kirstin downey, you should be the moderator of this. it is impossible to understand isabella without understanding europe was at war with aggressive islamic fundamentalism in the form of the ottoman turks, caliphate that employs slavery and sex slavery on a large scale, subdued neighboring nations. the turks had the biggest armory in the world and repeatedly demanded that they would seize all of europe. the turks invaded and seized most of southeastern europe, western europe was flooded with refugees. that sounds familiar, doesn't it? charlotte has written on april 12, 1955, the jonas salk vaccine could prevent polio, celebration erupted worldwide and joan assault became a hero overnight. in the wake of his achievements, he received a staggering number of gifts from the public and awards from heads of state around the world. his name brings with gandhi and churchill, yet he was ostracized by the scientific community whose adulation he craved. with that set up i felt i would ask each of you to talk about how you began your books, how you