Before I could begin to write this novel, I had to decide on what Ngunda's teachings would be. It was not a serious problem. The teachings in Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's four "Michael books" are the most interesting, coherent, and rereadable I've run into.
I've also been influenced by that remarkable compilation of inspiration, dogma, folklore, history and poetry known as The Holy Bible, by volumes of commentary on it, and by decades of absorption via cultural osmosis. And by numerous other books read over the decades, their authors as diverse as (in alphabetical order) Jacques Barzun, Alfred Korzybski, Jerry Simmons, Huston Smith, Jan Christiaan Smuts, D.T. Suzuki, Paramhansa Yogananda, and Gary Zukav. If my memory was better, the list would be longer.
I owe thanks to several author friends for their critiques of my first draft: novelists Mary Jane Engh, Jim Glass, and Jim Burk, and sociologist/author Dr. Jerry Simmons. The first two in particular really beat me up, and properly so. Sue Jones of Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane read and commented on an early draft from the point of view of an informed and dedicated Protestant Christian. Thanks are also due a Catholic religious historian and a Jesuit brother for their time, tolerance, and comments. (I was assured there'll never be an Irish pope, but I wrote one in anyway, for my Irish-born grandmother. Forty years ago, who'd have predicted a Polish pope?) And to novelist Patty Briggs, for her extensive comments on a later draft. Kathy Healy, of the Spokane Word Weavers, gave her relentless critical attention to details in two drafts.
Prior to writing this, I'd had no personal contact with Crow Indians, but I'd worked with Indians of other tribes in logging camps, the merchant marine, and the Forest Service. And I had read anthropologist Rodney Frey's enlightening The World of the Crow Indians (1987, University of Oklahoma Press). By telephone, I talked about the Native American experience with Lewis Walks-Over-Ice, of Little Bighorn Community College on the Crow Reservation. Later, Lewis read and commented on a preliminary draft of the chapter set on the reservation. Still later, Principal John Small (half Crow, half Cheyenne, ancient antagonists) showed me through the Crow Reservation's Lodge Grass High School, including its fine basketball facility. Another Native American, personal friend Cindy SiJohn, read and commented on part of the manuscript.
The Millennium therapies, which play a role in this novel, were inspired by Dr. Frank "Sarge" Gerbode, M.D., and his system of Traumatic Incident Reduction that has proven so helpful to victims of post-traumatic stress disordersnotably rape victims, and combat veterans of the war in southeast Asia.