How did Rhee die?
For those of you who have to know specific details; the back of Rhiannon's head hitting the rock caused extensive brain damage (and anybody familiar with neurology will know that many vital bodily systems such as respiratory and cardio-vas. are controlled from the hind quadrants of the brain) and the whiplash effect snapped her spinal column at the base of the neck. Death was instantanious.

What do all the Welsh words mean?
Those were put there without translation for a specific purpose, but I think it was fairly easy to know generally what feelings and emotions were being portrayed. That was also a little exercise for myself, experimenting with non-verbal communication, such as expression and body language to get a message across. It was interesting, and quite challenging.

Why does Taylor go crazy?
Yay! An easy question! He didn't. Well, not entirely. He was suffering from temporary functional psychosis, induced by his enormous sense of guilt. Seeing the apparition of Rhiannon is a symptom, not a cause, of this psychosis.

How come Avie can see Rhee in Ch. 16?
To be absolutely honest, I have no idea. I just threw that in there to add a twist. That was something I wanted to leave up to the individual reader to decide. Maybe Tay was projecting thought images, perhaps Avie was just seeing things. Who knows, maybe it was Rhee's ghost? I can't think of everything you know. *chuckles*

What are the Voices?
A common symptom of schizophrenia is hearing voices; although I'm not sure whether or not it's a symptom in juvenile schizophrenia. Anything's possible, I guess. The way I perceived the Voices was that they controlled Rhee's inner world ("the paradise, which became the living hell, which turned into the terrifying vortex"), and they were constantly working at her to return to the inner-world and madness. The 'inner world' is probably the most well-known symptom of schizophrenia, which gave rise to the misconception that schizophrenia is the same as split-personality disorder.

Are Liz and Tay going out now?
No. As I keep saying, I don't do romance any more. Although, I suppose I could if I wanted to. But since I don't . . .

Why is Dwynwen such a bitch?
(I threw this one in just for you Cyfaill!)
I didn't put Dwyn into the story to be perceived as a 'bitch', but as the other side of the coin. Both Rhee and Tay are dreamers and thinkers to the extreme, whereas Dwyn is a strict realist. Rhee and Tay are, in a sense, very much New Age personalities, Rhee especially; the crystals and charms, and a belief in magic and ritual and the soul. Dwyn doesn't believe in any of that, her view of the world is more practical and scientific, that everything has a logical explanation; she puts more faith in herself than the higher powers. I can see how she can be perceived as the bitch that everyone loves to hate, but I'd have to say that of all my characters, Tessa fits that bill better than Dwyn.

Did you write the entries to Rhiannon's diary?
Yep. These paragraphs have been written and refined over a period of a few years. I guess they're expressions more of my own views of life than Rhee's. But since Rhiannon's ideologies pretty well match mine, it wasn't too difficult. My worst fault, I think too much *chuckles*

What are your favourite chapters?
I have two favourite chapters in CYEBDS, one for its plotline and the other for how it was written. Ch. 7 is one of the sweetest things I've ever written, I guess it outlines my ideal of what Christmas should be like (minus the snow; where I live Christmas is celebrated in +30 degrees celsius heat!). A lot of people are really cynical about Christmas, but as far as I'm concerned, you need something to look forward to at the end of the year; it's about the only time of year besides my birthday that I get to see both my parents in the one day. To me, that's what makes it special.
And I never ever get sick of re-reading ch. 14, because I think it's the best written chapter in the entire story. I remember I'd forced myself not to spend my October '98 spring holidays writing, by that stage, I really needed a bit of a breather. So I spent two beautiful weeks in Tumut with my aunt Marie and my cousin Brendan (second cousin actually. I'm a step above him in the family tree, but he's 9 days older than me. It's a very weird situation). When I came back, I had the thing written within the week. Definitely says something about taking time out! :-)

Which chapters don't you like?
Overall? Well, I do cringe a little when I read the beginning chapters. Compared to what I wrote later on, they were pretty naive. I'd probably rewrite them if I had the time (and if I knew my friends wouldn't crucify me!). But overall I really think that ch. 12 is the worst written chapter in the story. Not so much the '96 Valentine section - *chuckles* the beginning of that always cracks me up, it's so cute! - but the '98 Georgia concert. By ch. 12 my ideas were drying up faster than a well, so I gratefully latched onto the story Jenn sent me (yes, this encounter is true *chuckles*). There was probably a lot I could have done with it, but reading back over it now, I just shake my head. It was an opportunity quite wasted I think.

What do you mean 'He was healed'?
I know this probably won't be necessary for most of you, but there's always a few people that don't get the symbolism. As Tennessee Williams once said, "I have a poet's weakness for symbols". 'He was healed' refers more to spiritual healing than physical healing. There are a few references to Rhiannon's own 'healing' in ch.22; she was healed of her madness. By burning Rhee's diary, Tay released the last piece of her spirit that remained and was thereby absolved of his guilt and healed of his encroaching madness.

Does the phrase 'close your eyes, but don't sleep' mean anything?
Not really. It does symbolise a few things though, like a spiritual journey or meditation. People often close their eyes to block out distraction and focus their thoughts and energies on something in particular. It was only by closing his eyes and focusing that Tay could reach Rhee's world. I believe very strongly in the power of the mind, and 'close your eyes, but don't sleep' fits the description very nicely.

Any more questions? All you have to do is ask

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