How I used tarot cards in Missing in Millfield (which is still FREE until 11th April)

Just a reminder first that this cozy crime novel is still FREE. It’s a fun , warm humorous read about a psychologist Liddy Grey.  Liddy teams up with policeman DI Rossi and her Irish mother -in -law to solve a complex rural mystery involving:

• a lonely horse
• a hit and run accident
• a missing school girl
• the case of the missing marrows

She uses her skills as a psychologist to retrieve vital information and insights, which together with the cool police work of her friend and wild imaginings of eccentric Orla, lead to several cases being solved at once.

In the book there is a bit about tarot card reading, Orla is a huge fan and uses the cards at parties to give readings and so on. But what you won’t know is I also used the cards to help develop my characters.  I used the cards from the major arcana and court cards to help me imagine the characters and even to add twists when I felt something new was needed in the plot.

When planning the book the imagined the following:

• I used the Queen on Pentacles to develop Liddy, basing her sense and groundedness on what I’ve read about this card
• I used the King of Wands to develop the character of Rossi, I wanted to show someone with strength and honesty after I’d turned up this court card
• I used The Fool on which to develop the character of Orla,  someone who engenders a spirit of chaos, someone unconventional but fun, who enjoys life to the full

I also used several cards to develop plot twists, when I turned up the moon for example  I tried to bring in  an air of caution, a sense of the characters taking care as all is not as it seems.

All in all I found the use of tarot cards extremely useful. I’d be interested to know how any of you guys use them too.

Thanks for the downloads and support, I hope those who read it enjoy the book and think  I’ve used the cards to good effect! Happy reading !