Mirror of Souls

Spinning Coins 2 now has a working title...Introducing, Mirror of Souls! The title comes from the Marguerite de Navarre poem 'Le Miroir de L'âme Pécheresse', 'The Mirror (or Glass) of the Sinful Soul'. Marguerite wrote this poem after the death of her infant son in 1530. It was later translated into English by Elizabeth I, then age 11, as a gift for her step-mother Katherine Parr (KP). Katherine was the last wife of Henry VIII. Coincidentally, at one point Marguerite herself was in consideration for marriage to Henry VIII, but outright refused!

I have the setting for the sequel: 1526-1527 France, in the months after the end of Spinning Coins .

I have some plot points, including elements from Molière's play, ' The School for Wives ', and Marguerite de Navarre's The Heptameron . I'm working on knitting these into a cohesive outline and a story that will resonate with 21st century young adult readers.

I have the cast.

My time traveling teens:

• Polly is desperately searching for something (or someone!) she's lost
• Will is brimming with ideas and plans
• Joy is still reeling, not sure where and when she belongs, but trying to cope in her own way

Characters from 'The School for Wives':

• Arnolphe, who thinks he's creating the perfect woman
• Agnes (ah-NYESS), an innocent experiencing her first love
• Horace, the man who adores her

Real-life historical figures (The first three were all students at the University of Paris in late 1526. I have no idea if they ever met, but I'm looking forward to writing about an imaginary encounter!)

• Jean Cauvin, aka John Calvin, 17 years old and studying law, but later to be a major leader of the Protestant Reformation and poster-boy for the doctrine of predestination
• Francis Xavier, a 2o-year-old philosophy student, but destined to become a missionary to Japan, one of the founders of the Jesuits, and a Catholic Saint.
• François Rabelais, a 30-something medical student , a humanist (perhaps Christian, perhaps atheist, depending on who you believe), and writer of satire and bawdy songs. ( Calvin wrote in 1533 that Rabelais' book, Pantagruel, was "obscene."
• And Marguerite de Navarre, sister of King François of France, early feminist, theologian and writer. In late 1526/early 1527 she was newly-betrothed to King Henri of Navarre (a small country near the border of Spain, now part of France). She traveled from Paris south to visit Henri's sister in her convent. In Mirror of Souls, Polly and her companions will travel with Marguerite.

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