Newspaper Articles
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WHEN GHOSTS DISAPPEAR - TELLING IT THE WAY HE SAW IT
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With the release of his first book, Mississauga author Claude Limberger hopes to mold the future to how he saw it.
Less than a year ago, the local business man had a vision. The book, Afterworld: When Ghosts Disappear, is the telling of that vision. It's a tale of how the destruction and devastation of Earth affects the author's family. But it's more than that.
The story teller is Limberger, a grandfather. But much of the time, the author is a spirit form the afterworld, providing readers with keen insight.
"We live our lives and we choose to live our lives the way we want, but we can change that if we want. I'm going to start telling peole that, :" Limberger said.
In the book, Limberger's family moves into the woods to live off the land. Years later, Limberger dies following the birth of his first great grandchild. Limberger faces many trials in the spirit world, eventually returning to present day to try to effect change.
Limberger, 36, currently co-owns Jason Electric and Jason Computing Services with his father and another partner.
His book is available at the Omega Center in Toronto's Yorkdale district and Limberger expects it to be available in Chapters Bookstores this month.
Limberger knows some people will think he's crazy.
"I was a logical, scientific, person," Limberger said. But a series of coincidences made Limberger a believer in the afterworld.
"I've been having dreams all my life, but I never paid attention to them," the author said.
About eight years ago, Limberger did start paying attention. He was infected by a parasite he picked up from eating chicken, couldn't eat without becoming ill, and was starving to death. While healing, Limberger started to get in touch with his inner feelings.
He plans to write again.
"I have a few more visions in my head I have to write down. It's still happening. I've embarked on a long journey," Limberger said.
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AUTHOR TAKES BACK HIS LOST YEARS WITH HIS LATEST BOOK
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Author Claude Limberger lost almost ten years of his life after he fell ill with a rare form of food poisoning. Today the Mississauga native is snatching back those lost years with his fantasy novel, Timestopper In Timestopper, the main character is a 14-year-old boy who has a unique ability to stop time. When invaders burn the boy's village to the ground, he leaves with a plan to rid the world of magic.
The story is an ironic twist for the author Limberger, whose real life illness actually sent him in search of magic. It all began with a simple case of food poisoning.
"I got sick from a bacteria from eating chicken. Ten years later, I finally got over it," said Limberger.
Limberger was 27 when he fell ill. After years of suffering for seemingly no apparent reason, he eventually learned that the problematic bacteria had settled inside his organs.
"It got to the point where I couldn't eat anything, because I'd get so sick," said Limbrger, 37. A diagnosis after six long years didn't mean a cure. Limberger finally knew what was wrong , but he didn't feel better. Meanwhile, his wife and two children were beginning to tire of his constantly being under the weather and his family electronics business was feeling the strain of his perpetual sickness.
Limberger turned to naturopaths and herbalists, and when that didn't do the trick, he consulted a shaman.
"I met a shaman who said I had to clean out the environment where the parasite was growing in my body," said Limberger. "That made sense to me." His prescription for recovery included drinking half a cup of straight olive oil.
"Suddenly, I had no more bacteria," said Limberger. He felt better and he continued seeing the shaman. He did sun dances and sweat lodges. He went without food or water for days in the eastern Ontario woods. Unsurprisingly he saw visions. He wrote about them.
"The visions were so vivid and real. It felt as though they were happening," said Limberger. "I didn't do any drugs, but what I experienced was so powerful, I had to write it down."
The result was his first book, Afterworld When Ghosts Disappear written in a mere six months and published in December of last year. The 245-page Timestopper, published in the spring, followed. That was penned in a mere eight months, always after work, at night, after he put his kids to bed.
"It was already written in my head."
Since Limberger is a family man, Timestopper is rated F for family.
"It's for all ages. There's no swearing or sex. There is some violence but it's the normal swordplay of fantasy books," said Limberger.
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AUTHOR VISITS THE AFTERWORLD IN BOOKS
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Mississauga author Claude Limberger has intimate contact with afterworld spirits - at least in his books.
This long-time Mississauga resident with a gentle nature doesn't come across like a crackpot but rather writes calm with vivid descriptions of his meetings with afterworld spirits.
His first two efforts - Afterworld When Ghosts Disappear (1996) and Timestopper (1998) earned favorable reviews.
His third and most recent work entitled Afterworld Conversations is garnering a similar reception.
"I have three more books I want to do - two will be a continuation and one will be like a handbook about the afterworld," said Limberger who'll be at Ladybug Harbor, a New Age store at 121 Lakeshort Rd. W. in Port Credit on Saturday (Jan. 8) to sign books between 12:30-5p.m.
In his latest 161-page soft cover book published by Mississauga's Pug Enterprises, the author and protagonist "Claude" encounters spirits he first met in his first book, spirits who aided in his adjustment to spiritual form. Their names are "Cat", "Spider", "Friend" and "Bill the accountant." This time, Claude does in-depth interviews with these spirits in a living room.
Akin to apparitions who appear to Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dicken's famed A Christmas Carol, Limberger's spirits take him on "magical journeys" into past situations to teach him.
"In this book I rely on their (the spirit's) knowledge. It (the experience) leaves me wanting to do more," said Limberger, 39, who graduated from Applewood Heights Secondary School.
As a writer, Limberger is at peace with himself so his prose, which is both descriptive and at times whimsical, would appear credible even to the harshest skeptic.
Limberger pulls the reader into his fantasy world to experience and touch the spirits with him.
"We all decide on the nature of our reality. It's called the 'human collective reality agreement'. You preceive the universe so you can proceed on a journey."
Limberger uses poignant imagery and attention to detail to make the journey riveting and eye-opening. The author believes this edition is much lighter than his first book.
"The first book is very, very heavy in philisophical ideas - it's too heavy for some but really people got a lot of information out of it," he said.
"I write in a concise and succinct manner so that people can understand," said Limberger who claims he's had movie offers for Timestopper.
Richard Warner of Eye for the Future - A New Age Magazine writes, "You cannot help but carry on thinking about these ideas, even after you put the book down."