Category Archives: Bram Stoker

It’s #BookLoversDay

Today is #BookLoversDay!

#BookLoversDay – there’s nothing better than relaxing with a good book – any day of the year.

Books, I love them all. Hard cover, paperback (trade or mass market) or ebook (kindle or epub format) I just love books! And then there are the genres – crime, romance, chicklit, memoirs, science fiction, fantasy. Perhaps I should preface the rest of this post with…

“My name is Melanie and I’m a bookaholic.”

#bookloversday

This great day is also celebrated in August but when November arrives, it’s place in the limelight returns. During this month, this special day always falls on the first Saturday.

There was a meme making the rounds on Facebook wanting to know the ten books that have stuck with you. Some of these were secondary school reading, others just because I wanted to, and some I’ve read more than once.

The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
1984 – George Orwell
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare
Halloween Party – Agatha Christie
The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbech
Farenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
Dracula – Bram Stoker

Can a person ever have too many books? I think not. As I was creating the hyperlinks for the books on my list, I even scored three FREE ones!

Perhaps I’m in need of an intervention?

What 10 books have stuck with you over the years?

 

#Scotland 2015 Day 7 – Abbeys, Castles and Vampires?

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 17, 2015

Our first stop on our “abbeys and castles” tour was the nearby railway station at Insch. If I recall correctly, it was mentioned in A Shadow in the Past and if not in it, definitely in the sequel – Shadows from Her Past – in the village of Duninsch. So, rather than need a photo for a book trailer after returning home, we stopped for a few photos.

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The railway station at Insch

Historic Scotland has created sat nav maps and driving directions to their properties. We used this to get to the cathedral in Fortrose and Fort George. Now, it was to get us to Deer Abbey (sounds like an advice column).

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The entrance to Deer Abbey

The porticoed entrance to the abbey is impressive. Most of the abbey was destroyed in 1854 when the land was owned by Admiral Ferguson. He used the stone to build a mausoleum for himself. But in 1926 the Roman Catholic Diocese came into possession of the property and they destroyed the mausoleum. Can we say karma?

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The remains of Deer Abbey
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The Man-Trap at Deer Abbey
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The Man-Trap explanation

I’d wanted to go to Slains Castle for a long time and this year we finally made it. There is a small car park by the main A975 road and you can either walk or drive the rest of the way from there. We opted to leave the car and walk in.

At first glance, you think the road is gravel but it’s really crushed shells.

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The road to Slains Castle

The place is massive! The picture below really doesn’t do the size of it justice.

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Slains Castle near Cruden Bay

Even from this angle out on the cliffs, you don’t see all of the castle. It goes on and on through archways and doors. Rooms and still more rooms.

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The side of Slains Castle facing the cliffs

You can see why this location inspired Bram Stoker. He penned the story while staying in a hotel in Cruden Bay.

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The cliffs at Slains Castle near Cruden Bay
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Spiral staircase to nowhere at Slains Castle
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Perhaps the hidden entrance to Dracula’s lair?
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Were there stairs here at one time leading down into the darkness of Dracula’s lair?

Vampires or no vampires, something bit me on the back of my wrist – not once, but twice. The bites were the perfect distance apart to be from the fangs of a vampire. Missing my neck by that much, I would have to say a very near-sighted vampire. Perhaps it was revenge for getting my wee piece of the castle to bring home?

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My piece of Slains Castle

On our way back to the car park, we stopped at an entrance to the field and got some shells that were still 95-99% intact.

We drove to nearby Newburgh for a couple of pictures for book trailers then to Trinity Cemetery in Aberdeen… yup more book trailer photos. Then across the A944 (aka Westburn Road) to get photos of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary then a wee bit of a backtrack to Queens Road for a photo of one of the villas there and I had all my book trailer photos. I wanted to get these last two locations (hospital and villa) when we came in to Aberdeen on the train but we ran out of time.

Then it was back ‘home’ and an evening of convivial company with our friends… and consumed a few bevvies as we talked about our day.

#BookLoversDay is Today!

Today is Book Lovers Day! It always falls on the first Saturday in November and this year coincidentally falls on the 1st.

#bookloversday

Books, I love them all. Hard cover, paperback (trade or mass market) or ebook (kindle or epub format) I just love books! And then there are the genres – crime, romance, chicklit, memoirs, science fiction, fantasy. Perhaps I should preface the rest of this post with…

“My name is Melanie and I’m a bookaholic.”

Recently there was a meme making the rounds on Facebook wanting to know the ten books that have stuck with you. Some of these were secondary school reading, others just because I wanted to, and some I’ve read more than once.

The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
1984 – George Orwell
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare
Halloween Party – Agatha Christie
The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbech
Farenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
Dracula – Bram Stoker

Can a person ever have too many books? I think not. As I was creating the hyperlinks for the books on my list, I even scored three FREE ones!

Perhaps I’m in need of an intervention?

 

Happy Birthday Bram Stoker!

Yup, today is Bram Stoker’s 165th birthday. While he’s best known for his novel, Dracula, (of which both Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire Scotland and Whitby in Yorkshire, England take credit for inspiring because of their rugged North Sea cliffs) he has also penned Dracula’s Guest, Lair of the White Worm, The Man, The Jewel of Seven Stars, and The Lady of the Shroud.

So, happy birthday to you, Bram Stoker!