketing Association.

WRITINGS:

The Tenth Muse: A Modern Myth (fiction; first volume of "Third Verse" trilogy), Blooming Rose Press (Mount Shasta, CA), 2001.

Also author of upublished work From Seed to Shining Seed, and of poetry. Some writings appear under pseudonym Lily Vallerey.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Eleventh Hour, the second volume of the "Third Verse" trilogy, "a continuing story of adventure incorporating multi-dimensional concepts that interface physics with spirituality"; research on theoretical physics, the life work of David Bohm, and the language and culture of the Quechua Indians of Peru.

SIDELIGHTS: Lily G. Stephen told CA: "Since the age of four, when I began reading, the world of fiction lit up my life. From the time of birth until age twenty-one, I was governed by a restricted Christian sect, one that directed youth away from higher education into missionary work. Prior to my inner wake-up call, when it became clear there was a universe of spiritual realization I'd never been exposed to, I sought relief from austerity and dogma in abundant fictional works.

"By the late 1960s my horizons widened at the same time that unexpected changes entered in. It was suggested that I write to assist in understanding a way through change. I was surprised to find verses of poetry emerge on pages of the journal I began to keep.

"Fiction reading continued to be a source of inspiration, cycled with long periods of investigation of philosophy, mysticism, and spirituality, both through books and personal instruction from teachers. By 1977 I was ready to attempt the next step—to write a book-length fictional work certain to transport readers to higher levels of realization, a story having at its heart the concept presented in one of the most sublime schools of teaching called 'Dzogchen': that purity of mind is always present and needs only to be recognized.

"Throughout the twenty years I spent writing, rewriting, and rewriting From Seed to Shining Seed, I was assisted by memories of fiction writers who had left their marks, authors like Marie Corelli, Ayn Rand, and Anya Seton, to name a few. There is a long list of authors on the spiritual path whose works were influential. Foremost among them is Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Others are John Blofeld, Ram Dass, Jack Kornfield, and Joseph Goldstein.

"Even though I ruthlessly pared down the final manuscripts, at 830 pages it was clearly too long for a debut novel. I shelved it for the time being, wrote poetry for a couple of years, studied writing techniques, and realized that quite a different story waited in the wings. The new story offered an initial obstacle: it hadn't made itself known to me yet. The twentieth century was winding down to its final days; that was when I invited the story in and resolved to be patient at a time when the world and our collective future had become infused with a sense of urgency in the form of a now-overused term, millennial madness.

"By the end of January, 2002, the story came through with the same urgency that had been in the air and provided a multi-layered, complex underpinning superbly suited to convey those uplifting, expansive wisdom-concepts I aspire to weave throughout my work.

"My writing process isn't according to formula or method. Forcing out dutiful daily pages doesn't work for me and isn't harmonious with the demands of my life. There are times when we digest, assimilate, and practically ferment experience and concept until what results is better for the passage of time. On the other hand, if a novel is in the works, there are times when there's no way around it—either the writing flows and all else takes a back seat, or else it may just be plain hard work to bridge those high spots.

"The labor as well as the soaring of creative spirit are incidental to the quest: that readers encounter in the 'Third Verse' trilogy a fresh view of the world that uplifts those conditioned by delusion and mired in personal suffering; that the vehicle of visionary fiction will help them to remember the wisdom they already know but have become disconnected from; that they will regain their cognizance of seamless unity with all beings and with the universe."