July 2006
Final Entry
In July 2006, Labyrinth reached 1,000,000 sales of the UK editions. My agent called to tell me. I was in the défilé of Pierre-Lys in southwest France, a pavement shelf cut by hand with pick and mattock, along the vertical banks of a river gorge, by Félix Armand, the curé of Saint Martin-en-Lys, and his parishioners. Beginning in the late 18th century, it took 40 years to bring their village into easy contact, by mule and ox cart, with the commerce and industry of the Haute Vallée de l'Aude.
Now, sheltering from the unforgiving sun, you can be reached by mobile phone.
My husband Greg and I began creating this website in 2000, five years before Labyrinth was published. Also a labour of love and intent, we had the assistance of a sponsor and a brilliant design team headed by Jón Hörðdal in Iceland.
From the very beginning, I wanted to know if it was possible, using the internet, to share my inspiration and research – to share my motivation in wanting to write a story of 13th century Languedoc, of religious conflict and intimate personal drama. Would our visitors react in the same way? Would they, like me, visualise characters and events rising up like a mirage out of the landscapes of Fanjeaux and Montségur, Chartres and Carcassonne, Aude and Ariège?
But now it's time to move on.
This website – www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk – will remain as an archive. My inspirations – family ties, historical research, above all my enthusiasm for the medieval domains of the houses of Trencavel, Toulouse and Foix – will still be here, along with our advice to budding writers, our showcase of brilliant winners from the Labyrinth short story competitions, thumbnail sketches of my characters and locations, the archive of my home page diary and a link to our current creative writing classes.
There will be a new edition of Labyrinth, an illustrated version, published in October 2006 and I hope, more sales, more readers. But when my agent tracked me down in the défilé of Pierre-Lys, I was there for more than summer sightseeing. I was researching my next novel.
Sepulchre
In the spring of 2007, Greg and I will open a new website. The address will be www.sepulchre.co.uk. I'll be starting a new diary, posting new research, showcasing new talent. I hope you find a moment to come and see how I am getting on.
For the time being though, thank you for spending time in the Labyrinth.
