One of William Faulkner's more famous quotes was, "The past isn't dead. It isn't even past." This is an underlying theme of Faith, Hope, and Dr. Vangelis, my first novel, which will be published next winter.

As I've noted in other posts, the protagonist is Dr. Lukas Vangelis, an elderly hospice physician. Weary from the burden of easing the passage of the dying into peaceful death, he begins to get messages that point him toward the approaching end of his mission. This brings no fear; most of the people he's loved in his life have already died.

What it does bring is an unwelcome imperative: dealing with his past. Lukas has never fully rid himself of the hurt he's given others, and which they've caused him. He considers himself a man of generous spirit, but the dark shadows in his past must be dispelled before he can find peace.

We all have similar demons that lurk in the crevices of our memory. I've known a few people in my life whose sunny dispositions seem to deny darkness any foothold. Yet, when I've gotten to know them better, I've usually found that, while they've shut the door on darkness, it's still lurking somewhere, ready to emerge and cause pain.

This isn't a confessional novel. I have no urge to unburden my own soul, except to note that, when I must acknowledge the reality of pain, I try to use such occasions as a way of banishing darkness, not just pushing it somewhere out of sight. I don't know, even today, how successful I've been. I believe that, when you get to know Lukas Vangelis better, you'll seen in him something that resonates in your own life.

Live long and learn to forgive.

My long-delayed novel, Faith, Hope, and Dr. Vangelis, has now completed a professional edit and is ready to move ahead through the next steps of the publication process. This is my second completed novel, but the first to be at an advanced stage of readiness for publication.

My thanks go out to the members of the Assassins Guild who critiqued the entire manuscript: Mary Beth Gibson, Sasscer Hill, and Bettie Williams. Additional thanks go to Ronald Nelson and Evelyn Beck, who served as beta readers, and Meredith Hawcroft, who did the now-completed edit of the manuscript.

Dr. Vangelis poses the question, "In a world of pain, who heals the healer?" The protagonist is Dr. Lukas Vangelis, a man worn down by the burdens of being a hospice physician. To outward appearances, he's a man of admirable strength and compassion, but one disturbed by memories of his past sins. His niece, Diana Karras, who is his indispensable support in his mission, bears her own burden of pain and hostility toward those who've hurt her over the years.

Lukas, a man of vision, has lately been unsettled by visions of those long dead. When he has a chance encounter with two fellow World War II veterans, he receives a new message: these men will point him to the path that will bring him at last to the rest he so desperately needs. His struggles to find the path, and "the one who is to follow" him, form the skeleton of the story.

I hope to have Dr. Vangelis on the market next spring. Further tantalizing details will soon follow.