Category Archives: Aberdeenshire

5 ebook copies of YESTERDAY TODAY ALWAYS up for grabs

5 ebook copies

5 ebook copies up for grabs!

I’m a guest on Marie Lavender‘s blog today, and I’m giving away 5 ebook copies of my romantic suspense/psychological thriller.

YESTERDAY TODAY ALWAYS recently won a silver badge in the Author Shout Reader Ready Awards.

This is what the book is about…

Who is stalking Katherine and why?

Still reeling from the death of her husband in the London Bombings, Katherine builds a wall around her heart to prevent further hurt.

In a serendipitous moment, her first love, Jared Martin, walks back into her life. Old feelings are rekindled, but as their second-chance-relationship develops, another cruel twist of fate strikes. The helicopter Jared is a passenger on ditches in the North Sea.

Who, if anyone, will survive the ordeal? Is fate still not done its dirty deeds?

Will a reckless moment from her past come back to haunt her?

 

Excerpt

~ 1 ~

31st December, 2010

He stepped out from the entrance of the Vue Cinemas. One day she would be his. But not today. Now was not the right time. He was not ready. No instructions came from within his brain. The voices hadn’t spoken to him yet. Only when they did, would the time be right.

In the month since his arrival, he spent hours at the Central Library searching through the city directories to confirm ownership of As the Pages Turn. The business had not changed hands. In addition to those, he perused back issues of The Press and Journal on microfilm for more information about the shop and its owners.

The streets were busy tonight. A group of giggling young women, their skirts too short, and their heels too high, wearing far too much makeup, walked past his hiding place forcing him to retreat further into the shadows. Any one of these girls could be his, but his heart was set on the one with the fiery red tresses. The owner of the bookstore.

Captivated by her beauty, he emerged from the darkness and started across the street, careful not to be seen by the CCTV camera. He crept to the corner of the casino building giving the video surveillance a wide berth.

Back garden fireworks popped and banged. The occasional starbursts of red, green, blue and white rose above the buildings. One, louder than the others made him jump – so nearby it could have been set off beside him. Aberdeen’s official display wouldn’t start until midnight. The clock, barely visible over the rooftops read fifteen minutes to six.

His threadbare overcoat was useless in this cold, damp night air. He rubbed his hands up and down his upper arms in an attempt to warm himself but the action only provided temporary relief.

He pressed himself against the back wall under the shelter of the roof. He could see her clearer. No one could notice his interest in her.

Oblivious to his presence, she carried on as usual. Just the way he wanted. She couldn’t be aware of him. Not now. Not yet. He was the invisible man, skulking in the gloom a short distance from her store. Just beyond her vision. He didn’t exist to her, as it had to be for now. But the day would come and she would be the first to know when he was ready to reveal himself.

This book contains adult content, violence, and strong language. 18+ recommended, so bear this in mind when entering the giveaway. If that’s not your cup of tea, you likely won’t enjoy the book.

You can enter the Rafflecopter giveaway on Marie’s blog or here for your chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you aren’t lucky enough to win a copy in the giveaway, here are the buy links for kindle and kobo.

kindle

Kobo

 

 

2nd edition of A Shadow in the Past is in the kindle and kobo stores

Here it is all shiny and new! The 2nd edition of A Shadow in the Past.
2nd edition of A Shadow in the Past

 

Finally, the day has arrived where I can tell you the 2nd edition of A Shadow in the Past is available for purchase in the kindle and kobo stores!

Blurb

When a contemporary teen is transported back in time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…
 
Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself in Victorian Era Aberdeenshire, Scotland and has no idea how she got there. Her last memory is of being at the stone circle on the family farm in the year 2010.
 
Despite having difficulty coming to terms with her situation, Sarah quickly learns she must keep her true identity a secret. Still, she feels stifled by the Victorians’ confining social practices, including arranged marriages between wealthy and influential families, and confronts them head only to suffer the consequences.
 
When Sarah realizes she has fallen in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, she faces an agonizing decision. Does she try to find her way back to 2010 or remain in the past with the man she loves?

Buy Links

#TellaFairyTaleDay

Today is…

#TellAFairyTaleDay!

Never heard of it before? Well, you can read more about it here. The stories can cover everything from Grimm to urban legends.

Scottish legends, myths, and mystery are found in A Shadow in the Past, so what better time to celebrate it?

Even the cover exudes fairytale mystery. Once upon a time…

#TellAFairyTaleDay
cover by Aidana WillowRaven

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages, powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

Available from the publisher 4RV Publishing or amazon

And then there’s the sequel … Shadows From Her Past

A cruel twist of fate returns Sarah Shand to her life in the year 2010 where she discovers she is a patient in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and has been for months. Struggling to come to terms with the situation, she insists she belongs in the year 1886 at Weetshill mansion with her husband the Laird, Robert Robertson, and adopted daughter, Jenny. Her family and consultant physician try to convince her she was dreaming or hallucinating but Sarah refuses to believe them.

Robert, who has experienced strange things at the stone circle at Gordonsfield Farm, somehow breaks through the time-space continuum and visits Sarah in his future. He pleads with her to return to the past but his cryptic messages only confuse her.

Medical student, David Robb, himself a descendant of the Robertsons of Weetshill, befriends Sarah. Fascinated with her stories of the past, after her release from the hospital, he takes Sarah to meet his parents, the current owners of the mansion and surrounding land.

This year, the winter solstice and lunar eclipse occur on the same day. Will a trip to the stone circle during this combination of events create the magic Sarah needs to return to 1886 and her family there? Or will she remain in the present and make a life with David?

Available to buy from amazon.

Do you have a favourite fairy tale? I’d love to know what is is. Tell me in the comments.

Once Upon a Time… It’s Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Once upon a time

there was a day specifically dedicated to telling fairy tales. Today is that day…

Tell A Fairy Tale Day!

Never heard of it before? Well, you can read more about it here. The stories can cover everything from Grimm to urban legends.

Scottish legends, myths, and mystery are found in A Shadow in the Past, so what better time to celebrate it?

time

Even the cover exudes fairytale mystery. Once upon a time…

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages, powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

 

If you have a favourite fairy tale, leave a comment telling which one it is.

 

 

 

 

It’s Read in the Bathtub Day!

Do you like to read in the bathtub?

 

Visitor7 [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

A Shadow in the Past…

When a contemporary teen is catapulted back in time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself in Victorian Era Aberdeenshire, Scotland and has no idea how she got there. Her last memory is of being at the stone circle on the family farm in the year 2010.

Despite having difficulty coming to terms with her situation, Sarah quickly learns she must keep her true identity a secret. Still, she feels stifled by the Victorians’ confining social practices, including arranged marriages between wealthy and influential families, and confronts them head-on then suffers the consequences.

When Sarah realizes she has fallen in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, she faces an agonizing decision. Does she try to find her way back to 2010 or remain in the past with the man she loves?

BUY LINKS

amazon

kobo

Books a Million

Barnes & Noble

Diesel

So why not buy yourself a book (preferably one of mine), run a bubble bath and pour yourself a glass of wine (or your tipple of choice) and escape for some self-indulgence.

bathtub
Bathtub caddy with reading rack from Oh the Things You Can Buy

Just don’t fall asleep in the tub. And if you’re going to read using your kindle, kobo, nook, iPad or another electronic e-reader, put it in a sealable plastic bag to protect it if you don’t have a caddy with a book rest. Water and electronic devices don’t mix.

It’s Tell a Story Day

It’s “Tell A Story Day”!

Well, in Scotland and England it is. And since my heart belongs to Scotland, and I have family and friends in both countries, need I say more?

Okay, so in keeping with the day, here’s my story…

tell a story

Blurb:

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages; powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

Now isn’t that a great story? I think so, but then I’m biased.

~~~~~~~~~~

You can buy A Shadow from the Past in print or ebook from:

4RV Publishing
amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Novels too long for your liking? How about a collection of short stories then?

read a book dayBlurb:

The Consequences Collection is an eclectic compilation of twelve stories ranging from non-fiction through creative non-fiction to pure fiction, in prose and poetry.

The story of a Scottish Home Child is based on fact and told from the child’s point of view; The Mystery Woman of Kinettles is a non-fiction article on the appearance and subsequent disappearance of a woman’s body near the Wellington County House of Industry (Poor House) in 1879 Southwestern Ontario.

Some of these stories are lighter than others, and some might even beg you to leave the lights on.

Where to buy The Consequences Collection:

Paperback:

Lulu.com

Epub:

Lulu.com

Kindle:

amazon.com

And for the younger folks who love a good story, how about one for Christmas?

tmc5_72dpi

Blurb:

For Tim Frost, Christmas 2011 is a washout. No Santa. No presents. Nothing. His father lost his job when the mill closed and now the family is on the verge of losing their home.

A chance encounter with Nick Kringle, a modern-day Santa Claus, teaches Tim that the greatest gift you can receive is the gift of giving.

Tim’s Magic Christmas is available in paperback from the author, or for the kindle at amazon.com.

You can follow me here at Celtic Connexions or at:

Website: http://www.melanierobertson-king.com/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Melanie-Robertson-King/221018701298979
Twitter Account: @RobertsoKing https://twitter.com/RobertsoKing
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6543072.Melanie_Robertson_King

 

#Scotland 2015 Day 8 – Penny Farthings, Pictish Stones, and Stone Circles

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 18, 2015

We’d stopped at the derelict St Mary’s Kirk on previous visits to this area of Scotland but found ourselves back there again on our way to the Grampian Transport Museum.

Pictish Stones
St Mary’s Kirk near Rhynie

We stopped in at the museum in 2013 but it was late in the day (as in almost closing time) so we decided that the next time we would go early in the day so we could see all of the vehicles on display.

Pictish Stones
Billy Connolly’s trike that he rode on his World Tours
Pictish Stones
Trojan 200 Bubble Car
Pictish Stones
Austin Mini Cooper (1962)

This looks like a spaceship but it’s an HGV (heavy goods vehicle) simulator.

Pictish Stones
HGV Simulator

The Penny Farthing bicycle was one of the “hands on”… or should I say “bums on” displays. How people ever got on these is beyond me. It was hard enough despite it being securely fastened to the steps.

Pictish Stones
Don ‘riding’ a Penny Farthing
Pictish Stones
Me ‘riding’ a Penny Farthing

I had to include this next picture because I remember my mum telling me about the Durant her father had and how the kids would pile into the rumble seat to go to Athens or Brockville with him. The museum plans on restoring this vehicle once they raise sufficient funds.

Pictish Stones
Durant Tourer (1924)

Before we left the museum, I picked up a leaflet for the Pictish Stone trail and the Stone Circle trail. Post codes and Ordnance Survey coordinates both were included in the information for each stop. Once we determined which ones we wanted to see, we began our Pictish Stones/Stone Circles tour. The first stop was at the Migvie Church to see the Migvie Stone.

Pictish Stones
Migvie Stone
Pictish Stones
The other side of the Migvie Stone
Pictish Stones
The Migvie Church

After this, we planned on going to the Kinord Cross because it was nearby but it wasn’t signposted well (not even from the car park that the sat nav took us to) so we decided to go on to the Midmar Kirk and see the recumbent stone circle in the churchyard.

Pictish Stones
Midmar Kirk
Pictish Stones
The Midmar recumbent stone circle
Pictish Stones
Me ‘semi’ recumbent on the recumbent stone

It took longer to find the churchyard in Kintore than the stone in it. The leaflet indicated a couple of places to park, but we found a nice place down behind the graveyard and walked up the narrow street. The Pictish stone was almost next to the gate.

Pictish Stones
Stone in the Kintore Churchyard
Pictish Stones
Stone in the Kintore Churchyard

Since Inverurie was on our way back to Kennethmont, we stopped at the Churchyard there to find the stones. It took us some time (it’s a big place) but we found them.

Pictish Stones
Stone in the Inverurie Churchyard
Pictish Stones
Stone in the Inverurie Churchyard
Pictish Stones
Stone in the Inverurie Churchyard
Pictish Stones
The Bass in the Inverurie Churchyard

By now it was time to get back ‘home’. It was our last night at the farm in Kennethmont. We had planned from the first night we were there that we would have our second bottle of champagne and get a Chinese Takeaway for our meal.

The weather had finally been dry long enough that David was able to get out on the combine and make a start on cutting the grain so it would be a late supper.

Their youngest daughter surprised us by driving up from Aberdeen and their oldest came up with her husband to see us before we left. It was great to see everyone together again (the first time I stayed here, the girls were just wee things).

We had a wonderful night and toasted to good friends and family.

More Faces in the Stones…

The longer I look at this photo on my computer, the more faces I see.
stones

One of my writer friends, Beverly Stowe McClure, said she saw a face in the second stone in from the right. That wasn’t the face I originally saw, but I can see it now and clearly.

more

A co-worker said it was a Moai yelling, “Help me I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Looking at the recumbent stone, I can see that, too. I think it looks more like a lion’s face.

moreIt’s interesting to see all the faces in the the stones… and now that you’ve seen all of the ones in this stone circle, you’ll never un-see them again.

Here’s the face I originally saw and referred to in my “Faces in the Stones – REVEALED” post on Aug 21, 2015.

stones

Creepy? Maybe. Fascinating? You bet. The interaction of moss, lichens, the shapes of the stones and the light all combine to make for some interesting combinations.

The next time you’re out and about anywhere, take a look at the rock formations. You might be surprised by what you see.

 

The Face in the Stones – REVEALED

It’s only recently, I saw the face in the stones in this photograph. I guarantee that once you see it, you won’t be able to “un-see” it every time you see the picture. It’s even visible in the older version of the photograph that’s the header photo for my blog.

stones
The photo from the earlier post
stones
Now with the face outlined

This stone circle, located in rural Aberdeenshire, Scotland, features in my debut novel – A Shadow in the Past – and its not yet published sequel – Shadows From Her Past.

This type of stone circle, known as a recumbent stone circle, is unique to Aberdeenshire. You can find out more about them here.

I’ve visited a number of stone circles in Scotland but I’ve never seen a face in them before.

Interesting? Creepy? What do you think?

The Face in the Stones

It’s only recently, I saw the face in the stones in this photograph.
face
This picture has been the wallpaper on my computer since the end of 2014 when its predecessor decided it was time to have a major malfunction.

The stone circle, located in rural Aberdeenshire, Scotland, features in my debut novel – A Shadow in the Past – and its not yet published sequel – Shadows From Her Past.

This type of stone circle, known as a recumbent stone circle, is unique to Aberdeenshire. You can find out more about them here.

Located on the top of a hill on a working farm (we gained permission from the owners to enter), in a field with cows and one bull, we had to  watch where we placed our feet. Initially afraid of us, it didn’t take long before the cows became inquisitive (sounds so much more polite than nosy) enough to set fear aside and come see what we were doing.

This particular cow looks like she’s resting her chin on the recumbent stone. Hers isn’t the face in the stones.

face

 

Do you see the face in the stones?