Tranquility in Chaos...eternity in the passing moment...

I began writing Temple of the Grail in 1995 as an outlet for all the study I had been doing. I had no idea at the time that only nine years later I would be in the middle of a bidding war between two publishers vying for that book! It was quite surreal, exciting, but also daunting. I had already started writing the Seal by then and had one year to finish it! That year was also my son's last year at school and he was composing two orchestral pieces for his final exams, both musical extravaganza's, which needed to be edited and heard at loud volumes at regular intervals - bless his heart! Needless to say the house was 'moved' to the strains of his masterpieces - which were very good indeed, and I can still hear the melodies in my head when I read certain passages of The Seal. That year we also had a French exchange student staying with us, who was mortally afraid of spiders (in Australia this is not a good phobia), ironed his pyjamas and being convinced he was of the lineage of Solomon, wished to discuss this fact with me at every given opportunity - which coincided, unfortunately, with those 'aha' moments in my writing! It was also the year my daughter played Fagin in Oliver at her school and I offered to not only coach the children in singing but also to help with set design! That year in our wisdom we also decided we would buy a puppy, an adorable Spoodle we named Candy, who is now my muse, and sits lovingly at my feet when I am in my 'cave'. In those days however, she decided that anything and everything was edible, including chocolate, chocolate wrappers, bottle tops, our exchange student's hormone tablets (which he took for premature hair loss) and my mother's Thyroxin. She also managed to scratch her eye and cause an ulcer that needed hourly eye drops. I was in and out of the vet so many times, she offered to let me move in...yes, it was a hectic time.

Somehow I made my deadline. Miraculously. My publisher was over the moon and the rest is as you say 'history'. My angel was working overtime I think. But then that is how I write. I can be tranquil in the chaos, in the cave that is invisible, created out of love for the subject. Other writers lock themselves up in their writing dungeons. One I know writes in a concrete container with no windows. That is what works for them. If I were to sit in a room with a blank screen, no noise, no children, no dogs, no hussle and bustle I would probably end up having writer's block. No, when I enter into my cave my only salvation, my Ariadne's thread, is the present stream of time, what happens in the space around me. You see, I know I have a Minataur inside me that would like to remain forever chained to that place where anything is possible...where history is yet to be created...
...where I can catch eternity in the passing moment.

Here I go again...I am in my cave and I've gone back to 1560. A very interesting time. Life is still just as hectic...

What's the first line of this new book? I'll post it soon.
XX

Caves and Minotaurs and other dangers

Well, there comes a time when one must give up the simple pleasures to enter into the dark cave of creativity...I take with me Ariadne's thread...but as Virgil has said, the way to the underworld is easy...the way out...well that's another matter. I am holding Nostradamus' hand though, he's directing this book, I think...he and another man who is used to caves...who is he?
I'll keep you posted.

On Writing...

Writing is a magical process. When I begin a book, or even a lecture, I feel like I'm setting off on a long pilgrimage, an arduous journey with dangers and pitfalls, but one which will help me to learn about myself and the world. We are always writing our lives into our memories. I think of writing books as a way of bringing old memories to life.