Free Mya

4: In which there is a Wedding

To mark the 1st anniversary of my publishing Free Mya, I am getting round the problem of having set the first 3 chapters to "private" by copying and pasting them here.  If you have already read them, please scroll down to Chapter 4: A Wedding and a Wedding Night.  

Free Mya

A Novel

© Katharine A Gilchrist 2017

Intro and info

Disclaimer

All the characters, events, firms, organisations, etc, are fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

I am well aware that several of the characters have the same first names or surnames as people I know or whom I used to know. That was unavoidable. I either had to think of exotic names for absolutely everyone, which would have been absurd, or to use names that, absolutely coincidentally, belonged to people I had met. For example, I know at least 8 women named Rachel or Rachael, and none of them bears any resemblance whatsoever to the character Rachel Vine (Carmen's mother).

If your first name or surname does appear here, it's actually a compliment. I have met you, and your name does not provoke a negative reaction in me. I also find it attractive enough to use for this book. Also bear in mind that the character could well have been named long before I actually met you!

To be honest, most of the characters got their names from characters on US TV programmes. I'm lazy that way.

I began writing this in 2002 - that may or may not explain some things.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Diana E Forrest for her many suggestions. I took all of them seriously and made several important changes as a result. I'm sorry that I couldn't spare the time to do the entire story as a graphic novel, as she suggested.

Amanda McIntyre Ure also made many helpful suggestions, particularly regarding technical matters.

I'd like to thank my muses, let's just call them J, L and M.

My eldest sister, Louise, actually chose the name "Mya", although since this was via telephone conversation, I suspect she had the more conventional spelling, "Maya", in mind. I cannot even recall why I chose the shorter spelling. When I realised that the name of the novel would be a very short one, I was glad for the missing A. I had planned a very long name for the novel, but a very short one would be quite satisfying in a different way. Louise also chose Topaz's name, although from a list of options which I suggested.

Free Mya began life with the name "short story", and later became "my long 'short story'". I had no idea I could actually write a novel.

One of the last things my paternal grandmother said to me was, "So, you've almost finished your novel?" It has taken a while. I am not sure whether she would have enjoyed Free Mya, but I know she would have been pleased to see it finished.

I wish my maternal grandmother had even known I was writing a novel, but she died before I was born. Quite sad, especially with mothers and daughters being a theme. None of the characters is actually based on my mother; just want to get that out of the way.

It's taken me a long time to get to this point, but it has totally been worth it.

Free Mya is, at this moment in time, free for those who have the link to read. If anyone wants to make a donation to the charity WaterAid, in lieu of buying the book, this is the link: http://www.wateraid.org/uk/donate/make-a-difference/donate-to-wateraid. (I think I have been quite kind to my fictional characters. Mya, for example, doesn't have to toil for hours fetching clean water.)