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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 22
Janine-Yvette Demontange (Yvie)
In A Circle of Dreams we continue the Demontagne Saga and introduce Jamie’s children. The love story continues and like most stories about families the children enrich but complicate the life of the couple.
When your children are on the way you dream of what it will be like to be a parent and what the children will be like. But when they arrive are you really prepared for who comes to live at your house? You love your children, of course, but you may be surprised at who arrives and what they are like.
Jamie wanted children and she is overjoyed with them. But, as the crisis builds in A Circle of Dreams she has to confront the fact that her children are not normal.
Let’s talk about Jamie’s children. We will begin with Yvie.
If you’ve read “The Bridge” in our website columns in the Author to Author section (www.annierogers.com) you can identify her as the imperious four year old who pushes her twin sister to the floor and declares that her mother should send her back. We all know or have met Yvie’s in this world and we might even have one living at our house.
Maybe Yvie isn’t quite the embodiment of chaos but her mother is convinced that she comes very close. Andre often finds the child infuriating. Fortunately, Jamie rules with an even hand as do Marcus and Bertille who take Yvie for who she is and respond with love and firmness. So, Yvie can rebel safely.
Unfortunately, Yvie feels that she does not belong in this family. Her mother is so talented, being a consummate artist in designing clothes and an astute businesswoman as well. So, for Yvie her mother is almost beyond an identification figure. The child can only wonder how she can ever measure up or if she has passable talents.
The presence of her fraternal twin sister, Lissa, doesn’t help at all. If Yvie is chaos, then Lissa is order. It’s easy for Lissa to get praise and Yvie is often left feeling mutinous. She acts out her frustration when she gets into frequent trouble. At least she has her partner in crime, Marc, who is her buddy and constant companion.
When her sister is off gathering ingredients for bush medicine, Yvie is left feeling the outsider again because her sister’s talents bring Lissa close to the mystical parts of the family. Yvie feels it is impossible for her to compete and achieve a comfortable place for herself in the family constellation.
And so Yvie has a secret life in which she draws the precious things she comes in contact with in the rain forest. While she can’t readily assess her talents, it appears to the outside observer that they are considerable. Since she keeps her artwork to herself, she cannot find out that she is quite talented artistically but that it is a different talent than her mother’s.
But Yvie does not spend all her time making negative comparisons of herself with others or sulking. This child does not have a laisssez faire bone in her body. She is both volatile and sensual. Passion rules her life. Her misadventures are partly a function of rebellion, but they are also a function of her passions at work. As she enters adolescence she can’t yet channel her talent and her passion. Her job will be to achieve balance and command of what can only be described as an awesome combination of beauty, intelligence and talent.
Some day Yvie will come to know that she is a beautiful, brilliant and talented woman. She will also come to know that she is very much a part of this family. If she were just a little closer to Bertille she might know that her intense relationship with the creatures of the rain forest along with her family heritage may have worked a magic on her.
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)
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