Cathie Dunn writes...

I'm so thrilled to celebrate my new release today: Love Lost in Time ! I'm out of bubbly, but a nice G&T with blueberries will suffice! Later, of course...  A dual-timeline mystery, Love Lost in Time takes you to sunny Carcassonne, in the south-west of France.  For the historical part of the story, I chose the late 8th century – a time when the Franks under Charlemagne expanded and solidified their presence in Septimania (today's Languedoc-Roussillon) on the Mediterranean Coast. The locals were a mix of Visigoths, Merovingians and descendants of the Romans. After decades of upheaval, the Franks brought some stability into the region, and fortifications like Carcassonne helped to beat back any Saracen incursions.  But not all dangers came from the enemies. Some lay much closer to home... A tale of love, death and redemption… AD 2018 Languedoc, south-west France Madeleine Winters discovers ancient female bones under her kitchen floor. How did t...

As I'm struggling to finish the contemporary part of my dual-timeline mystery, Love Lost in Time , I thought I share with you a brief excerpt. A little teaser, if you like. Having written several historical novels, getting my writing mind to accept modern technologies and communications is a bit bizarre. But I'll get this done, one way or another! lol About Love Lost in Time: Maddie Winters, a history lecturer and author, inherits her late French mother's house near the historic town of Carcassonne in the south-west of France. During renovation works, she discovers several ancient bones which turn out to belong to a woman who had lived in the area, then called Septimania, over 1,200 years earlier. But just who was she? And why was she not buried properly? Excerpt: The silence of the house unnerved Maddie. Only in remote places had she experienced such quiet. Out in the open countryside she’d welcomed it. The past was talking to her there, in ancient ruins or...

Over the last week, we've had a friend staying with us and showed her our new home town of  Carcassonne . What a brilliant opportunity to explore this fabulous place again... Carcassonne (c) CD Apart from the obligatory visit to 'la cité' (the citadel), much of which was rebuilt in the 19th century after it had become abandoned, we also explored the 'ville basse', the lower town, and drove to the beautiful medieval market town of Mirepoix in the Ariège – on a bustling market day! Carcassonne is the ideal place for a wander, the odd glass of wine or two, and delicious food. We visited a few restaurants that we hadn't been to before, and we enjoyed our time just as if we were on holiday, too. During our walkies, we also visited the 'chateau comtal', the inner sanctum of the citadel, the castle of the old counts of Carcassonne, built on a much older structure dating back to pre-medieval times. You meander through the rebuilt towers and turret...