Last week, I was standing in an old stone balcony in Sicily, looking out over the beautiful horizon, when I got a creepy, tingly feeling, like someone looking over your shoulder.  I turned, and the only person there was my husband. I turned back to the view and thought, I’m imagining things.  Then I felt something rubbing up against my cheek, then moving slowly down to my jaw. I slapped at it and pulled away a mosquito, tangled up in my hair. I caught myself thinking, maybe it’s a spy. Then I laughed and turned back to the scene. When the breeze picked up, I turned to leave. When I glanced back, I saw that I had been standing right above this.  I’m still creeped out by the coincidence:

Nicola and Valetin. Clearly, this has nothing to do with Another Faust, but Nicola is the name of Madame Vileroy, the devil incarnate, and the beautiful face of all evil. Valentin is one of our main characters, who sells his soul because of a deep, desperate need to be loved by all. In the book, they have a strange and inappropriate relationship. She’s a mother figure, but uses his misguided attraction to her to corrupt him.