The Walls and the People

Several years back, I lived with my family in the walled city of Ferrara, Italy.  The Castello Estense with its dungeons and moat dominates the center, and the medieval wall still surrounds the perimeter.  For me, however, the real barrier was my stumbling Italian and my lack of friends.  I joined a chorus, and as long as we were singing, I was unified with the others.  The moment we stopped and the conductor began speaking in Italian, I was cast out once again by my inability to understand.  It was a jarring and wonderful experience, and I still listen to our recording of Lotti’s “Crucifixus.”

Today, the Promised Blog Tour takes me to A Reader’s Adventure, where Mariah asks me about how I created such different societies in the Birthmarked trilogy.  We have walls of all kinds.  The trick is to find our ways around and under them until the stones dissolve.  Promised, the final book in the Birthmarked trilogy, comes out tomorrow.