Hi Michelle – Ive seen in your recent posts and in the acknowledgements to your new book, Rainforest, that the “idea for the setting erupted from my unconscious after that nasty bout of writer’s block I mentioned in a previous newsletter – and when something like that happens, and with such power, I’ve learnt not to waste time asking why.”

Well, I think I can help explain! You may not remember but I wrote to you in May 2021 as follows:

“I visited the rainforest in Borneo in 1992 as part of a scientific expedition. We use to walk a few miles every week to an area of Heath forest (I can explain the science) where the trees were all stunted. The Dayak tribes people hated going there because they said it was haunted because there had been a battle there between dayak tribes and many had been killed.

I love ghost stories. I love your ghost stories. I think there is room for a rainforest ghost story about people on a scientific exhibition and think it would be an ideal juxtaposition for your stories based in the world of ice. I would just love to be an acknowledgment. Happy to tell you what I experienced.”

To which you responded:

“Dear Nigel, thanks so much for getting in touch, and I’m really glad that you like my ghost stories. The rainforest is something I’ve considered from time to time – and what you say about the Dayaks is fascinating, because I’ve adapted a few of their beliefs in my Stone Age books for younger readers. At the moment I’ve no plans to write another ghost story, but if I do, and if it goes anywhere near a rainforest, I will probably take you up on your kind offer to hear about your experiences. Again, thanks for getting in touch.”

I wonder if this planted a seed??

Nige

Dear Nigel, thank you for reminding me; and you’re right, until I read your message just now, I’d completely forgotten about your email describing that haunted forest inj Malaysia.  When my writer’s block finally broke near Christmas 2021, and I wrote Rainforest, I relied on my own rainforest experiences over the years – the Peruvian Amazon in the late 90s, the Caribean in the early 2000s, and Costa Rica in 2018 – and your email about Malaysia never crossed my (conscious) mind; although perhaps it was somewhere in the mix in my unconscious.  Who can say?  The unconscious moves in mysterious ways. Anyway, thank you very much for getting in touch – and I do hope you enjoy Rainforest!  Keep reading the ghost stories.  With very best wishes, Michelle