TRIVIA

Fun facts about Collective Obsessions and Deidre Dalton:

• Before Deidre Dalton was inspired to create the saga, The Twain Shall Meet (originally titled "Larkin") was the first and only book written about the Larkin and Sullivan families.

• Some of the characters in the Collective Obsessions Saga are loosely based on members of Deidre's family and other real people. Can you guess who?

• Larkin family chef Claude Mondoux is one of Deidre Dalton's favorite characters in the Collective Obsessions Saga. Although he only appears in the first two novels of the series - The Advent and Quixotic Crossings - his exuberance for life, fluid intuition and deeply-felt compassion leave a lasting impression. Claude was an unusual and striking figure of a man. Tall and slender, he had blond hair and blue eyes, with a stylish gold earring studding his left earlobe. He was energetic, forthright, effervescent, naturally friendly and slightly effeminate, but not the least bit subservient. His sexuality remained a deliberate mystery throughout his fictional tenure in the author's imagination.

• The nine novels in the Collective Obsessions Saga cover a fictional time period of 155 years.

• Larkin City, Maine is a fictional harbor town created by Deidre. It is located in Waldo County, which is in the heart of coastal Maine between the cities of Bar Harbor and Camden, and on the western shore of Penobscot Bay. Learn more about Larkin City >

• Deidre's favorite authors and biggest writing influences include Evelyn Anthony, Elizabeth Byrd, James Clavell, Dorothy Daniels, Ken Follett, Marilyn Harris, Susan Kay, Stephen King, Norah Lofts, Colleen McCullough, Marilyn Ross, Edward Rutherfurd, Bertrice Small, Barbara Taylor-Bradford, Leon Uris, Alison Weir and Kathleen Woodiwiss.