If you’ve been reading my blog for any time at all, you’ll know that the last six weeks have been a little action-packed. Scotland, Wales, England and then three weeks in Iceland.
It’s been magical.
But I have to say, the wonderful folks at the Poisoned Pen sure know how to cap an adventure.
I took a trip to the Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scotsdale, Arizona last week for the launch of the new Berkley edition of FINDING FRASER, and it was an amazing experience.
[The 104 F temperature when my plane landed reminded me that I was not in Iceland any more!]
I signed books all day in preparation, surrounded by the most amazing bookstore staff. Huge thanks go out to Barbara and her people: Jeffrey, Miles, David, Patrick, John B and John C, Tracy and the rest — a lovely crew all! They lugged boxes of books, shared cookies, turned pages for signing and did everything possible to made me feel welcome.
My biggest thanks, of course, go to my friend Diana Gabaldon, who not only ensured I was well-fed, but hosted the event and signed every book with me out of pure generosity of spirit.
And to top it off, we had a wonderful chat. Care to join us?
Hope you enjoyed the conversation — I know I had the BEST time!
It was a wonderful, never-to-be-forgotten evening.
And..if you’d like to order a signed copy of FINDING FRASER from the Poisoned Pen, click HERE.
Today is the official launch day of this beautiful Berkley edition of FINDING FRASER! And to add to the excitement, the story has been selected as a Fresh Pick on the FreshFiction.com blog. Hooray! Here’s what they have to say:
The Fresh Pick is chosen by a group of readers and is never a purchased advertisement or promotion. We’ve picked this book because it appeals to us and we like to share our diverse tastes in reading and hope you’ll give it a try.
And if that wasn’t enough, I can’t tell you how excited I am about the rest of the week. It’s back on the road for me — this time heading south.
To help me launch this baby into the world, the incomparable Diana Gabaldon is going to host me at a signing at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona on Thursday, May 5th. If you’d like to order a copy of the book signed by both the author [me] and Herself [Diana, of course], click HERE to go to the Poisoned Pen ordering system, and they’ll take all your particulars, and send it off to you as soon as it’s signed.
I was chatting by email with one of the booksellers today, and he tells me that I have a ton of books to sign in preparation for the event, but there is still time to order yours!
On the weekend, I’ll be one of the hosts at the Whisky Library event in North Vancouver, toasting a selection of fine whiskies, and reading a naughty little scene from Finding Fraser. It’s a fundraiser toward the purchase of books and furnishings for the children’s library, so if the idea of a whisky tasting for a good cause sounds appealing, click HERE for more info!
Now — remember that box of books from the very top of this post? I think it’s time for a give-away. If you follow me on twitter, [as you surely must!] you’ll know that all week, a bunch of blogs have been doing both digital and paperback give-aways. I’m linking to all the ones I can find. But, I noticed that many of ’em are directed purely at an American audience. So, for today, if you say “I’d like to win a copy of #FindingFraser” on FB or Twitter or Instagram, and link, share or retweet this post, I’ll put your name in the draw for a signed copy, personalized however you’d like. I’ll give away one book for each platform, and all to International [outside of USA] readers.
The three winners to be announced Wednesday May 4th, sometime before midnight!
There are a few other VERY cool surprises coming up over the next few days — stay tuned, because [as always] there will be…
It’s been a month on the road! Can you believe it? I travelled through England, Wales, Scotland, and of course…Iceland. I spent time in more than 20 museums and libraries, digging up all kinds of cool stuff for the next few books. An amazing, memorable journey.
So, for today, a few pix to finish up…and a warning. The beautiful Berkley edition of FINDING FRASER is launching this week. The official date is May 3, but…it’s been spotted in the wild already. Things around here are going to get celebratory for the next little while, so if that’s not your thing, I should have it out of my system in the next week or two.
But for now, a good-bye to all the wonderful places I’ve been for the past month…
Flying in to London [past the Shard]A visit to the TowerUnmistakeable WalesA city view in beautiful Cardiff
And then caving underground, with waterfall
After Wales, I was off to the Borders, between England and Scotland. Here, a glimpse of a wee tidal island castle…
Lindisfarne Castle on the Holy Isle
And then off to Incredible Iceland!
Iceland from the air
My home base was Reykjavik — such a beautiful place! This is a view from atop Hallgrimskirkja.
That’s Leifur Eiriksson standing guard below…
Then it was off to the north, home to Akurari, ice-filled waterfalls,
Icelandic lava tube
And this guy! His name is Striga, and his bloodline goes back 900 years. He and I spent a wonderful couple of hours together, riding through streams and sleet and snowy fields.
I also got a chance to do this!
Straddling the Icelandic rift. Left foot on Europe, right on North America!
Then it was on to the beautiful town of Isafjordur, surrounded by the cliffs of the Skutulsfjordur. The town was filled with its amazing iron-faced houses…
Huge, Icelandic-accented ravens…
And was a really hideous place to hang out at night, as you can see…
Yeah — clearly night-time in Iceland is nothing special.
After bidding this beautiful land goodbye, I finished my trip in one of my favourite cities in the world, under the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.
An amazing journey. Thank you for sharing it with me!
The West Fjords of Iceland are among the most beautiful locations in the world.
I took this shot above the towering cliffs [of Insanity?] as I flew over the fjords, having no idea what lay before me. The whole experience left me pretty much speechless.
Flying into Ísafjörður was simply incredible. Here’s a shot from inside the plane, as we neared the airport.
Approach into Isafjordur
I took this one with my iPhone, so the odd diagonal line you see across the photo is the propeller. The thin line below the cliffs is the road into town.
A still shot doesn’t really do justice to the experience, I have to say. At final approach, the plane soars between the towering cliffs of the fjord, performs a tight 180 degree turn at the end and sets down on the runway. It is amazing!
Here’s some footage someone took of the landing from the ground, so you can have an idea:
This footage, I’d like to add, looks like it was shot in high summer. The runway was clear for our landing, but it was definitely a winter-y visit for me! I was in Isafjordur for the change of seasons — April 21 marks the beginning of summer in Iceland, and as you can see, it was still snowy. [There are only two seasons in Iceland — winter and summer. Lucky me — I got to experience both!]
The town was old, and beautiful. I climbed the hill behind my B&B and took this shot.
While I was there, I got to visit an old fishing village and acquired a ton of research material, which was amazing. Also, while there, I had the opportunity to walk through the home/workspace of a wonderful glass artist named Dagny. The gallery, called Rammagerð, is a place to find work by 50 or 60 local artists. It was wonderful!
This is a glass panel in a wall in her house — her interpretation of the Ísafjörður scenery. If you’d like to see more, you can find her work on Facebook HERE.
I spent a bit more than two days exploring the town, talking to the ravens [who LOOK like Canadian ravens, but have a serious Icelandic accent!] and hanging out, you know, in places like this:
Pretty much an unforgettable experience, Ísafjörður. Thank you for having me!
I’m doing a lot of back-and-forthing on this trip, traversing this amazing country and taking one breath-taking flight after another. It’s been the research road-trip of a lifetime! It’s gotten so I hate lifting my head from the research and the writing to see what’s happening in the real world. Sometimes it’s just so sad, yes?
To lighten the mood, here are some shots from Northern Iceland. Akureyri isn’t that old, as Icelandic settlements go, as until a couple of hundred years ago there were rarely more than a few people camping out in this lovely spot. But the increase in the fishing industry brought more Icelanders — and foreigners — to this protected fjord and things have been booming ever since. It is particularly lovely to visit in the summer, I am told [one cab driver compared it to Majorica, I’ll have you know], but my visit in the springtime has been just breathtaking.
Travel with me, will you?
First, we have to get there. The roads are still questionable at this time of year, so I flew.
Flying north from Reykjavik
Most of the mountain tops have been carved off by the glaciers’ retreat.
There was no one across the aisle from me, and I literally spent the whole flight bobbing back and forth across the aisle, shooting from both sides of the plane. Not counting flying into Iceland, I’ve had four flights in total, but this first one had the most brilliantly clear view of them all.
The town of Akureyri is lovely, and I walked through all of it over several days.
This shot is from the top end of the town, by the university. A gorgeous day.
On the fjord.
Down by the fjord, this is called ‘Sail’.
And this, further along the shoreline in the oldest part of town is one of three ‘Memorial to the Future’ stones.
And, of course, the obligatory Icelandic Elvis sighting…
Getting dark…
I gear up, getting ready for the lights. There might be a heatwave in Vancouver, but NOT HERE.
Took many, many pictures, but that aurora is elusive. It dances in and out, so hard to capture.
My best shot was, against all odds, above the town lights, when the aurora surged before retreating for good.
Whew. The absolute toughest part of this post is paring down the visuals. I have taken <checks> 1271 photos so far on this trip [and that’s with the bad ones culled out!], so yeah. An embarrassment of riches.
I’m just going to start here with Reyk, since this is where I washed up first. You can expect to see some of my other coolio destinations in coming posts, okay?
The streets of Reykjavik are gorgeous. The houses are often faced in tin to better cope with Icelandic winters, and they are painted many vivid colours. Walking through this city on a sunny day is just wonderful fun.
I have, however, been spending a LOT of time in museums and libraries. This is a research trip, after all, and my particular era of interest [early 15thC] is not one where there is a lot of info readily available. That particular era is in a strangely quiet sweet spot — no volcanic eruptions; post-Saga but pre-Reformation. A quiet, deadly time.
Which is why I like it, of course.
But, while much of my research material is less than photogenic, the rest of the place is, so let’s look around, shall we?
I arrived in Rekyjavik SMACK IN THE MIDDLE of massive political turmoil. The Panama Papers had just dropped and within a day or two, the Prime Minister of Iceland was deeply mired. I literally dropped my bags in my B&B and walked around the corner into this:
Reykjavik protests
I had no idea what it all meant. I mean, I’d heard that the Panama Papers had exposed tax havens for the wealthy, but… why were these people waving red cards and beating wooden spoons on tupperware bowls and pushing prams?
A little research ensued.
In brief, it should be known that Iceland was hit terribly hard by the recession in 2008. The banking crisis brought the Icelandic economy to its knees, and the people here at the time took their leaders to task for it. Many bankers were jailed, and political leaders were held accountable. Since then, Iceland has done a tremendous job in rebuilding its economy.
Part of this has been done through government bail-outs and other machinations to prop up the Krona and return te country to prosperity. So when Icelanders read that their Prime Minister’s wife was running a tax shelter — one that has been expecting a bail-out — well, they cried foul. Literally.
Red cards to the Icelandic government
The red cards, it turns out, reflect those waved by a referee to signify tossing a player out in football due to some extreme foul. And, like in 2008 when the people congregated outside their parliament buildings to call for government accountability, they are again out in force — families, singles, children and seniors, banging drums [and kitchen utensils!] in the most civilized protests I have ever seen.
Apparently the day before I arrived, there were a few missiles tossed at the Parliament building, in the form [mostly] of bananas and other soft fruit. [I did see a single squished banana, but it was on the ground, sadly. At the time, I thought it was just an abandoned snack…]. So, the day I arrived, police were present inside a cordon around the building. The only action I saw any of the officers take was when one quietly picked up an empty glass pop bottle and dispose of it, presemably to prevent it from being put to some Nefarious Use.]
Civilized.
And yet … determined. As I walked through the square again today, more than a week later, the crowds were once again out in force. They want answers. And are prepared to politely demand the same until someone listens.
Can’t wait to see what comes of this!
As a break from strolling the streets and photographing polite protestors, I hopped a boat one night to see if I could spy the aurora from the deck of a ship, away from the city lights. Reykjavik is very beautiful at night, and, as you can see, even moreso from the water.
This was my first experience trying to get pictures of the aurora borealis. Once, a long time ago, before I had my first baby, I saw something in the sky outside of Calgary, when I was driving home one night after work. No camera at hand in that long-ago time, but I will never forget the experience.
This time, I had some photographic help, but on a swaying deck it’s pretty tough to keep a decent focus when a long exposure is required. Still, it was amazing to see the green and white lights shooting above our heads — just mesmerizingly lovely.
[I have had a bit better luck since then, as you will see in upcoming posts…]
But for now, I’ll leave you with this shot of the night sky above Reykjavik, taken from a swaying deck upon the Arctic Ocean.
A little, lovely, unearthly magic, courtesy of the solar wind.
Okay — turns out my last cave post gave quite a few people claustraphobia, so today I offer some relief in the form of a little stroll through a few ancient above-ground locations. I’ve got a rampart, a tidal island, a ruined priory, TWO castles, and a poison garden for you. A lot of material to get through in one post. Really — I shouldn’t spoil you so, but … I like you.
Let’s head north first to Scotland, shall we?
Reinhardt, Hieland Coo, musing.
My daughter lives in Scotland now [moral of the story — when hauling one’s children around on research trips, make sure they wash up somewhere you like to visit, in the end…], and she and her lovely boyfriend know how much I like visiting Interesting Places, so on this trip they bundled me into the car and we headed south towards ‘the borders’. This is the much battled-over region between England and Scotland.
Know that feeling that you’d like to be in Scotland? So do the people of Berwick-Upon-Tweed. Located about 4 km south of the current Scottish border, they’ve been under the purview of both governments several times over the years. Even as recently as 2008, many have called to have the border moved south of town.
Regardless of where the border lies, taking Berwick by force has never been an easy proposition. The battlements are not only broad enough to walk along, but to grow a full lawn upon!
Berwick battlement
To get to Berwick by train, you cross the Tweed on this amazing viaduct.
It’s a lovely old place to stop for tea. So we did!
Next on the agenda is the Holy Island of Lindesfarne. We crossed the causeway [more on that in a minute] and our first stop was the ruined priory.
Lindisfarne Priory
Here’s a detail of the chapel stone-work — taken from the sea…
From the graveyard of the priory, we got our first view of the castle. In my first book SEEDS OF TIME, Darrell visits the Castle Ainslie, just as the plague is sweeping through Scotland. [Ainslie also shows up in FINDING FRASER, if you were paying attention…]
I based my fictional locale on the teeny 14thC Castle Tioram in the West Highlands. It was a tidal castle at the time, perched on the edge of a loch. Lindesfarne Castle is not much younger, being of 16th century vintage, and is also very small in size. It has to have one of the coolest profiles I have ever seen.
Holy Island Castle
I took this picture of the castle from inside the graveyard of the nearby ruined priory. The castle is perched atop it’s wee tidal island, completely inaccessible twice a day, based on the tides, which, unlike Tioram, still cut it off from the mainland. And when I say it gets cut off, I’m not kidding…
My mother grew up on Prince Edward Island, and I was struck by how similar the landscape of Lindisfarne tidal flats are to the long, red beaches of PEI.
Holy Island causeway
The tide was returning swiftly, and we were only able to view the castle from afar, so we beetled across the causeway and headed south again, this time for Alnwick, home of a lovely castle and a brilliant poison garden.
Sir Henry Percy [Hotspur]This dude here was Henry Percy, the second Earl of Northumberland, and he led THE most exciting life ever. Likely born at the castle, he fought so many adventures that the Scots named him Harry Hotspur. When he was knighted in 1377, it was alongside two future kings: Richard II and Henry IV.
It was this other Henry who would prove his undoing, in the end, sadly. Hotspur supported Henry IV in his successful pursuit of the throne, but once in place, he grew discontented with his new king. Henry IV didn’t always pay his bills and neglected to cover the ransom for Hotspur’s brother-in-law Edmund Mortimer, who had been imprisoned in Wales. Hotspur gathered his own forces and took up arms against his king, and was ultimately killed in battle at Shrewsbury. He was posthumously relieved of his head, declared a traitor and all his lands were forfeited to the crown.
However, Alnwick Castle is still the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, and the current [12th] Duke and his family still live here. [Their liquor cabinet is fetchingly on display in one of the mammoth drawing rooms…]. He is Hotspur’s ten-times great grandson, and is in fact, still a Percy!
Alnwick is second in size only to Windsor Castle in Britain’s list of inhabited locales. Walking through it feels very familiar, as the current Duke has happily let the place out for filming a number of familiar scenes in BlackAdder, Harry Potter, and most recently Downton Abbey.
Alnwick Castle battlements
The castle is in fine form still, and the wee glimpse we got of the occupied parts of it shows it has been renovated with all the mod cons. But the figures adorning the battlements that you can see here date from the 13thC.
Next to the castle is a large, modern garden established by the wife of the current Duke in 2001. Jane Percy, the Duchess of Northumberland, has also served as the Lord Lieutenent of Northumberland in her own right, and she oversees the design and implementation of the gardens, which are not yet completed. My fave part, of course, is the lovely poison garden, added in 2008.
My buddy Lee Edward Fodi visited this garden a couple of years ago, and I was delighted to be able to follow in his footsteps. The garden is small but lethal, growing poisons that can kill you by taste, touch and even scent alone. Foxglove, poppies, apple seeds, hemlock, laurel — all plants that seem innocuous, unless you know what you are doing.
Nefarious!
Even at this early time of year, plants were beginning to flower — I saw lily-of-the-valley, stinging nettle and others lifting their vicious leaves to the sky. I especially loved this gate, carefully wrought of iron and glass, that protected one end of the garden:
So, there you have it.
I can assure you we made it safely out of the garden back to Scotland in time for dinner in North Berwick, which is, as it should be, on the right side of the border. I will leave you with one final shot, taken in the cemetary on the Holy Isle — a cemetary still in current use, I might add. It’s my favourite shot of the journey so far.
Next, I am off to Iceland for a few adventures there. Once I make it safely, there will, as always, be more soon…!
Ahhhh….Wales. So beautiful. I just love it here, and am so, so glad I came. With every stop I’ve found something to help with my current project, and the combined mystery and practicality of this place reminds me of Scotland.
Bronze age stone circle.
But Scotland it is not, for Wales has a charm and insoucience all its own.
The Dan-yr-Ogof caves were …. amazing. I am one of those cranky people who believe that seeing things in their natural form is enough, so the value added of the dinosaurs on the surrounding hillsides did nothing for me.
Dan-yr-ogof cave falls.
–They are not aimed at you, kc. [Welsh accented voice in my head]
–I know but, really? Dinos? Because…
— Because nothin’. Let them have their fun, yeah?
Okay, okay. I’ll focus on the bit I loved, shall I? The caves are mostly limestone, carved out by the river Llynfell, which now flows well below them. This is not to say they are not wet, as water continues to flow and shape the insides. The first caves were discovered by the Morgan brothers in 1912, who had a farm nearby. I can’t imagine the kind of nerve it took to go inside. To give you an idea, this is the hole they climbed through initially.
Original entrance to Dan-yr-ogof.
They travelled through the dark, carrying torches and marking the way with ropes so they wouldn’t get lost under ground. And what they found? Amazing.
There are three principle cave systems at Dan-yr-Ogof. The Bone Cave, so called because it was found to house 42 human skeletons, is the smallest. [It’s also filled with ‘value-added’ material like cave men and mood lighting, which is why there are no pictures of it here.] Cathedral cave, originally accessed through a tiny entrance, was simply breathtaking.
Cathedral cave
And the Dan-yr-Ogof cave system itself, with more than 16 km of explored passageways was filled with the most amazing wonders.
Dan yr Ogof topography
Brilliant rock formations throughout; with water still dripping and running, continuing to reshape the insides even now.
Dan-yr-ogof waterfall
It defines … awe.
Who can tell what lies beneath these magical hills?
I almost always try to blog my research trips, and here I am again. This one is going to be a WILD ride. When I planned this trip, I didn’t know I was going to be having a book coming out at the beginning of May, so leaving for almost all of April didn’t seem crazy. IT DOES NOW.
[Did I mention I have a book coming out in May? It’s called Finding Fraser, and it’s published by Berkley, and … Oh, I did mention it? Well, back to the trip then!]
Things started off…interestingly. The plane was an hour late getting away, and we made it as far as Cold Lake Alberta — actually 40,000 feet ABOVE Cold Lake, when the plane began to turn right. One of the cabin crew blew his appendix in mid-air, and we ended up flying back to Calgary.
Turns out emergency diversions for a 747 are kind of a big deal. So, a set of paramedics, a full tank of gas and a whole
new flight plan later and we were back in the air. When we finally arrived, there was no one at the gate to meet us for an hour, but in the end, I still ended up safely in London. Hurrah!
I made up for the lost day today, and hit the streets before 7 to explore. I love this city, and in the past few years we have become fast friends. It is a great city to walk in, and yesterday’s rain and gale vanished, leaving a postcard-blue sky.
However, the hour was such that I even beat the market vendors to their stalls. This piggy was ready to welcome me, but he stood alone.
So I went for a walk along the Thames and crossed London Bridge to get this shot of St. Paul’s. Then I hiked up the south bank and crossed back on the Tower Bridge.
And heck, since by that time I was so close to the Tower of London, I strolled right on in. I haven’t actually been for a walk through the Tower since my book ‘Shades of Red’ came out [which actually had an image of the Bloody Tower on the cover], so it was cool to wander around again. And it turns out, if you arrive early on a March day, there are no crowds. Plenty of room to gaze at Crown Jewels and Armory Dragons.
In the afternoon I had to beetle back to Paddington Station and catch a train to Baglan, Wales, a wee hamlet within Port Talbot, on the way to Swansea. And tomorrow? I’m going to make my way to a Very Cool Cave north of here that, along with the Tower of London, is among the settings for the story I am working on right now.
For today, I’ll leave you with a picture of the sunset over a local penninsula known as the Mumbles. I chatted with two locals who, in separate conversations, both sang the praises of the local sunsets, and I cannot say I disagree.
I have a pile of travel coming up, and I hope to bring you along with me, but for now, as I cram to get as much work done as I can before I leave, let’s pause for breath here, shall we? Time for a good read!
With Malice, now available for pre-order HERE, is a lovely truth-twister of a YA mystery about a young woman who, quite literally, does not know her own mind. With a blissfully wicked Veronica Mars feel to it, this book is a page-turner for teens and adults that keeps the reader guessing right to the end.
When Jill Charron awakens in her hospital bed at the beginning of this tale, all she can do is hope that she recovers in time for her upcoming trip to Italy. As her memory returns, Jill discovers that not only is the trip to Italy behind her, but the car crash that has erased her memory may just not have been an accident.
Twisty Italian roads might be beautiful, but for Jill, they can also be deadly. My best advice to you as a reader is just to climb into this race-car of a story beside her and let the adreneline rush carry you through every last twist and unexpected turn.
This is, hands-down, my favourite Eileen Cook novel. If you are already a fan, I’m guessing you’ve pushed the pre-order button already. And if you haven’t read Eileen’s work before, be prepared for a fast, fun ride!
You can find out more about Eileen and her books here and here.
new Berkley edition of FINDING FRASER, and it was an amazing experience.
![Flying into London [the Shard]](http://kcdyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Flying-into-London-the-Shard.jpg)
![Icelandic horse [Striga]](http://kcdyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Icelandic-horse-Striga.jpg)
![Sir Henry Percy [Hotspur]](http://kcdyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Sir-Henry-Percy-Hotspur.jpg)
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