Back home again, safe and sound [if slightly jetlagged], but I’d like to continue my odyssey to Orkney here with a look at the amazing Ring of Brodgar…

My most recent post took a peek at the astonishing Neolithic village of Skara Brae. The people who lived in the settlement fished and hunted and even farmed a little, all with stone tools. But — when they weren’t making a daily living, just what else were they getting up to?

How about building this…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those of you who follow my blog may recall my visit last year to Stonehenge and environs [Salisbury plains, Avebury and more]. Posts and pix, here, for review: http://kcdyer.blogspot.com/2009/05/stonehenge.html

The Ring of Brodgar is a very similar Neolithic site, this one a great deal further north, and I would hazard to say, perhaps less thoroughly understood. This shot is just a portion of the actual ring, which measures an almost perfect circle, 104 m in diameter. There are 27 remaining stones, though it is thought there were likely once 60. Due to the landform shaping underneath the stones, it too has been classified as a henge.

 

The stones themselves are somewhat smaller than those in Stonehenge, [and also smaller than the few remaining Stones of Stenness, about a mile away] but are still very beautiful. And it turns out that the diameter of the circle is identical to the diameter of the inner circle at Avebury. [http://kcdyer.blogspot.com/2009/05/avebury.html ]

 

Apparently, more than 1000 stone circles have been discovered in the British Isles and Western Europe. There have been stone circles identified in Israel and in China. I can’t help being fascinated by the idea that so many Neolithic societies, separated often by hundreds and thousands of miles, built such similar structures. I feel very priveleged to have been able to walk among the stones.

 

 

This stone was likely split by a lightning strike. Orkney is among the windiest places on earth, with the highest wind recorded being 137 mph [at which point, the recording instrument was blown into the North Sea]. I can imagine a storm here must be a truly awesome event.

There were two nearby barrows that I had a chance to explore, too — aligned with the ring in some way, and covered in beautiful blooming heather.

 

 

 

 

 

If you’d like, you can read more about the site HERE: http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/brodgar/

 

 

And now, I’m off to read contest entries for the Surrey International Writers’ Conference writing contest. The contest closed today, but you’ve still got time to register for the conference itself — find out more at http://www.siwc.ca

More soon…

 

~kc

I’m safely back across a Very Wavy North Sea, now, and survived a Very Odd Encounter with a Highland Gnome, so I think in order to forget the trauma of those two events, it’s time for a new blog post. I’ve got a bit of a whiffy internet connection, but I’ll try to share some shots of Skara Brae, a neolithic settlement I had a chance to peek at whilst traipsing about Orkney.

You know, one of the things I get asked a LOT is how I come by my ideas. Book-writin’ ideas, of course. No one cares how I come up with the idea that it might be a good time to pay the bills or buy a few groceries. But the book-writin’ ideas have never been a problem. Of course, it helps that every once and a while I get to time travel for real….

Skara Brae was buried for at least 4 millennia, perhaps 5. Then, so the story goes, after a big Orkney storm 160 or so years ago, a young laird was walking along the shoreline near his house, when he made a bit of a breath-taking find. 

First of all…this is what the seventh Laird, whose name was William Graham Watt, had to look at after the storm — the beach near his wee mansion, Skaill House:

Not a bad view…

The beach is part of a gentle bay that faces the North Sea.

Yes, THAT North Sea. Safe to say, it doesn’t often look like it did the day I saw it. [Someday I’ll blog about my unbelievable weather karma. Or maybe not…don’t want to jinx it…]

Anyway, there was Laird Willie, minding his own business on a fine day in 1850, strolling along the sand, kicking rocks and looking for North American driftwood since there are NO TREES on Orkney, when he stumbled across this:

 

Now, it likely looked a little dustier than this, and since much of it was still underground it probably was a bit darker, but you get the idea. Laird Willie wisely brought in a few experts, who dug around, cleaned things up and shook his hand with manly firmness. Ye’ve done noble, Laird Willie…well found, man!

 

Skara Brae is a collection of neolithic homes from a time when the people who lived there had access to fresh water [long since overtaken by the sea], and were evidently fairly expert fishers, farmers and foragers. They were fine stonemasons, and the different levels of the site show an evolution in fashion through the course of their time in this location. Beds were first built tucked into walls, and then later migrated closer to the centre of the the room [warmer by the hearth?]. Also, from the size of the beds, they were not exactly lanky.

As you can see from this picture, or perhaps more comprehensively from the map at the beginning of this post, the various homes are connected by a series of winding tunnels, all carefully constructed. Each wee house had it’s own hearth and beds, and a door that could be barred closed to ensure privacy. They used pots of fired clay very similar to the ‘coil’ pot style that is still taught in pottery classes today.

 

They had hammers and fish hooks and spears and other tools. They did not have metal.

No metal.

The site has been carbon-dated to be around 5000 years old. The people themselves are thought to have come from Africa, though that’s not confirmed. Definitely not Pictish.

[It reminded me, actually, of something one of the comics I got to see at the Edinburgh Fringe had to say about Australians visiting the UK. “So you get up one morning, you look out at the bright blue sky, the warm sun and the gorgeous beaches and you say “I just can’t take it anymore! I have to get out of here and move to live with 6 other Aussies and a Kiwi in a cupboard in Croyden for a year.”]

 

Anyway, while Orkney is no cupboard in Croyden, they came, they stayed happily for a few hundred years, and then they left. Speculation is that the fresh water ran out. There is no evidence of war, or that disease ravaged the population. They just left.

An astonishing, mind-blowing spot. Quite, quite typical of the Orkney’s, as it turned out. [You can read more about Skara Brae here: http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/skarabrae/ and here: http://www.skaillhouse.co.uk/skarabrae.asp  

Pretty rich site for story-writin’ ideas, wouldn’t you say?

More soon on some of the other things these neolithic folks got up on whilst on Orkney…

 

~kc

Have had some bad connection luck over the last few days — hard to predict reliable internet service when one is on the road — but I’ve a quick ten minutes here to describe my time in Orkney.

As if…

In the last two days I’ve been from Inverness through John O’Groats, onto an enormous ferry ALL BY MYSELF to sail to Orkney, and toured around several of the islands.

It’s been breath-taking and VERY surprising.

I’ll leave you with this picture of the standing stones at Brodgar, and will add more soon. Getting kicked out of the library at Kirkwall…!

 

More soon…

Sitting here in the lovely Moo Cafe in the New Town part of Edinburgh, having sent my daughter off on the train to visit a friend, and walked my feet to the bone around the City today. The walking has pretty much characterized the whole trip so far, which is a good thing, since I’ve yet to find a bad piece of chocolate cake in this city. These Scots know their way around an oven, happily for my taste-buds.

Most of the organizational element of this trip is now seen to, and the touring around today was mostly in aide of sharpening the details of the current story. Much of A CLOCKWORK CURIOUSITY is set here in Edinburgh, and the coincidence of my daughter coming here to attend school has been a fortuitous one for me.

I traced the path a couple of my characters take through Leith [had a little trouble finding the tiny maritime museum that features in the story, and even a local postman couldn’t help. But I found an old lady who knew, and made it there in the end.]

Then it was back to the Old Town to check out a few necessary locations — Greyfriars Kirkyard [detail on one side of the church is pictured here] and then into the National Museum of Scotland for a look at a couple of the exhibits that feature in the story.

After that, it was time for a hike up the Royal Mile to revisit some of the tiny Closes that appear in a chase scene. [A peek at Fleshmarket Close, above…]

Everything checked out very well, thankfully. I’ve been to this city three or four times before, so it looks like my memory has held up pretty well. Still — I’m hoping this visit will help me amp the atmosphere of the story. Like every epic fantasy, it’s the grounding in reality that will decide whether this dog howls or not.

Tomorrow I head north to Inverness and then onward from there. Will report in as wifi allows. 

 

More soon…!

 

~kc

…to bring you a couple of writing contest reminders.

 

 

First — Surrey International Writing Contest. Due Date: Sept 10th. Four categories, four chances to win $1000 plus publication. Numbers are a bit down this year, which means your chances are Up, Up, UP! Details HERE. Do it!

 

Second — this is a new one to me, but has now got the Writers’ Union of Canada support behind it. Scriptapalooza — tv script-writing contest. Why not give it a try? Details HERE.

Okay — back to conquoring the British Isles, one raindrop at a time.

More soon…

~kc

Back in London…and it’s lovely, of course.

[This is a shot of the moon through the window of the plane, somewhere over the clouds of northeastern Canada.]

 

 

 

Yesterday was a bit of a blur, as it was our first day here, but we did manage to sneak in a decent walk around the West End and a peek at the marvellous Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. No photography in the theatre, of course, but some of the most brilliant, colourful costuming I’ve ever seen, and wonderful performances all round.

Staying in a hotel with a cool staircase and tiny rooms.

 

 

My girl is ditching me today to meet up with a friend, so I think I’ll hit a very interesting museum I’ve heard about and longed to visit for years. More on that later.

In the meantime, a couple of tastes of steampunk cool can be found HERE [an image of a steampunk lightsabre given to Nathan Fillion by one of his fans] and HERE, where the Oxford English Dictionary has reconized the term steampunk at last! [This last via Arthur Slade, author and steampunker extraordinarire…]

And speaking of Arthur Slade, he’ll be a featured presenter at SiWC 2010 this October. The deadline for the Surrey International Writers’ Conference Writing Contest is fast approaching — have you sent your entries in yet? More than $1000 in prizes and publication with each category. Click the link to learn all the details.

I’m off to prowl old London. More soon…

 

~kc

 

…a quick follow-up to the last post.

I live-tweeted the wonderful event on Saturday [under blissfully blue skies] and will re-post some of the pix below. Susan Musgrave opened things up on the Main Stage, and we were off.

 

Here are some shots from the Children’s Stage. I got a chance to host a segment that included some wonderful dancers from the D’Hersy Dance Company, author Lee Edward Fodi [aka Mr. Wiz] and the wonderful Mary Duffy an author and puppeteer who put on a marvellous show. 

Here, VPL teen librarian and performer D’Arcy Stainton works his balloon magic with a couple of fans.

 

 

 

 

 

Authors, poets, performers, librarians — it was a day to showcase the literary talents from around the province. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here James McCann wows the crowd with a reading from FLYING FEET.

Author Lee Edward Fodi brings Kendra Kandlestar to life for an adoring crowd.

Tons of fun, lots of crowds and a good time had by all. Mark your calendars for August next year — Summer Dreams is sure to be back!

Next post from me will be from across the pond — or more accurately — on the other side of the ‘burgs, as the route to the UK from here generally shoots across Greenland.

 

More soon…

 

~kc

Holy Crow…what has happened to the summer? Things have been nuts around here, and will continue so for some time, I think. Running around getting ready to head to the UK — mostly Scotland, but a bit of London [and who doesn’t love a bit of London?] next week, but before I go…

It’s time for Pandora’s Collective Summer Dream! Now, I know it’s scheduled to rain, but if it does — bring your bumbershoot and come anyway. It’s going to be GREAT fun, with three stages running, each loaded with poets and writers and slammers, oh my! Check out full details here: http://www.pandorascollective.com/sdrfestival.html.

Don’t feel like clicking through the link? All the deets you need to know are here:

Summer Dreams Literary Festival, Lumberman’s Arch in Stanley Park, Vancouver the Cool

August 21, 2010, noon to six pm.

I’ll be there most of the day, emceeing the kids’ stage from 2-4 and then reading a bit of A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW and even a bit of FACING FIRE at 4:30. If enough wild and crazy teens show up, I may be coaxed into reading a bit from my new steampunk novel  A CLOCKWORK CURIOUSITY as well, but only for those made of Stern Stuff.

And after that? I’ll be tweeting and blogging the tour of the UK. Prepare for ADVENTURE!

 

More soon…

 

~kc

A few things that have caught my fancy this week…

 

 

 

First — Elizabeth Renzetti’s marvellous G&M article about one of my writing heroes — PD James, who has just turned 90. [the pic is by Randy Quan for the Globe].

 

 

 

 

Next, via boingboing, here’s a look at the incredible new pencil that Sharpie is premiering this fall. It’s got a liquid output — graphite — and is erasable for three days before it becomes permanent. Is this not cool?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally — and caveat emptor on this one, because I haven’t actually tried it yet — but as a long-term vegetarian, the thought of carrot bacon is pretty darn tempting… More pix HERE.

 

 

 

 

More soon…

 

~kc

…what else is new?

 

This time, I’ve spent two full days labouring over visa requirements for my girl, who will be spending a year in the UK, furthering her studies of Consumption of British Beer. [The things you can write when your children don’t follow your blog…!]

Actually, she’ll be studying at the Uni of Edinburgh, but feels my assistance in Red-Tape Management is mandatory at the present. Thus the revisions I’ve promised to my agent are late-ish, and this post will be suitably short-ish.

 

This is a shot taken — and much annotated — from a satellite image [via @dbarefoot] of southern BC this week. 

The province is, as you can see, currently awash in smoke [the white, filmy stuff] and flame [the red splotchy areas].

 

It’s been a bit worse here in Howe Sound than in Vancouver, mostly because of the chimney effect the Sound is having on the fires north of here.

Sending cooling, dampish thoughts to all those in the worst-hit areas.

As for me, I must wipe my streaming eyes and get back to these revisions.

 

More soon!

 

~kc