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I've not even STARTED on yours yet, Norm. I had a quick look and thought I was too unworthy...
and as for Mama's death... did you ever watch M. Creosote from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life? Possibly the grossest thing I have ever seen (and I still can't watch it...) But he explodes in the end, so all's well I guess...

so long as he includes the Restaurant in the Sistine Chapel I'll be happy.

NJ you are confusing knowledge with belief.
I know plenty, and, should I wish - unlikely - to write about any religious group, that is what research is all about.

and the complexities of the Resurrection etc are the foundation stones of faith, aren't they? It doesn't matter if it follows logically or not, you just have to believe. If you don't, well, you aren't a believer, are you?

my computer does that too. I bet your server is running Windows 10

wasn't that the point of Doubting Thomas? That he wouldn't believe Christ was flesh until he put his hand into Christ's side, where the legionnaire had speared him?

Hi Norm.

It is a world that has three distinct societies.
The Skilled
These societies, Tower and Liberty, are run magically.
Technical advancements are down to the imagination of the Creators. The Far-Skills, Speaking and Jumping, are used in preference to mechanical means of distance travel or speech. Skills do take energy from the Skill-user, so are used judiciously to avoid exhaustion. 
However, the emphasis in these two areas is very different, and they are in continual conflict.

Tower; a harsh, black and white society, based on military rigidity.  The martial skills, Artillery, Persuasion and Coercion, are most prized. The artisan skills, Creation and Healing, are necessary, but are provided by lower grade staff.

Liberty; colourful, artistic, hedonistic. Skills are used for pleasure seeking as well as for practical use. Even practical uses are expected to have some artistic value. Creation is therefore the most highly prized Skill. Artisans and artists are equally valued in society.  Liberty is becoming jaded and aimless.

Non-Skilled
The Edge was originally the refuge for the Non-Skilled, but is now an ascetic conclave of people who refuse to use Skills for everyday life. They believe that imagination and creativity only thrive where life isn't given to a person on a plate. There is technology, but it is dependent on being hand made, or made by machines that have themselves been hand-built, so equivalent probably to life in the 18th/19th centuries. The use of Skills in the area is punished. Because of the difficulties of proving Skill use, they use Enforcers from Tower to prove guilt.

Hi Amy, I saw your thread after I'd commented here. Toughest of all breaks and I'm glad you are feeling well enough to join us here.

Thank you amy! I look forward to our waltz with pleasure   Where have you been? It's lovely to see you are back

that's nice. How much exposition would you give something like this?

I'm getting a lot of comments about the use of future and present tenses in the first chapter of Lights. I am not sure how to explain that this is written as though it is a tour itinerary, so for example, this was taken from an online itinerary of a  tour of India

Day
8
: Arrive
Udaipur
Today the group will travel to Udaipur visiting the Ranakpur Temples en route.  The main temple is unforgettable and took 65 years to complete.  It is one of the five holy Jain pilgrimage centers. 
Udaipur is known as the Venice of the East as it is one of the most romantic cities in the world.  It offers a lovely blend of lakes, forts, palaces, temples, gardens, and mountains.
Day
9
:
This morning the group will enjoy a city tour with a visit to the City Palace built on the bank of Pichola Lake.  The grand complex consists of several palaces with a blend of Rajput and Mughul influences.  Half of the complex is still occupied by the royal family.

It is a blend of future and present, where the present tense is used for things that exist, and ARE. Future is used for what you will do when you get there.  For those here who have kindly reviewed, does that make it clearer? The chapters through Ekaterina's POV are written in more traditional past tense.
Should I put this explanation at the beginning of the chapters?

Picking your brains. Wondering how to up the otherworldliness of the story, that feels too pedestrian still.
Any thoughts? I wondered as a first-off whether to have tattoos appear on the arms of the girls, indicating the various Skills as they learn them?
The whole thing still feels too ... lame...