Am I in my novel?

No. I have heard that if you get famous enough to be interviewed in the media, you may be asked if any of your characters is yourself. My answer is a very clear 'no', that is, none of the protagonists or villains is me (or anyone else I know, I have a vivid imagination, which is the only reason to write a book!). But I do have a strong fellow-feeling for a very minor character who appears in the Cretan section: the short-sighted scribe. I have been appallingly myopic all my life, such that were there no corrective lenses available, I could be registered blind. So I wrote that scribe as a flight of fancy, wondering how someone like me might have survived in the pre-spectacles world. I actually wrote more about her than I could let into the novel, or it would have been far too long. But if I ever hear that readers would like to read the fuller piece, (and find out her name, which had to be taken from her in the book), I will post it here. So, let me know!

I'm not as short-sighted now, having grown 'very early' cataracts, had them removed a year or two ago, and replaced with correcting lenses. So now I wear my glasses on the inside! I was left just a little myopic, so I can read 'bare-eyed', or at least will be able to once a cloudy capsule is removed. I can't wait, it will be great to read again without cloudy blurs floating across the print.

A Spirit Guide takes to Social Media

One of my characters has a new Twitter account, and is beginning to feel his (well, spirit guides have no gender really, but 'he' is happy enough to be male for the moment) way. He has told me it is a real treat to communicate so clearly with in-body humans. Usually he is hugely frustrated because his people (See 'Lucy' in "Despite the Angels" when it comes out) never listen, or pick him up wrong.
If you would like to follow the musings of a guide, you can find him @TrynorTheGuide. He doesn't mind being called a guardian angel, either, although it is not strictly accurate. Angels are much higher beings, and rarely communicate with incarnated humans.