After the Cleansing

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Charlotte/Alias

After the Cleansing

At this point, I was still considering using Charlotte as the protagonist's name. I wasn't really happy with it, but I hadn't yet decided on Caitlin as her proper name or on Cat as her alias.

You may well recognize the image as being one of Andrew Wyeth's paintings. It's a postcard I bought at the Brandywine Museum specifically for the Image Book. A bit more sexualized than I'd prefer for the character. But, like the goddess Inanna, she makes a voyage to the depths, surrendering a piece of her armor at every stage.

I should emphasize that this is not literally what Caitlin looks like. The skin color is all wrong, for one thing and the model a little young. Think of it more as a psychic impression.

The text reads:

She turned her back on the grave and began the long but necessary processs of forgetting everything that came  before.

These words will not appear in The Iron Dragon's Mother. But an important scene near its very end is beginning to form.

Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 41 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.

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