M is for....

1) Médoc. This is where the third flashback in Despite the Angels takes place. It is the wine growing peninsula just north of Bordeaux. I took a camping trip there some years ago to research, and to find a surname for Lucy’s past incarnation as Eloise. I went to several graveyards, and finally picked ‘Seurin’ which appeared frequently. This is a tiny detail, but I get a quiet satisfaction out of getting things like this right. On the other hand, I have fun making up stuff too - David’s past incarnation is called Daniel ‘DeVrac’ which is a silly joke. I got good information about the wine and salt industries from my trip, and also a visit to Madame Cassou-Mounat in Bordeaux. She was a retired Professor of ‘Historical Geography’ from Bordeaux University, and lent me a wonderful document about the salt trade of the time.

2) Mediterranean Sea. If I have lived before, I think many of those lives were near the Med. I always feel relaxed and at ease there, whatever part of the sea it is. I love Provence and Crete, and on shorter trips to other parts have felt right at home. This is not just because of the weather and the palm trees- I visited Santa Barbara in California on my way to a hypnosis course. It is a Mediterranean-style town, with palm trees, lovely weather, and mountains rising behind, but I felt at sea there, like a real stranger. To use the language of reincarnation - I had never been there before in all my lives!

3)Merc Sol. If Hepar Sulph doesn’t hit your bacterial infection, Merc S might

On the back cover -

This is what it will say on the back cover of "Despite the Angels": Have you ever felt you know someone already, even though you only just met? Maybe you knew them in another life.... Lucy and David, who live in modern Dublin, first knew each other in Ancient Crete. They had a baby girl, but disaster struck, and their guardian angels have been trying to reunite the little family for 4,000 years. Despite the angels’ attempts to be understood, humans often do not hear, and unwittingly can waste whole lifetimes.... Now in Dublin things are still not going according to plan - Lucy is too young, and David is marrying someone else. Angels are optimists, so they are re-organising, but HUMANS MUST LISTEN TO THEIR ANGELS

The first Re-write is done

Today I had a good morning at the Carousel Writers' Café up the Dublin hills. The brainchild of Carolann Copland, a fellow writer, it provides a quiet space with great view, and all the hot drinks and energy providing snacks you could want. So in the peace I got to the end of "Despite the Angels" with my first re-write.
Now I have to put it aside for a few days, and then read it to see if my characters, Lucy and David, like what I have done with their lives!
Even more important, do their spirit guides approve? 'Jotin' and 'Trynor' are very vocal, so they will let me know if the story is not right.
I don't think the book will be out before Christmas, but when it is, it will be even better for ageing slowly, like a fine wine....