Way back then, now, and in the future.

The concept of 'Unlived Lives' is neither mine nor new. Google it; you'll find tens of thousands of references related to those two words. And when I say not new, I mean not new.

David Barron's book, The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America, references Nicolas Camille Flammarion, a late 18th century French astronomer and author. In his 1889 novel Urania, Flammarion explored the idea that after mortal death, human souls can travel through space in a way the living body cannot. He cites a dream he had about George Spero, a friend, and Spero's fiancée, Icléa, who were killed in a balloon flight accident, their souls reincarnated on Mars.

Flammarion did not specifically mention 'Unlived Lives'. According to Gemini AI, Carl Jung is most likely the first to have used that term.

"Jung first explored this idea in his 1932 essay The Relations between the Ego and the Unconscious, later expanded upon in his 1957 book The Undiscovered Self. He famously wrote, "The greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of its parents".

(Side note: That would be Eden, daughter of Raymond and Shelly, had they not died. She, along with others, is featured in the third book, The Unlived Lives Reckoning, due out in early spring 2026.) 

You won't find any of this in my Unlived Lives books; they are simple fiction meant to entertain. However, don't be surprised if you become more interested in the concept after reading them, as I did writing them.