Second interview with Vincent Richard Domenico – April 2012, shortly before publication of Changing Faces

We are extremely lucky to have Vincent pop in for another visit and he’s happily agreed to give us another interview.

Hi Vincent, how lovely to meet you again. How have things been going for you since we last spoke?

Hi there it’s great to be here again. Well I’m fine thank you; things are going okay for me at the moment. There’ve been some ups and downs but that’s normal for everyone.

That’s great. Now we’re here to talk about the third book in The Lilean Chronicles series aren’t we? What can you tell us about it?

That’s right, we’re on course for the third instalment in August or September of 2012 if all goes to plan. I can’t give away too much obviously but this tells you all about something that happened when Farra, Kyle and I went to visit Drycenia.

Last time Kyle spoke with us, he hinted that something dreadful happened when he visited Drycenia. Is this what we’ll read about in the third book?

Yeah that’s what he was referring to. It was a real bad time for us all and we all suffered for a while afterwards and we almost lost a couple of people who are real close to us all.

Can you tell us anything about what happened?

Well, it involves a series of deaths that happened on Drycenia and our attempts to find out how and why they happened and prevent more. We all suffered as we battled through this experience, in different ways and this experience still brings us memories that remind us of the despair we all felt at the time.

So is the gang all still together or have you lost someone that we’ve all come to know and love?

Well umm, I better not answer that. I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone except to say that this part of our story does involve many deaths and much suffering as a result. We were all changed as a result of this experience and friendships suffered for a while but our bond helped us to heal those wounds and we’re all much stronger because of it. I suppose in a way you could say we’ve benefited from it.

When we last spoke with Doctor Jam, he intimated to us that this part of your story tells of a terrible mistake he made. Can you tell us about that?

That’s correct, he did make a real bad judgement call during this experience, which resulted in a lot of suffering for me especially. It took me quite a while to get over that one and for him too but our friendship was too strong and too important to allow it to falter and we survived it with our bond intact.

He also told us that at the end of this third part of your story, he spent 13 months living with you on Lilea. Can you tell us what that was about?

Yeah he did and it was a fantastic time. It wasn’t because of a problem or anything, in fact it was a good reason that made him come and stay with us. It was one of the happiest times of my life so far and he made it possible. It was a precious experience for us all. I can’t wait for everyone to read about it, I’m so damn proud of it.

How intriguing. How is Farra doing these days and how did she come through the experience we will read about in the third book?

She is great, wonderful thank you. The experience on Drycenia brought her a tremendous amount of pain and forced both of us to face things we really didn’t want to have to face at that time. Having faced them though, it brought our relationship to such a deep level of intimacy and sharing that I reckon few people experience. There were a lot of tears for her and for me too as we went through the experience and we had to face our worst fears. We did face them and we moved forward much closer as a couple.

How have you changed since the incident on Drycenia?

Well I feel a hell of a lot older..! But seriously, that experience, although it only lasted a few days, felt like I lived a whole lifetime because of the feelings that were coming up and the issues it brought out for us all. Now it’s like there’s nothing I can think of that could make me feel such fear any more so I can enjoy my day to day life a whole lot more. I know what the worst is like now so my normal life feels even more relaxed and wonderful than it did before. I’m a lot more careful to share my feelings with the people I love now because I know how it feels to lose them and know you didn’t say what you should’ve said. Relationships of all kinds are more important to me now and I’m far more aware of the need to manage those relationships in a healthy way so that whatever happens, I know that I was as good a person in that relationship, as I could possibly be and that I behaved responsibly. I’m now more trusting of people than I ever thought I could be and I don’t doubt people as quickly as I did before. I’m aware that sometimes people may not be able to show their true feelings, but that doesn’t mean they don’t care and I’m now able trust my intuition about the person. I’m pretty sure that if you asked this question to everyone involved in that experience on Drycenia, they’d say the same as I’ve said.

The third book is to be called Changing Faces. Can you tell us how this applies to the story?

Yes that is the title and it relates exactly to the source behind the experience we had on Drycenia. If I tell you any more I’ll be spoiling it for you. Sorry..!

There is to be a fourth book in the series, as yet untitled. Can you give us a brief outline of that?

There is to be a fourth book, yeah and it kind of, brings everything in a sort of circle. There are aspects to it that take you back to the first book and remind you of things at the beginning of our story. It was an unpleasant experience for Farra and me, but we made two new friends out of it and it allowed us to lay some ghosts from the past to rest, finally and completely which helped us to heal.

You seem calmer and more relaxed than the last time we spoke, which wasn’t that long ago so you have changed a lot.

Thank you, yes I have changed, and for the better. I do feel calmer and more sure of myself and my place in the great scheme of things. I feel so much gratitude for everything, even the upsetting stuff because our spirituality involves us knowing the gifts such experiences bring us later on. I’m happy now. It seems a small thing to say but this is the first time in my life I can say that. It’s a huge deal for me to know I’m happy and love life and getting our story out is an important part of this whole healing process for us all. Reliving it as we tell it, understanding it from a new perspective as we look back on it and seeing how it transformed us. It’s cathartic for all of us and we’re all so glad we’re doing it.

Does that mean there’ll be more than 4 in The Lilean Chronicles series?

Well umm, never say never huh?

Thank you so much Vincent, it’s a huge pleasure to meet you again.

You’re very welcome, I’m happy to be here again.