A Plot Summary: THE SPELL OF VAUGIRARD unlocks a real deal 21st century technology.
THE SPELL OF VAUGIRARD is a thriller sci-fi science epic that utilizes storytelling to engage audiences in a fun technology, MEND™ – musical encode decode. The story spans several generations of a powerful dynasty. The family has a volatile secret about to impact our 21st century world.
The prequel book is entitled: THE SKELETON SCORE. It is 175 pages. The story is narrated by the protagonist, Lily Barrington. Lily finds herself at the center of a family fight. The fight is over the valuable estate of her mother – in law, the matriarch Rose Barrington. As we learn about the characters, a Dickens-like story of combat unfolds. The dynasty wields tremendous power in the global world. Rose’s son Henry Barrington has invented a new technology. The new technology is based on the family’s ability to trade internationally. Their mysterious power stems from a musical puzzle buried in their ancestral village. As the narrative opens, centuries of urban development have blanketed the original ancestral village. The MEND™ Device is programmed to restore the original village structure and its significance. Rose who has many affairs to protect, uncovers a plot involving her estate. Her ability to retain control, as she turns over her power will test her mettle and stamina. The technology is at great risk for ill-use.
[To discover more about the Skeleton Score Book series, contact Mardi-Ellen Hill].
The public gets wind of the family’s fight when the daughter of Lily and Henry, Rachel Barrington is murdered . Rachel is an 18-year-old star making a name for herself on the world stage. Her death prompts the media to leak volatile details of the unfinished invention. The leak ups the ante of the fight. News travels with lightening speed. It casts suspicion on the many motives of the family members. As her daughter dies, Lily Barrington becomes the prime suspect and fall guy for a family unable to face lies that have followed them for centuries. Lily is in mortal danger. Her life hinges on the need for the players to keep her alive long enough to get the key that will open the startling village power. Lily’s memory is ignited by the tune left behind by Rachel, “Rae’s Theme“. Her signature song leads us back to the old village, and unlocks the puzzle for generations to come.
Mardi-Ellen Hill is a composer, author and playwright. In the 1990s she was awarded two NEA grants for a new American work in Opera Music theatre. In the last decade she has won many other prestigious awards. The new narrative platform and technology MEND™ is founded on her award-winning play “VAUGIRARD.”
Read an article describing the journey unlocking the path to MEND™, written prior to the full development of MEND™. It is now complete.
MEND Universe Buzz 
I’m really intrigued and impressed by the way you have managed to make this whole adventure speak on so many levels at the same time. I always enjoy being able to enter a concept on one level only to find out that there’s a whole web of interlocking forms, stories, ciphers and time constructs that promise endless possibilities. With MEND that web is, just like anything else, actually affected by being observed. In that sense it touches on the genius of the recipiend of 2012’s Nobel Prize in physics.
The vastness and collapsibility of MEND will allow for endless permutations and paths. The story (or stories) is a wonderful way into your complex world that doesn’t necessarily force me into any one way of perceiving it. I can be the narrator in that sense… using my inner James Joyce-ian gaze to go in and out of focus. What interests me the most is sifting the sand for constants, and what I find is that the constants themselves are looking for each other underneath the dunes. The involvement of technology here seems not just an affectation but rather a way to unlock what could never exist as only a text. I’m looking forward to seeing you build it further.
As a librarian I like the way you use the technology to capture the readers. I think you are ready for the new generation of readers. You are ahead of the game.
We all have meaning in our lives and through MEND; we find Lily Barrington, being the link; the link that is her salvation from death.
Mardi-Ellen Hill – you cast a yarn that glows throughout generations. You take us on this journey, knowing, that with each step along the way, you pull us further into this world that captivates and enthralls.