In its own right, the existence of this novel is an epic story of its own. Years ago, when I finished grad school, my intent was to teach college English which I did for several years and found I loved teaching. My life, however, radically changed after I met the man I married and moved to New York City where he was then living. It was there on one of those evenings, we saw the new play Abelard and Heloise starring Diana Rigg and Keith Mitchell, which also featured the first fully nude scene on Broadway, although in lowered lights! But it was the story itself that fascinated me and several years later, when my husband and I moved to North Carolina, we saw the play again presented by the North Carolina School of the Arts (no fully nude scene there, however!)
Not long after that, when I realized it was going to be very difficult to continue teaching with two small children, I turned to writing fiction, staking out my time while they were napping or had been put to bed in the evening. I didn’t immediately tackle the story of Abelard and Heloise, but it stayed on my mind until I decided I had to write it. As our children grew older, we found we could at least afford plane fare to France and rent a tiny motorhome in which to travel about visiting so many of the places where my characters had lived. It was then my novel The Basilisk was born.
