D is for....

1) Dundee. Everything I said yesterday about research also applies to Dundee. One of my characters' past lives is there, so when I had to be in Scotland for some hypnosis training, I took a day trip to Dundee, to make sure I wouldn't get things horribly wrong. I spent a fascinating couple of hours in their wonderful public library, reading the street directories for the relevant year; I was looking for Christian names that would be correct, or at least believable, and discovered that had you gone out in the street in Dundee in the late 1800s and shouted 'William!' more than half the men could have answered. I found it an emotional experience walking the streets my 'Lewis' and 'Dorothy' would have walked, to the extent that I forgot that I had made them up, and texted my husband "I'm sitting looking out over the water, feeling sorry for my people". I hope my readers will find it equally moving.
2) Dad. My Dad died at 62, over 20 years ago now, and when he was ill he told me that one of the reasons he was sad to leave the world was that he had not yet "written a novel, or designed a cathedral." He was trained as an architect, and I am not, which is why I wrote the novel, partly for him, and partly so that on my deathbed I could not be similarly sad.
3) Drosera: for those childhood coughs that start "the minute the child's head touches the pillow" at night, while during the day things have not been too bad.

My photo at last!

As I said, I am only learning all this digital stuff, and am climbing a vertical learning curve with my (rather good) fingernails... But at last I have worked out a)how to scan in this nice photo, and b) how to get it onto here/twitter/facebook. So I am feeling that little bit more confident in my eventual ability to get my books up there too!  As well as having bronchitis this week, and making a 'Phrygian cap' for my part in 'Idols', I have been re-writing the prologue for 'Despite the Angels'. It is now much clearer for those readers who will not have prior understanding of the concepts of re-incarnation. Next I must work my way through the whole book and do the same. There are sections about Lucy and David's past lives in Crete, the Médoc, and Dundee, all of which I visited to get it as realistic as I can. A great excuse for travel - now, where will I set my next one......