Bella Andre, Book Promo, Melissa Foster, Novels

Cape Cod Promises ~ BOOK PROMO

October 14, 2015 Melanie 2 Comments

Cape Cod Promises

Bella Andre & Melissa Foster

Trent Rockwell has it all—a thriving legal practice, co-ownership of the Rockwell Resort, and a big, loving family. And yet his failed marriage to Reese Nicholson has haunted him for ten long years. Now that he has moved back to Cape Cod Bay to help run his family’s resort, he is surrounded by memories of Reese…and he can’t stop longing for the woman he’d always believed was his one true love.…

At nineteen, artist Reese Nicholson was swept off her feet by the handsome, charming, and incredibly sensual Trent Rockwell. After a whirlwind courtship, they married and moved to New York City, where they hoped all of their personal and professional dreams would come true. But six months later, Reese returned to Rockwell Island broken-hearted and disillusioned.

For a decade, Trent and Reese carefully kept their distance. But all it takes is one accidental late-night encounter to immediately stir the desires they have both tried to bury deep. Powerless to resist the heat between them, every passionate kiss, loving caress, and heartfelt apology draws them closer together. So close that they can’t help but wonder if the promises they once made to love each other forever are still true…

ABOUT MELISSA FOSTER

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.

Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.

Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Authors Links:

http://www.melissafoster.com/newsletter/

ABOUT BELLA ANDRE

Bella Andre is the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of “The Sullivans” and “The Morrisons” series.

Having sold more than 4 million books, Bella Andre’s novels have been #1 bestsellers around the world and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists 23 times. She has been the #1 Ranked Author at Amazon (on a top 10 list that included Nora Roberts, JK Rowling, James Patterson and Steven King), and Publishers Weekly named Oak Press (the publishing company she created to publish her own books) the Fastest-Growing Independent Publisher in the US. After signing a ground-breaking 7-figure print-only deal with Harlequin MIRA, Bella’s “The Sullivans” series is being released in paperback in the US, Canada, and Australia.

Known for “sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance” (Publishers Weekly), her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine “Red Hot Reads” twice and have been translated into ten languages. Winner of the Award of Excellence, The Washington Post called her “One of the top writers in America” and she has been featured by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, USA Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and TIME Magazine. A graduate of Stanford University, she has given keynote speeches at publishing conferences from Copenhagen to Berlin to San Francisco, including a standing-room-only keynote at Book Expo America in New York City.

Bella also writes the New York Times bestselling Four Weddings and a Fiasco series as Lucy Kevin. Her “sweet” contemporary romances also include the new Walker Island series written as Lucy Kevin.

If not behind her computer, you can find her reading her favorite authors, hiking, swimming or laughing. Married with two children, Bella splits her time between the Northern California wine country and a 100 year old log cabin in the Adirondacks.

Author Links

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Broughty Ferry, Dirleton Castle, Dunbar, Kelpies, Scotland, Tantallon Castle

#Scotland 2015 Day 12 – Broughty Ferry to Dunbar with Kelpies

October 13, 2015 Melanie 2 Comments

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 22, 2015

While we were disappointed to be leaving Broughty Ferry, we were excited to be moving on to our next destination. At least this morning the sun was shining. We had hoped to be after the rush hour but no such luck. I think we were smack in the middle of it.

After being held up at a stop for petrol (the place was a zoo) because the person at the pumps ahead of us had left her car there (she was already nowhere to be seen when we pulled up) and we waited for ages for her to return and get a less than sincere ‘sorry’. But at least she pulled her car away from the pumps before going back in to get whatever else it was she was after.

Finally, we were out of heavy traffic and onto single carriageways. The scenery through here was pretty but unfortunately, the laybys with the best views were filled with lorries and and other cars already. I finally did find one but had to walk back a bit because the trees blocked the view.

After getting some photographs, we moved on again but not far. We both thought the boot hadn’t closed properly so at the first opportunity, we pulled into a carpark for a church. And never being one to pass up the opportunity to wander through a graveyard, we took a brief time out for a look. I went around by the front of the church (more photo ops that direction) and Don had a look around the back.

When we reached the area near our destination, “Satnav Sally” turned us in to the carpark at the Falkirk Football Stadium. Come to find out, it was overflow parking for The Kelpies. Don’t think that would happen if there was a match taking place.

We got back onto the road and the turn we wanted was at the next set of traffic lights. It cost £2.00 to park which was more than reasonable because you could spend the entire day there. If you wanted to take the tour inside one of the two giant Clydesdale heads, there was an additional fee but we only wanted to see them from the outside.

We did look inside the one that was used for the tours (head down) and it looked like you stayed on the ground level. There were no stairs visible from our vantage point. Can you imagine being able to climb up and look out one of the eyes?

I wanted to stop at two castles on the way to our hotel – The Royal Mackintosh – in Dunbar so we had to get a move on.

The further away from the kelpies we got, the cloudier and gloomier it became and before we reached the first of the two castles I wanted to visit (Dirleton), it was raining. Not super hard but hard enough to be miserable and have to keep the cameras under cover.

These two trees in the gardens at the castle remind me of the ones in the Haunted Forest in The Wizard of Oz. What do you think? They’re definitely spooky looking. And maybe being there on an overcast, rainy day made them look even spookier.

Coming in the direction we did from the gardens, this was the entrance to the castle we took. By the time we reached the top step, my knees were burning but I didn’t let it stop me from enjoying the views in and around the castle – upstairs and downstairs.

I love the stone seats in the window alcoves of this room. Even on a cool, damp day, this room didn’t feel it. But then that could have been the sweat we’d worked up with all the step climbing and walking.

This section of the castle was the Haliburton’s construction. The intricate stone buffet was in the end wall of the Great Hall.

North Berwick Law is a massive mound visible from almost everywhere in the area because the ground is so flat… well except for it.

By the time we reached Tantallon Castle, it was raining harder and the wind had come up. There were times when I thought my umbrella and I were going to do our best Mary Poppins impression.

Bass Rock is home to a huge colony of gannets. From every vantage point looking out to see here at the castle, this formation is visible.

Despite the rain, wind and slippery, wet stones we climbed up to the top and walked on the ramparts of the castle. Mind you, this would have been so much more pleasant on a sunny, dry and less windy day but, hey, it was all part of the experience.

And remember North Berwick Law? Well, here it is again… kind of like the Price Building in Quebec City.

By now we really had to get a move on and to our hotel but we decided that on the day we left Dunbar for Kelso, if it was nice, we would come back to the castle and see it in a different light.

After checking in and getting our goods and chattels into our room, we walked down to the train station to get an idea how long a walk it was. I knew where it was from google maps and the hotel’s website said it was a short walk but a body still has to measure it themselves.

When we returned from our timing of the train station walk, we had a meal in the hotel bar – a Bigger Mack. I swear the hamburg patty was two inches thick! OMG! It was delicious, juicy and cooked all the way through… but way too much. Should we have one of these on a future trip, we won’t each order one. We’ll order one and cut it in two and get an extra order of chips.

Now that we’d stuffed ourselves, we went upstairs got the cameras and went out for a walk along the high street then down to the water where we watched the tide come in before walking back up the hill to our hotel.

Tomorrow we’re off to Edinburgh for the day.

Broughty Castle Museum, Broughty Ferry, Photographs, Scotland

#Scotland 2015 Day 11 – Broughty Ferry

October 12, 2015 Melanie Leave a comment

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 21, 2015

Other than when we first arrived in Scotland on 12th September, this was the first day we had rain – heavy rain. After breakfast, we grabbed our umbrellas and walked to Broughty Castle Museum which was closed for the day when we arrived here on the 19th from Kennethmont.

There were a number of interesting artifacts and displays housed in the museum over the three floors that were open to the public and we were able to leave our dripping umbrellas downstairs inside the door to the castle.

After our tour we went for a walk along the Esplanade for a short distance before turning around and walking back to Fisher Street and eventually, our hotel room.

I mean, there’s only so much you can do on a rainy day. Our original plan was to spend part of today with nearby family, but that fell through so we were left at odds as to what to do. We’d done the planes, trains and automobiles thing so decided to add bus to our modes of transport used and hopped one to where we could purchase a golf hat for the guy who administers hubby’s cancer treatments (after all, you have to keep him sweet so he’s good to you). I had only ever used a ‘transit’ bus once in Scotland and that was back in 1993 to go from the Guild Street station in Aberdeen out to the airport at Dyce. For that trip, I had to have the exact change.

This trip, shortly after we sat down, a ‘clippie’ was there to collect our fare. Exact fare wasn’t needed but no doubt appreciated. It cost £4.30 each way for both of us, which was very reasonable, we thought.

Our shopping trip completed, we caught the next bus back to Broughty Ferry. On the way, the rain started again and at one point, it teemed so hard and the windows steamed so much that we could hardly see. At least the driver could and he was the one who mattered.

When we returned to Broughty Ferry, the rain had stopped but it was still quite overcast. We got off the bus at the Post Office Bar stop and walked back in the direction of the railway station. I thought I had seen a bank with a cashpoint but I hadn’t. Looking down Gray Street, I spied the familiar Clydesdale Bank logo so we went there so we could get some cash. Of course, after we stopped here we saw all kinds of banks along Brook Street.

I had picked up a City Centre Walk brochure earlier at the museum so took a good look at it when we went back to our room. While we were there, it cleared up and the sun came back out. We picked up the cameras and out we went again – this time to capture images of some of the locations in the brochure.

As much as we both like old graveyards, we never did find this one, although towards the end of the day we got close. By now we knew that you had to get the key from the Ship Inn but we’d not seen this sign along the street before.

There were other people milling about in the area and when an older woman came along and unlocked the high gate, we thought all our Christmases had come at once. Unfortunately, this only led to her garden but if you look in the Google street view below, you can see a stone wall in behind there and another one behind it. Sure as anything, that’s where the old burial ground is.

We had already determined that we would stay in Broughty Ferry again and at the same hotel. So between now and then, I’ll be doing some more digging and printing directions and other pertinent information for us to have with us. I’d say sending it to our phones, but that only works when you have data on your phone, or can find a wi-fi hotspot.

Broughty Ferry – we’ll be back!

Book Promo, historical romance, Novels, Susan Hughes

A Kiss from France ~ BOOK PROMO

October 12, 2015 Melanie Leave a comment

A KISS FROM FRANCE

by

SUSAN HUGHES

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

Release Date: 19 July 2015 p/back; 29 July 2015 e-book

Publisher: Silverwood Books

London, 1917. Lizzie Fenwick is young, ambitious, and in love. At least, she thinks she’s in love with the soldier who answered the note she concealed in a box of ammunition shells. She spends her days filling shells with TNT, and her nights dreaming of the mysterious Harry Slater.

Eunice Wilson knows the exact moment her marriage to Jack began to fracture. He refused to enlist, and their patriotic neighbours never let her live it down. Now he’s been conscripted and she can’t help but feel regret for shunning Jack before his departure.

As separate tragedies cause Lizzie to make hard choices and Eunice to cope with loss, the two women are unsure how to adjust when peace finally returns. Little do they know that an earlier war-time betrayal will force Lizzie and Eunice to confront everything they knew about friendship, loyalty, and love.

A Kiss From France is a historical fiction romance novel set in London’s East End during World War I. If you like compelling human stories, believable female protagonists, and the suspense and intrigue of war-time London, then you’ll love this heartfelt tale of two women who yearn to feel alive in a broken world.

BUY LINKS

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About Susan Hughes

Susan Hughes grew up near a small mining village in Northumberland, England. When she didn’t have her nose in a book and, careless of the class and gender expectations of her upbringing, she was climbing trees, catching water boatmen in a jar from a nearby burn or go-karting round country lanes with the kids next door before taking herself off to University.

A career in the City of London during the frenetic ‘Big Bang’ boom of financial de-regulation was followed my marriage, children and a desire for a change of gear. A move to the rural West Country enabled her to raise her sons near the coast and indulge her penchant for visiting stately piles while finding time to keep up her reading habit.

After she found a handful of WW1 silk postcards among her grandmother’s possessions, the romantic greeting on one of them inspired her to weave a story around its imagined sender and recipient. It became her first novel, A Kiss from France. She is now working on her second book send in inter-war London.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/su_sanhughes

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14204035.Susan_Hughes

Website: www.susanhughes.net

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/hughes7584

GIVEAWAY

A paperback copy of the book (open internationally)

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Chris Longmuir, Dundee, McManus Galleries, Pictish Stones, Scotland, standing stones, The Howff

#Scotland 2015 Day 10 – Day trip to Dundee

October 11, 2015 Melanie Leave a comment

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 20, 2015

Today we were off to Dundee to wander the streets and see the locations my crime-writer friend, Chris Longmuir, used in her novels.

We decided to take the 10:34 train from Broughty Ferry into Dundee so we would have the entire day to see and do things. The only train that stops there on the return trip leaves Dundee at 17:22 so we’d have plenty of time and not feel rushed.

The station in Broughty Ferry is unmanned and not even a machine to buy your tickets before boarding the train. This meant having to purchase them after we got on. We chose the last carriage because that’s usually where the conductor starts coming through to sell tickets. And since you need your ticket to get out of the station, the idea (while somewhat appealing) to ride for free doesn’t work. Since we were only going one stop, it made no sense to try to find a seat so we stood. The conductor started toward the front end of the carriage then stopped, turned and headed back the other way. Hubby followed him and in so doing, found Chris. What were the chances of the three of us meeting on the train instead of trying to find each other somewhere in the station?

Our first stop was at the RRS Discovery. Being Sunday, Discovery Point didn’t open until 11:00 so we had some time to kill before we could purchase our tickets and tour the ship. RRS Discovery is mentioned in Chapter 1 of Night Watcher.

Dundee — Warning sign on fence by the RRS Discovery

I’m not sure exactly where the underwater hazards are because there was no water. RRS Discovery was in drydock!

Once Discovery Point opened, we went in and bought our tickets. We bought the pass that would also give us access to Verdant Works (a former jute mill turned museum).

Before we toured the indoor exhibits, we found a table in the cafe where we could make the exchange… sounds sinister doesn’t it? Not really, I bought print copies of Chris’s books and she’d brought them with her. I got the books, she got the money and hubby got to carry the books in our ‘jute’ Aberdeen bag.

We walked up to the Overgate Shopping Centre where scenes in Chapter 1 of Missing Believed Dead take place.

Before we went inside, we saw the domed building Chris used in Night Watcher and the close across the street that graces the cover of the same book.

I’m not sure who dressed the penguins but it looks like a wedding and bridesmaid dresses. Apparently, this happens frequently and their attire chances.

Once inside the Overgate, our first order of business was to find the EE store. I had bought a pay as you go sim card that came with what I was led to believe, a prepaid top up card when we were in Huntly for my unlocked iPhone but could never get the top up card to work. I had followed all the instructions from the packaging and on their website. Come to find out, the £10.00 I paid was only for the sim card and I had to pay another £10.00 to be able to use the card to top up the phone. That wasn’t how it was explained in the shop where I bought it so needless to say, I wasn’t best pleased. At least the kid working in the EE store was helpful but the whole experience left a bad taste.

We finished our tour of the shopping centre and headed off to the Verdant Works. In The Death Game, Kirsty comes here to see her father who worked at the mill.

I was amazed at how soft the jute fibres felt. At one of the displays in the museum, you could feel the softened and combed strands. I thought I was stroking hair!

Chris told us that she worked in one of the jute mills for a time operating a spinning machine. She explained what you had to do if one of the strands broke to us and the interpreter working in this area.

We walked by the Sheriff Court and the police station tucked away behind and made our way to The Howff – a cemetery that was used from 1564-1857. I love a walk through a graveyard and the older the better. This fit that bill perfectly.

You can get a feel for Chris’s historic crime novel, The Death Game, from the prologue.

The McManus Galleries were nearby so we wandered through the various galleries. The Making of Modern Dundee, Dundee and the World, and the Pictish sculptured stones were my favourites.

We made a stop at Waterstone’s where I picked up a novel by another one of my favourite crime novelists and one I’d not heard of before returning to the Overgate with a stop for photos at the Dragon Sculpture

and further up the High Street with Desparate Dan.

There were demonstrations going on in the City Square so we went over. One tent was set up with Raspberry Pi computers connected to weather stations. We had to try it out. Another was reading a weather forecast in front of the green screen which was recorded for the readers but those watching could see it live. It was primarily kids doing this and their performances were priceless.

On the other side of the square, a tent was set up with a display of computers over the years. Two of the ones that stood out to me were the Commodore 64 and the Commodore PET.

In another tent, you could get your photo taken with a Dalek but we didn’t bother, although I did get a photo of said Dalek before we moved on.

By now it was time to walk back to the railway station. On the return trip, we were able to get three seats together so it was nice to be able to chat about the day before having to say our goodbyes at the Broughty Ferry Station.

Broughty Ferry, Pictish Stones, recumbent, Scotland, standing stones, stone circle, Wardhouse mansion

#Scotland 2015 Day 9 – Kennethmont to Broughty Ferry

October 10, 2015 Melanie 2 Comments

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 19, 2015

Over breakfast we decided to visit a few more Pictish Stones and Stone Circles on our way south to Broughty Ferry, stopping first at The Maiden Stone.

After we said our goodbyes and got on the road, I remembered when we were over in 2013 David asking if we had driven all the way up to Wardhouse Mansion. We hadn’t but when I drove by the road this morning, I made the turn. It was posted as 15 mph. You would have to be nuts to even think of going that fast! Two gravel tire tracks and grass growing up in the middle – not to mention ruts and potholes. Still the drive was worth every jostled body part.

We wandered around the mansion and I took pictures from every angle but from inside its walls. The chapel is nestled into the back of the mansion (extreme left in the top photo).

I am so SO glad I drove up here. I’ve been in love with this place since I first set eyes on it in 1993. After spending about an hour at Wardhouse – getting our feet wet in the process from the heavy overnight dew – we got back on the road to what was going to be our initial stop, the Maiden Stone.

Folklore says that the notch in the stone is from where the devil grabbed the maiden’s arm. You can read the full story here.

The other side of the stone has carvings on it as well. Unfortunately, the sun was in the wrong place so they didn’t show up well.

From here, we went to another place we’d been before – the Easter Aquorthies Stone Circle. When we arrived there was a woman a young boy (presumably her son) there and she was letting him climb on the stones and were oblivious to the fact that others were about. I hoped they would soon clear off so I could get some good photos but, alas, they were still there when we left. Grrr…

Our next stop was the Cullerlie Stone Circle near Garlogie. Another couple came at almost the same time and the dog from the farm next door but they held back and let us have our time around the stones to take photos and watch the sheep in the field behind the circle.

After we left here, we tried to find the Clune Hill Stone Circle to no avail so decided with the time we might as well make tracks for the Hotel Broughty Ferry where we would spend three nights.

We stopped at the Aberlemno stones which we had seen before but this time we also drove down the single track road to the church to see the cross slab in the churchyard.

One more diversion before we reached our final destination. We were driving straight by the sign posting for Restenneth Priory near Forfar so I had to go there.

Wow! We were speechless when we walked into our room. It was huge! And the fixtures in the bathroom were gold plated! Talk about luxury!

I’d ordered the champagne in our room on arrival and although it wasn’t there when we walked in, it was there straight away. We enjoyed our bottle of Moet and Chandon then walked over to the railway station to get an idea how long it would take us to get there since we would be taking the 10:34 from Broughty Ferry to Dundee the next morning. It was about a 10 minute walk at the most so now we could set out to explore.

From the railway station we walked to the Firth of Tay to Broughty Castle. It was too late to visit the museum located there but we had time before we moved on to our next destination so could work it in.

After a short pitstop at the hotel to use the toilet, we walked up Claypotts Road to take our time and see the castle there without cars running us over.

I knew the hotel was in between these two castles and within walking distance but I’m really glad we took advantage of a nice evening to visit both.

We had supper in the hotel’s bar (the restaurant upstairs was full) and sat at a table next to a couple from Montrose. When we mentioned that we were meeting up with my crime-writer friend, Chris Longmuir, the next day for a tour of Dundee focusing on locations she used in her books, they knew her – well, at least knew of her.

Aberdeenshire, Alford, Grampian Transport Museum, Pictish Stones, recumbent, Scotland, standing stones, stone circle

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

October 9, 2015 Melanie 4 Comments

#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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bram Stoker, Cruden Bay, Deer Abbey, Dracula, Scotland

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

October 8, 2015 Melanie 3 Comments

#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.

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).

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?

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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.

Aberdeen, Scotland

#Scotland 2015 Day 6 – Day trip to Aberdeen

October 7, 2015 Melanie Leave a comment

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 16, 2015

We decided last night that today would be the day we went to Aberdeen. And for a change, we would get the train from Huntly. We’d never travelled the railway from Huntly to Insch so thought it would make for an interesting journey.

Our friend Fiona offered to drive us into Huntly to catch the train and pick us up at the station when we returned. The off-peak day return tickets cost £27.20. We decided to take 10:24 from Huntly (putting us in Aberdeen at 11:25) and return on the 15:27 from Aberdeen (and back in Huntly at 16:18).

Shopping wasn’t on the agenda (unless you count the Aberdeen map) what we picked up at WH Smith in the Union Square Shopping Centre.

This trip was to get photos for book trailers for the sequel to A Shadow in the Past and another book I’m working on (sort of – still in the plotting stage but the locations known). To make a long story short, I didn’t print my google map of our walking tour before we left Canada so had to resort to buying a small street atlas. At least I knew the street names and could visualize my google map so knew where all we had to go.

As always, we found our way into the Castlegate. But in addition to there, we were at the harbour, on Shiprow, Exchequer Row, Castlehill, Union Street, Rosemount Viaduct and beyond.

And unlike our day trip to Aberdeen in 2013 when I only took the picture of the sign for “Donald’s Way” – this time I got “the Donald” pointing to his sign.

We started for Queens Road (I needed a photo of one of the huge villas out there) but with the time of day and distance to walk there, we were afraid of missing our train and leaving Fiona sitting at the station waiting for us.

We made a stop at a different WH Smith when we returned to the station and picked up a couple of computer magazines and the book Scottish Murders.

I noticed when the train passed through Kennethmont that the B9002 (where there had been roadworks the previous day and this morning) was now open.

Friends, Kennethmont, Nairn, Scotland, vacation

#Scotland 2015 Day 5 – Nairn to Kennethmont

October 6, 2015 Melanie 2 Comments

#Scotland 2015 – Sept 15, 2015

We woke to another day of sunshine. Since we were close to the sea, I thought it would be nice to drive along the coast of the Moray Firth for at least part of our journey.

Being the stinker that I can be (I know I hear you saying – “You? Never”) I really wanted to go through Cullen. Travelling from west to east, the 90 degree corner at the bottom of the hill isn’t so intimidating. When we were over in 1997, we came through Cullen from the opposite direction, my husband behind the wheel. After the sharp corner at the bottom of the hill after passing under the railway viaduct, he swore off driving in Scotland for good.

Kennethmont — Moray Firth at Cullen and a section of the viaduct for the dismantled railway

Can you imagine how loud the noise from the train would have been in these houses? How about the shaking every time a train went through? The little white one has a small gate separating it from the viaduct but the one across the street is attached.

Since we were so close to Ladysbridge (the site of the former asylum that I used in my novel, A Shadow in the Past) we drove by it to see if the two boarded up, almost derelict houses had been refurbished. Nothing had been done to either one of them, but two brand new houses now stood in between them. And the old school building on the opposite side of the street to the main asylum (now luxury flats) was in the process of being pulled down.

After seeing Ladysbridge, we headed off to Orbs Bookshop in Huntly. The lady who used to run the shop contacted me in Sept 2013 about getting copies of A Shadow in the Past after I’d returned home (timing is everything, eh?) so I reached out before this trip and arranged to drop copies my novel off and the possibility of a signing. Anyway, the two books the shop could definitely purchase were signed and the transaction completed. We also volunteered our friends who lived nearby to keep the remaining books and take them to Huntly as and when required.

While there, another woman came in. She was involved with the MacMillan Cancer Support organization so I signed and donated a copy to the cause.

Before we left Huntly, we went over to the castle – another Historic Scotland property. We’re members of Historic Scotland so we get in to their properties free of charge and manned properties have toilets… except they were out of order this day.

While we were at the castle at the top of the tower on the left side of the photo above, we met a couple from Belgium. She immediately noticed that she and my husband both wore the same trainers. Obviously, that brand is known world-wide. Anyway, we had a great conversation with them before going our separate ways.

Since we couldn’t bring home our bottle of 18-year old Cardhu on our last trip, we went back to Knockando where the distillery is located. The plan was to cut across the A920. There was a diversion sign on the A96 just before the intersection but the grass was long enough that we couldn’t see exactly where it was on the road we planned on taking. We got most of the way across when the road was totally closed. Mind you we’d met a fair amount of traffic so didn’t give it much thought… until we came to the construction site and the hole in the road. A slight backtrack and across a single track road, and into familiar territory thanks to the diversion because we drove by Fernbank House B&B where we had stayed in 2013.

Our bottle of Cardhu safely in hand and toilets used at the distillery we were ready to drive to Kennethmont. In addition to the diversion due to the closure on the A920, there was also roadworks at Dufftown. To avoid this, we took the A95 to Keith where we hooked up with the A96 which would take us to Huntly.

We made a quick stop at Tesco for supplies – champagne (to toast our friends’ 30th wedding anniversary and our 40th), wine, something for supper, and a pay as you go sim card with top-up card for my unlocked iPhone.

It must have been roadworks season because when we got the B9002 that would take us to Kennethmont, it was closed at the end where it joined the A97. Luckily, there was another road that would take us past the closure without having to go way our of our way.

We spent an enjoyable evening with our friends, drank one of the two bottles of champagne (deciding to keep the second one for our last night with them).