Blurb (from amazon.com): A paper found. A secret revealed. A girl’s life changed forever. Myra Gibson’s life is a lie. For sixteen years her parents have kept their secret, but the adoption paper she discovers while cleaning the summerhouse tells the truth. As the past and present collide, Myra finally stands up for herself and begins a journey she may regret.
LOCATION: Western Islands of Scotland > Isle of Mull > Southern Region > Loch Buie > Muileach Castle on Eilean Mor, just off the shore from the real town of Lochbuie.
The island of Eilean Mor, 750’ x 1000’ (approx.) is at the head end of Loch Buie. In reality, it’s an island, surrounded by shallow water. For the purpose of the book, it’s hitched to the mainland from the main gate area by an irregular strip of land, maybe 15’ to 20’ wide, to accommodate walkers, riders, and wagons.
History
William I, King of the Scots, ruled from 1165 to 1214. During this time, he was involved in a number of battles and skirmishes (also known as ‘royal expeditions’) that reflected his headstrong tendencies. At the Battle of Alnwick (1174), he charged the English troops himself but was captured by troops loyal to King Henry II of England. In 1175, under the conditions of the Treaty of Falaise, that included his swearing fealty to King Henry, William was allowed to return to his duties as King of the Scots. (truth)
During the early years of King William’s reign, Daniel mac Conor, a close friend and trusted advisor of Irish descent, stayed by William’s side, even while he was held by the English after the Battle of Alnwick. For his loyalty, Daniel was rewarded with lands that encompassed much of the southern part of the Isle of Mull, including all of the land around Loch Buie. Daniel mac Conor took possession of the lands and immediately started building a castle for his family and followers. (fiction)
Construction
The shape of the castle compound is very roughly rectangular. None of the outside walls, excepting the back wall of the Main House, are straight for any distance. The walls at their base follow the general contour of the landmass of the island under them with straightening of the walls as they increase in height. The approximate center of the northern long side of the island is the back of the keep so that is straight and the house is rectangular, with 3-floors, except where the North Tower sprouts up out of it, adding 2 more floors.
The original construction of the castle began in the 11th century with the keep and the North and South Towers. The main structures were built entirely of stone, with wooden connecting fences that created a reasonably secure small compound, roughly on the center of the largest part of the land, northwest to southeast. The wood for the walls and other uses were large trees brought in by ship from forested lands to the south. Other buildings within the castle walls were wooden.
By the later part of the 13th century, the western end of the compound was complete, including the West Tower, which allowed access to the sea by way of a natural inlet and jetty. The western wooden wall was replaced with stone.
By the 15th century, the eastern end of the compound was added, including new stone outside walls, the Left and Right Towers, and a new main gate between the new towers. The last of the old wooden outside walls were removed. This created a large, open bailey inside the compound.
The outside walls of the castle are approximately twenty feet thick at ground level, tapering to ten feet thick at the sixty-foot high level, and to three feet thick at the eighty feet level at the tops of the five towers.
The ramparts are at the sixty feet level all the way around the compound with arrow slits, but with some openings large enough to utilize other defenses, such as to pouring hot oil onto the attackers, if necessary. No openings, other than the defensive openings, exist in the smooth outside walls. Where the ramparts meet the towers, there is an eight-foot wide by ten-foot high, enclosed walkway through the outside of the tower, with arrow slits in the outside walls.
The castle walls are trussed every fifty feet around the inside from the ground to a height of forty feet, except in the keep where the inside walls give strength to the outside wall of the compound.
The towers are eighty feet tall and have five levels (floors). They are round and measure about sixty feet across at ground level, tapering to about forty feet across at the fifth floor level.
The entrance to each tower opens into the bailey. Each of the towers has a stairwell located inside the entrance. The stairwell is round, approximately fifteen feet across, tapering as the tower does, with stairs that are six feet wide attached to the walls of the stairwell that go from the ground level to the uppermost rooms. Access to each floor is by a large, wooden door. Access to the ramparts is by a heavy wooden door on the third floor.
The North Tower is built (as described about the other towers) inside the keep on the approximate center of the back wall, at the back of the house. See the paragraph in the keep section. The first, second and third floors of this tower are secure rooms within the keep. This tower has a secret escape route from the top two floors built into the walls, which exits into a storage area in the scullery.
Description of Interior of Compound – Towers
The Left and Right Towers are on either side of the gate that opens onto the isthmus of land connecting the castle to the mainland (that exists in the book, but not in reality). The first and second floors are living quarters for the castle guards, with or without families. The third floor (the level of the ramparts) is where much of the weaponry is stored. The fourth floor is where new weapons are made, and the fifth floor is the observation post. The view from eighty feet in the air is spectacular.
The West Tower’s ground floor is accessible on the outside to the water with a natural inlet and stone jetty, and a wooden dock that extends out into the water. When under attack, either from the sea or by Mother Nature (wild storms are common, especially in the winter), large, heavy wooden doors are closed and secured from the inside on the outside wall, and from inside the compound on the inside wall of the tower. There is no access to upper floors from the ground floor level. The second floor is accessible from an outside stairwell inside the compound, and stairs above that, to the third, and fourth floors, which are for storage for the needs of the castle. The fifth floor is the west observation post
The South Tower, from the original compound, was abandoned by Logan’s 3-greats-grandfather. This was after much of the original roof was destroyed, and interior badly water-damaged by a severe winter storm. The roof was repaired, using stone tiles laid almost flat on new support beams with enough of a slope to drain adequately (different from the roof construction of the other towers which had pointed roofs with wood shingles), but the internal damage was too extensive, and too expensive to repair. Since that time, the upper floors were deemed unsafe. The ground floor level served as storage for unused and cast off items.
Description of Interior of Compound – General
While glass for windows and other uses was available in other parts of the world much earlier, it didn’t come to the Muileach Castle until the 1830s when Duke Logan did major renovations on the house after his marriage. Before that, wooden shutters were used, opened during the day for the heat and light, weather permitting. The shutters were closed at night against the chill. The shutters did little to stop the wind – the house was very drafty and very cold in the winter. When glass finally arrived at Muileach Castle, it was first installed in the Main House, then, later, in other areas of the compound. Duke Logan also created a ‘solar’ (sitting room) out of a south-east facing room on the second floor, lining both the east and south walls with large windows.
The Keep
Built as the main part of the original compound, the keep, at that time, housed everyone in the community. By Logan’s time, the keep was for family, extended family, some staff, and guests/visitors, as everyone else had other living arrangements in the area outside the castle.
The bottom three floors of the North Tower are part of the house, while, in the tower, the fourth floor is for the Duke and Duchess’s children and their attendants. The fifth floor is apartments for the Duke and Duchess and their attendants plus a private sitting room for the family.
The main hall takes up half of the first floor on the eastern side of the building, with the rest of the space being the scullery, and storage areas.
The second floor consists of bedrooms and suites, schoolrooms, parlors, the estate office, and more. The third floor consists largely of bedrooms and suites.
Most of the female house staff have rooms on the western end of the third floor, along with most of the female staff of extended family, and attendants of guests. The rest of the third floor is storage.
The Community
Outside the castle, in Logan’s time, dozens of families live on small farms or in groups of cottages, but remain part of the community, coming to the castle often, especially for the many celebrations.
With its location, Muileach has a rich and diverse life with farmers, herders, fishermen, and tradespeople counted among the residents.
Come live in Victorian Scotland while you read the
fourth book of Dayna Leigh Cheser’s TIME Series.
Free Chapter: http://bit.ly/DLC-LT-Free
Blurb (from Goodreads): The adventures of David Balfour, a young orphan, as he journeys through the dangerous Scottish Highlands in an attempt to regain his rightful inheritance.
Stevenson is also one of three Scottish authors featured in the Writers’ Museum in Edinburgh.
Blurb (from Goodreads): Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman’s passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed.
With a heroine full of yearning, the dangerous secrets she encounters, and the choices she finally makes, Charlotte Bronte’s innovative and enduring romantic novel continues to engage and provoke readers.
I love the Logan McRae series by Stuart MacBride. I first discovered them in Costco when they had package deal on – first two and then last of the series bundled together. Of course, you’re hooked and have to get the others. And coupled with the fact that these books are set in Aberdeen city and shire, places near and dear to my heart, makes them even better.
You can read the blurb for In the Cold Dark Ground on Stuart MacBride’s website.
‘Logan’s Time’, A Minor Character Becomes a Big Challenge
After I finished Janelle’s Time, a minor character in the book, Logan Conor, the Scots Duke of Muileach, came to me, demanding I write HIS book, because readers and reviewers liked him.
Now, picture Fabio (remember him?) but with red hair and blue eyes, add a dash of attitude, and that’s Logan. He crashed Richard and Janelle’s wedding in June of 1831 in New Hampshire.
I didn’t know what to do. This was new to me, communicating with a character. Was I losing my mind? Well, I ignored him. But, he was relentless. He was in my dreams, and in my face.
I wondered if I could develop a minor character into a main character and write a whole book about him, so I gave it some thought. Will I be able to do justice to a book set in Scotland (a place I’ve never been) and about a Scots Duke?
Before I agreed to do the book, I needed to sketch out Logan’s life. At that point in the thought process, I had him as a part-time pirate (that didn’t work out ultimately). In order for him to be a pirate, his castle had to be close to the water. I spent hours with maps, looking for the perfect location. I didn’t know it then, but there are a lot of islands of every size in the western Highlands of Scotland, but I finally found the perfect location. It’s a small island, Eilean Mor, at the head end of Loch Buie, a salt-water lake on the southern end of the Isle of Mull. In the book, it’s a peninsula, but otherwise, that’s the locale.
As time went on, bits and pieces fell into place, and I finally agreed to write the book. At the time, Logan’s Time was slated to be Book 2, but then, Janelle’s twin daughters came along with stories of their own, Moria’s Time and Adelle’s Time. Logan wasn’t happy when I bumped him to Book 4, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. It’s a spinoff (rather than a sequel), and, as it turns out, I believe it is the best book in the series. With a lead character like Logan, it HAS to be great!
I submitted Janelle’s Time to a publisher in August of 2011, and signed a contract (big mistake) in October. The book was released in July of 2012.
The day I submitted Janelle’s Time, I started Logan’s Time, getting about 50,000 words done before I had to stop to do NaNoWriMo (Moria’s Time), followed by edits in Janelle’s Time, then the release. I also worked in a switch from my old blog to my new website/blog – a hefty undertaking. Then, work on Moria’s Time, followed by another NaNoWriMo (Adelle’s Time), Moria’s Time released in August of 2013. As soon as Moria’s Time was complete, I started working on Adelle’s Time, followed by a third NaNoWriMo (Clarissa’s Time). I barely got Adelle’s Time launched when we decided to move from Naples to Lake Placid which took about 6 weeks. By then, I was so far behind on everything, I took several months off to catch up.
I didn’t get back to Logan’s Time full time until September of 2014, and have been working on it ever since.
In April of 2014, I was going through the list of Tweeps who wanted me to follow them. I came across a Scots writer who listed his town so I went to Google Maps and found him and all but freaked out. He lives a scant 50 miles (the way the crow flies) from the locale of Logan’s Time. I followed him, then sent a tweet: “Have you ever been to Eilean Mor?” His response was, “No. Are you from there?” We’ve been friends ever since.
In the summer, Bob and his brother took a trip to Lochbuie, the tiny town near Eilean Mor. Up to that point, the only view I’d had of the island was via satellite maps. Between pictures Bob found for me locally, and the pictures he took while he and his brother were there, I know a lot more about what we’ve come to call ‘my island’.
After his visit, Bob said he’d found no indication that anyone had ever lived on the island. I was thrilled. Logan’s castle was built in the 1200s, followed by two rounds of expansions and renovations over the years to become the castle in the story in the 1800s.
I learned that Moy Castle was within sight of Muileach Castle, so I had to come up with a scenario to explain that fact. Also in Lochbuie is a very old small circle of stones – think a tiny Stonehenge. It’s smaller than Craig na Dun (Outlander’s infamous circle of stones).
***
Set in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands, this 19th century historical romance looks at the life and loves of Logan, the Duke of Muileach, beginning when he’s seven years old. Grandson of the old Duke, Logan hides in his mother’s room to witness his brother’s birth. Confused, he watches as his mother, Annella, abandons the newborn, flees to the South Tower, then locks herself and her entourage inside.
After eight self-sequestered years in the South Tower, Annella disappears, leaving a family with too many questions. Later, Logan and Daniel lose their beloved grandfather, followed too soon by their grandmother.
Logan travels to England to attend school, where he meets Richard Grayson—the youngest son of an English duke. After graduation, a celebratory trip to Paris results in tragedy. Minuet, the love of Logan’s life, may be dead, while his best friend, Richard, leaves Paris without notice.
Peadair, Logan’s father, then the duke, renounces his title and leaves Muileach, to face an uncertain future in southern France with his long-missing wife who hates him. Logan, at age twenty-five, becomes the Duke of Muileach.
Believing Richard had betrayed him with Minuet, Logan needs to square things with his former friend. He learns Richard now lives in America. Setting sail to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he arrives just in time to crash Richard and Janelle’s wedding. That same day, he meets, and marries Rachel.
Too long absent from Muileach, Logan returns to Muileach with his family to discover Seanna, a childhood friend, and sometimes lover, has birthed his first-born son. Later, Seanna reveals her plans to make sure her son is the next duke.
Come live in Victorian Scotland while you read the fourth book of Dayna Leigh Cheser’s TIME Series.
Free Chapter: http://bit.ly/DLC-LT-Free
One of my cousins bought the hardcover edition of this book for my grandmother the year she got indoor plumbing. Good reading material while she waited for her turn in the new bathroom. But I digress…
Blurb: (from Goodreads) A teenage murder witness is drowned in a tub of apples… At a Hallowe’en party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no-one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the ‘evil presence’. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer…
Blurb: (from Goodreads) Will uprooting herself from London to live in the country help Kay escape guilt-ridden memories of her husband’s death? Far from finding a quiet life, she is caught up in an age-old village conflict where passionate opinions on Romany Gypsy Travellers divide the local people.
A young woman, Lena, enters her life, unwittingly putting Kay’s plans on hold as Kay struggles to not only come to terms with her emotional past but to resolve Lena’s problems, those of the village and the Gypsies.
Genre: legal thriller
Release Date: 2/18/16
Publisher: Starpath Books, LLC
MERIT BRIDGES, an attorney and widowed mother in Austin, Texas, works hard, drinks too much wine, and sleeps with younger men. When Merit goes after a shady
corporation threatening her client, she encounters hired gun Boots King. His charge is simple, “Stop her!” Merit and her team – including Betty, a mothering office manager with a bad-ass attitude – struggle to stay alive, while they navigate a labyrinth of legal issues, and prove once again that you don’t mess with a Texas lady lawyer.
BUY LINKS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MANNING WOLFE an author and attorney residing in Austin, Texas, writes cinematic-style, smart, fast-paced thrillers with a salting of Texas bullshit. The first in her series, featuring Austin Lawyer Merit Bridges, is Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King.
A graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law, Manning’s experience has given her a voyeur’s peek into some shady characters’ lives and a front row seat to watch the good people who stand against them.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manning.wolfe/?ref=hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ManningWolfe
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14468516.Manning_Wolfe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manningwolfe/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ManningWolfe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manning-wolfe-60a724?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile_pic
PRAISE FOR DOLLAR SIGNS!
A legal thriller not to be missed…Manning Wolfe just put herself on my list of must-read authors. — Mark Pryor, Hugo Marston Novels
Move over, John Grisham. There’s a lady lawyer in town. — Elizabeth Garcia, Deputy Ricos Tales
This novel is smart, funny, moving, and entertaining as hell. — Jesse Sublett, 1960’s Austin Gangsters
A great read, and Texas crime fiction has a new star. — Bill Crider, Dan Rhodes Mysteries
Pages smoke like burnt fried chicken grease on a Saturday night…This one, my friends, is a non-putter-downer! — George Wier, Bill Travis Mysteries.
A high-speed storyline full of twists and turns upon a stark background of reality as lawyers might really experience it. Manning Wolfe is one of the up and coming legal thriller writers of this generation. Read her and enjoy her, but don’t expect much sleep! — John Ellsworth, author, Thaddeus Murfee Legal Thrillers
Ecopy of the book
Blurb: (from goodreads) The terrifyingly prophetic novel of a post-literate future.
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.
The classic dystopian novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity.
Bradbury’s powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which, decades on from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock.