My little sister was diagnosed with BPD. Nothing like Aud, I agree.

I think the Hild novel is going to be the best thing I’ve done. There again, I always think that…

Aud isn’t to blame for the crazy, I’m sure. Last I knew, she fancied herself as Ekaterina from Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan series. That’s a real stretch, believe me!

I still feel odd about saying that Aud isn’t crazy. I meant more that she wasn’t like that person. She’s not exactly balanced, is she? I was very interested to run across the mention of “borderline” in Stay. Aud is incredibly stable for someone with BPD, as they usually have no set sense of self, leading them to reinvent themselves periodically in major ways. They usually have a string of dramatic, broken relationships and often major shifts in career, religious beliefs, and even apparent sexual orientation. Aud seems very solidly Aud, so that I completely understand Tammy’s description of her as “concrete.”

I associate the traits mentioned in the novel (other people aren’t real, having to deliberately mimic “normal” behavior) with sociopaths more than borderlines.

I finished Stay today and did find it far more positive. Aud’s growth is inspiring and believable. I’ll definitely be moving on to Always shortly. And I’ll definitely look forward to Gemæcca! You’ve already gotten me reading about Hild and the Synod of Whitby.

Thank you!

But I’m delighted that you got hooked by Aud. I hope you do read Stay and Always. There’s no betrayal and they’re quite hopeful books.

If you’re interested in what I’m working on now–an historical novel that you may find more like Ammonite in tone than any of my other books–visit my brand new blog, Gemæcca, which is ‘the story of writing a novel about Hild of Whitby’.