In one month, I will at last head to Aberystwyth to research the medieval Welsh language at the university there for my book, Braided Dimensions, and to choose the site for Kyna’s home (Kyna being, of course, one of the main characters in the novel). It’s really a matter of going to the area and finding what’s close to what I’ve described. I’ll be traveling by train from London where I’ll first meet cousins, then join a friend of Welsh ancestry—he spent his summers in the south of Wales while growing up—for the train trip and explorations.

Not only will we spend time in Aberystwyth but we’ll also go to Machynlleth, the old market town where Kay attends the Solstice Faire in the 900’s on her first visit into the past, and Borth, the town from where Aelfwyn’s yarn shop gets transported into modern day Ukiah for a short time.

We’ll also hopefully drive to the Isle of Anglesey
where Kay is snatched from the castle at Aberffraw, a castle which did exist in the 900s but no longer stands today. On the way there, we’ll pass Snowdonia, which is not in my story but sounds beautiful.

Being in Aberystwyth will allow me the imaginative scope to picture life there a thousand years ago, based on the research I’ve been doing for the past seven years, from California. In the second book, Kay goes to modern Wales so as I revise Book Two—Stretched Across Time—I’ll be able to add in the flavor of the place in modern time.