(HA. The real reason Chris Baty chose Nov. 1st for Kickoff: to give us an extra hour to prepare the night before. Thank you, Chris Baty, for being so kind to us Daylight Savings people.) ~~~~~ Research for this novel has been bittersweet. I spoke to Mom's stepmother today for the first time in my life, and I learned the truth behind so many legend and mysteries surrounding my mother's traumatic childhood. More fodder for the novel than I could've hoped for, yet so, so sad. It's difficult for me--I wasn't able to reach down deep enough to clothe these revelations in tenderness and sympathy--I was so excited to hold these gems of information. But for Mom, these are long buried childhood experiences that she does not recall. How do you tell someone the horrible things they went through? I am granted some mercy in that the story I will tell shall be inspired and not absolute truth. But even inspiration can have as sharp an edge as experience. ~~~~~ As a result of today's interview, I have decided to add another matriarchal element to the plot: the compassionate stepmother, who shares the same shining qualities as the Rosalind matriarchs, even if she does not share their blood. Thus, my statement has grown to encompass not only the symbol of strength and courage in this homogeneous Rosalind line, but also the symbol of strength and courage in women who are swept into painful circumstances such as this one, and are divinely pressed to muster the same honorable qualities of a mother supreme.