Caster cleric build assist

[Juxter]

I haven't played a cleric in heroic/epic for almost 2 years, and could use some advice.
Am a bit rusty on cleric-y things since changes.

Resources/status:
Toon is currently a wizard lvl 28.
Heroic past lives: 3. barbarian, cleric, wizard.
No epic past lives
Access to all races/classes
final life will eventually be cleric, preferably all 20 lvls.
when on cleric final life, am thinking of mostly playing it like a caster
use of blade barriers, implosions, destruction, slay living, SLA's. Maybe ruin.
melee/range physical attacks are low priority
plan to do >70% in pugs, but would like option of being solo capable (including hirelings) in EH, but probably not solo in EE.
has +4 tomes in int, wis, cha. +3 in other stats
has enough materials to craft tier-2 thunder-forged weapon.
I'll probably leave at tier-2 so I can re-use at lvl 26 when epic-TR'ing


Questions:
1. What would be the recommended epic past lives to try and achieve, and in what order (i.e. 1st: colors of the queen 1, 2nd:arcane alacrity 1, 3rd:colors of the queen 2)? Say.. for the first 5 epic TR's? After 5 e-TR's, I'll probably park it at max lvl

2. How would you suggest the thunderforged be crafted?
quarterstaff?
tier1 - neg150? force150? light150?
tier2 - necro6?
Am thinking of using:
sage's cuffs for force crit+20% for blade barriers and spell pen+4
sage's locket for evoc5 and spellcraft15.
Any strongly recommended pieces of easily procured eq?

3. Am willing to grind 1-2 more heroic lives. What would you recommend?

4. During final cleric life, What feats would you recommend?

5. What race would you recommend for cleric final life?

6. Am thinking of the following cleric ability distribution (assuming human):
str 8
dex 8
con 16
int 12
wis 18 <-level all into this
cha 14
Primary skills: heal, concen, spellcraft, balance. Some in jump, diplo, haggle.
Feedback?

7. Your thoughts on this being a viable build?

Thanks,
-Juxter