|
| |
Although the Demontange Saga is fiction, St. Lucia is a real place with a wonderful story of its own. We are psychotherapists with an intimate knowledge of psychological processes and motivations. The columns in this section provide insight into the settings, culture and characters in our works as well as perceptions about the writing process... We want to share this material and our perceptions with other authors but believe that many of our readers will find these columns of interest as well.
Recently we took back all our rights to A Dream Across Time and are now self publishing the Demontagne Saga. It is very gratifying to have the entire publishing process under our control.
If you would like to see what we have been up to and to see some of what we are dealing with as we move to self publish, go to our blog at http://letmedigress.blogspot.com. We want it to be interactive so join in. The columns from the Author to Author section will also appear in the blog.
At the end of the latest column, you'll find clicks for past columns.
Column 17
Why the Mystical Element in A Dream Across Time?
When we first went to St. Lucia in 1987 we went as tourists. Friends of ours were going to look at land and we went along for a vacation. We stayed at an all inclusive resort and were so transfixed by the island that we ended up eating only breakfasts at the hotel. We were out and about the island at all times. There was no allure to sit in a hotel and look out to sea. There was a magnificent island spread out before us.
At the time St. Lucia was still very much a banana economy and its infrastructure was in need of work to put it mildly. We referred to the roads as containing Toyota eating potholes. We joked that the entire island was lit by one forty watt bulb. But it was as if the spirit of the island took us by the arm and led us away into its adventure.
Our friends did not buy land and we all returned home. But we found ourselves researching the islands to compare St. Lucia and we began to think about maybe buying a little piece of land. We thought we could probably build a small house someday. Upon our return to the island we were again taken by the arm and led away. We purchased a hilltop piece of land and built a house which took over our lives.
Gradually as the years passed the tourist facade fell away and we looked deeper and deeper into the soul of a Caribbean culture.
While I was in graduate school there was something of a Jungian cell at Duke. Sigmund Freud was important but Carl Jung was revered. So, I read his works and became conversant with his views on mythology and human psychology. In St. Lucia I found myself looking through Jung's prism and discovering the mythology which was embedded in the island.
When you look deeply into a culture and its people it is hard to put the experience in ordinary words. We experienced things which did not seem ordinary but had a reality of their own. Some people have felt that A Dream Across Time was somewhat hokey and dealt in stereotypes about mystical native folk. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The only way we could convey the reality of our experience was to enhance it with a mystical and paranormal element. Then we found the true reality was there and we could bring it to our readers. In this spirit we continue the Demontagne saga in the second book, A Circle of Dreams, which comes out in June.
Past Columns
Column 1 - St. Lucia
Column 2 - Jamie Elliott
Column 3 - Andre Demontagne
Column 4 - Paul and Danielle
Column 5 - Marcus Deroche
Column 6 - Bertille Deroche
Column 7 - What It's Like Living in the Tropics, Part 1
Column 8 - What It's Like Living in the Tropics, Part 2
Column 9 - Taylor, Clarisse and Barbara
Column 10 - How Does Our Writing Partnership Work?
Column 11 - Goal, Motivation, Conflict and Creativity
Column 12 - Family Life is a Saga
Column 13 - Toward A Circle of Dreams; I don't believe in ghosts.
Column 14 - A Book Walked in the Door
Column 15 - Every Woman Knows This Story
Column 16 - The Bridge
Column 17 - Why the Mystical Element in A Dream Across Time?
Column 18 - Gaia and myth in the Demontagne Saga
Column 19 - Carl Jung, Mythology and the Demontagne Saga
Column 20 - Carl Jung's Concepts in the Demontagne Saga
Column 21 - Martinique
Column 22 – Janine-Yvette Demontange (Yvie)
Column 23 – Anne-Clarisse Demontagne (Lissa)
Column 24 - Philippe Diamant Demontagne (Philippe)
Copyright© 1987-2006 Annie Rogers LLC dba Bivens and Jensen Publishing. All rights reserved |
|
