I am creating a code


My eldest daughter loves the charming, if somewhat eccentric Inspector Hercule Poirot from the Agatha Christie series. His famous words when working through a problem were “The little grey cells are working well today.”

Well, my little grey cells certainly were active this week. I had to invent a coding system to reveal the location of something of extreme importance to three district groups in the third instalment of the Chronicles of Nadine. The code protected something precious, when the dragons faced possible extermination. The location of the hidden items could only be worked out by someone who had an intimate knowledge of the workings of their inner society.

Coming up with the system was one thing. But creating the clues was an entirely unfamiliar process that challenged me far beyond what I expected. It rather reminded me of the Disney movie starring Nicolas Cage called National Treasure. The character Benjamin Gates thinks through a series of clues that lead to various locations each with an additional hidden clue. My system could not be as complex National Treasure, because time in my book, is of the essence. So it is a bit closer to an Indiana Jones meets Laura Croft system. But it also had to be a process that would earn me the respect of Beatrice, my mysterious and intimidating Spy Master, who stalks the pages of Books 1 to 3.

The third book combines my love of archaeology, treasure hunting and mystery. Plus of course, my signature of the psychology of humans and how they process challenges and trauma. What defeats one person can produce a bitter spirit in another and then a champion in a different character.
I am both excited and terrified at the prospect of producing this third novel. In the previous books there were two district camps struggling against each other. But book 3 brings in another element and the challenge that I face is not just creating clues, but it is choreographing the dance of plots when different players move into the script of our lives.

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