Medium Suzane Northrop agrees to an interview for BookReview.com in a hotel room in St. Louis, where she is staying under an assumed name so that she can get some peace and quiet before a seminar scheduled for later in the evening. It is her 13^th city in 13 weeks, and the only one in which she has been openly referred to as "Satan." It has unnerved her, but not deterred her from guesting for a local radio station and doing cold readings on air. Nor will she consider canceling the seminar.

It was a belief that she didnÆt get her due when the book The STance was published that drove the medium to get the rights back from Dell. Northrop then repackaged and updated the manuscript and had it republished by Jodere Group in 2002. Second Chance: Healing Messages from the Afterlife was written with a foreword and endorsement from friend and colleague John Edward, who has risen to celebrity stature following the airing of his television program "Crossing Over." Northrop is the psychic that Edward reportedly turns to when he wants to make a connection to his own family.

"When John was dating the woman he later would marry, he didnÆt know how to tell her what he did for a living," Northrop said. "So he brings her to one of my seminars and then afterwards, when she says she really thought it was cool, he said, æYou know what Suzane does? Wellà thatÆs what I do.Æ ThatÆs how he told her!"

Northrop not only has high hopes for Second Chance, but also for her next û Everything Happens for a Reason -- expected to be published this November.

Northrop admits that the time may also be right (even ripe) for a television program. "But I would only consider it if it was the right opportunity," she insisted, meaning that the station would work with her on the edit and give her profession a respectful handling.

Northrup hails from New York, and quips that there is, indeed, something in the water, since well known mediums John Edward, George Anderson, and even James Van Praagh were born within a hoot and a holler of each other. Mediums are big draws on the East Coast û Northrop can expect up to 500 in a New York audience versus the 150 expected tonight. She says she hopes that her book sales will bolster her seminar career, and vice-versa. SheÆs booked well in advance for seances and commands on average $300 per person in a group of eight or ten, but she is nonetheless drawn to the teaching aspect of her profession.

"This is how I make my living," she admitted, adding that she doesnÆt particularly care if people donÆt believe she can do what she says she can û connect the living with those who have died. But she would appreciate it if they wouldnÆt be so attack-mode oriented in their disbelief. "ItÆs my job, nothing personal," she says. "If a skeptic comes to a seminar and I donÆt happen to pick them, then they can either learn from those who did get connections or they can choose to be mad. I try to give everybody something, to educate people about what happens, about the process. ThatÆs what they should be able to take home û that they learned something."

During the seminar, she will say to my friend, David, "Your son has your name." She has never met the man before. "Yes," he will whisper. "He is funny," Northrop will add. "He makes me feel like laughing, like heÆs here on stage with me." David will answer, "He was a stand-up comedian." "A damn good one," she will agree, then ask, "Is it true what he says now, that he played Vegas?" The father will nod. Yes, his son performed in Vegas.

Her work is all about the people she connects to their loved ones, Northrop insists. It isnÆt about stardom. She doesnÆt take a limo, preferring to drive her Jeep to local appearances. "IÆm in a service profession," she says. "If you forget that, well, believe me, itÆs a gift and a gift can be taken back. IÆve seen it happen. I stay down-to-earth."

Success has nonetheless had an impact. Northrop says that sheÆs always felt different, however, because even when she started 25 years ago playing small psychic fairs, there was always a line waiting to see her and she could command more money than most. "YouÆd think itÆs a community, but IÆve had a few knives to pull out of my back over the years," she says. "Still, friends like John and others hold the ability in high regard, theirs and mine."

Can she turn it off and on? The voices? The visits? "Most of the time," Northrop says, though she says that she is commonly drained after a seminar. She has to "speed up" her own mental energy to connect and she doesnÆt always remember what was said during her trance state. To cope with the stress (both physical and mental), she often drinks red wine after a performance. "It calms me down," she says.

"One boy died suddenly, alone, in a vehicle. An accident," she will say, speaking to Donna and I and our husbands in the middle of an audience of 150. "The other died of an illness. The boy in the vehicle died quite a while ago, the other more recently and around a holiday." Daniel died in a car accident 11 years ago; David died of health complications just after New YearÆs. She will nod and tell me directly, "Your son wants you to know that if he didnÆt die, he wouldnÆt have been right. He would have never been normal. It was as it was supposed to be." I will cry at these words because Daniel suffered a broken neck and spinal cord in the accident.

"People who get a reading, those people are never the same," Northrop says. "They might think they believe, but when they really get a connection, they know it and it changes their lives. They are never exactly the same afterwards. All doubt is gone. They have experienced it. Some experience it by validating othersÆ experiences in the group, but the ones that get a messageà they are changed forever.

I tell her that I donÆt expect a reading or a message and thatÆs okay. I already believe in her ability. I donÆt need proof beyond what I know in my heart.

"IÆll see you tonight," she says. "And youÆll see for yourself. It changes lives. ThatÆs why I do it. It changes lives. People who are supposed to get readings, get readings. Everything happens for a reason."

Meeting Suzane Northrop certainly is life changing, and having her make a connection is mind blowing. It happened for a reason and so not to include it in the review would be wrong. Thank you, Suzane û from Donna and Dave, Jody and Kevin. And from our DPs as well..