My name is: Nancy Torgove Clasby.

My book is called: The Reluctant Mystic, Autobiography of an Awakening.

The publication date is: August of 2016.

I was inspired to write it when: I was deeply inspired by a spontaneous awakening (which is similar to a near death experience without the dying part) in 1996. In fact, it took my breath away. I knew within the first year after that experience that I would someday write my story in hopes of helping even one person grappling with big questions about life and death. I waited almost 20 years because I was in the middle of another enormous project at that time: raising my three children! The “reluctant” piece of the story was that I loved being a mother and was very content with the responsibilities and joys that come along with that job. I wasn’t a seeker. No one was more surprised than I was about the gift I was so generously given.

It's about: My story begins with the awakening. The experience was of unimaginable magnitude, expansiveness and depth. My consciousness expanded 

outside of the box of space and time, which confines us here on Earth—outside of the intellectual boundaries and the five senses we use to help us maneuver through our days. It was the most important experience of my life and redirected my course forever.

The book continues with the appearance of three teachers at just the right moments in just the right ways: I was lovingly guided by my rabbi, a Catholic nun turned minister and a Hindu psychiatrist. They all patiently helped me unravel my story from their spiritual perspectives in a way that was intellectually comprehensible for me. They all privately decided that I was a mystic. A mystic is someone who has a direct and deep connection with their creator and thus to every other living creature in the universe. That creator is called by many different names, depending on an individual's spiritual beliefs.

Within a few years of the awakening, I found myself using my newfound gifts, many of which sound unbelievably magical, to help others heal body, mind and spirit. Their stories follow with acts of heroic courage on their parts.

My hope is that readers will: I am incredibly grateful to have the chance to help others explore their spirituality on a deep level. As we grow in connection to something greater than ourselves and begin to remember who we are and why we are here, we understand that the essence of being here on Earth is all about love of self, which then unfolds into love of others. In the end, it is all that really matters. Having had the privilege of sitting with many people of all ages on their death beds, I observed that the only thing they were concerned about was, “Did I love enough?”

The title of my autobiography would be: This is it!

If I was a character from fiction, I’d be: Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. First of all, she gets to wear the most splendiferous pink, puffy dresses of all time, complete with sparkly wings and a glittery wand that really worked. She also got to travel in a bubble. She knew that home is where the heart is and, most importantly, she knew that all the answers to all our questions are hidden in a place we often forget to look: inside ourselves!