The Bottle Dungeon of Barcaldine Castle

     The bottle dungeon of Barcaldine Castle is not a place anyone would wish to be.  It is a dark and scary place at best.  Normally there is a metal grille covering the top of it, but we were permitted to get a closer look.  You will hear more about that in the upcoming book!

Excitement! The third book is about halfway finished!

                                                                  Barcaldine Castle
      Before I went to Scotland I had the plot for the third book in my mind.  Then I needed to find the right places for some of the action.  Some of the areas I selected by doing research ahead of time and then I visited them to confirm that they would work.  Then there were the wonderful places I discovered along the way.....like Barcaldine Castle.  I fell in love with Barcaldine.  It is a sixteenth-century castle that plays an amazing part in Scottish history.  I can't wait to tell you about it in my next book.....

The Quiraing

     In my second book, Message in the Skye, I describe the amazing place called the Quiraing as a place where dinosaurs once roamed.  Today you will see sheep grazing on the grassy rock formations, but it is certainly not difficult to visulize the dinosaurs.  This is a place with an untouched beauty straight out of the pages of prehistoric times.  It commands an unparalleled view of the Inner Hebrides Islands and is a place I will never forget!

A mysterious Scottish castle for the next book

     I have visited so many great Scottish castles and stayed in many too, but this is one of my very favorites.  I like it because it is relatively small and yet it has an amazing history, which rivals a lot of the larger ones.  I mean how can you go wrong with a place that can boast secret passageways, a bottle dungeon, a possible ghost and murder?  Then turn it all into a real bed and breakfast and it's a mystery writer's dream come true.
     So, what can you look forward to in my next book?  I am so excited about it, that I can barely contain myself with excitement! I can guarantee you that Barcaldine Castle will be featured.  After all, it is a beautiful place....for people like me who stay in the exquisite rooms.

Castle Ewen

     The rock formation known as Castle Ewen on Isle of Skye is an amazing place.  It may look like an easy climb up, but let me just say the pictures make things look a lot closer than they are.  In the second picture you can see me climbing up.  The drop on either side of me is very scary!  The path is very narrow!  This is the place in the book where Kiska and Gully encountered one of the would-be killers!

Watch out for the SHEEP!

     When you travel in Scotland it might take you considerably longer to get somewhere than you plan.  One of the reasons is these cute little sheep sharing many of the roads with you.  Yes, they have fenced pastures, but these sheep believe that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and believe me they know how to get out!  They are constantly grazing on the side of the road!  I love looking at them and I was forever taking their pictures out the car window.  When my husband  drove the car, I told him if he hit one of the stone fences that was fine, but if he hit a sheep, he was going to die too!  Fortunately he never tested that threat because he avoided all sheep on the road!

The Fairy Glen

     If you read Message in the Skye, you might recognize this picture.  It is the Faerie Glen on the Isle of Skye.  I spent a day hiking over the green mounds and up to the center rock formation known as Castle Ewen.  I have never seen anything remotely like it.  It is like being in the middle of a faerie tale book.  As far as ye can see there are varying sizes of green hills.  Sheep occassionally wander over them.  It is a surreal place that really exists on a spectacular island off the coast of Scotland.

Snow covered Highlands!

   It was hard to believe I was actually seeing snow in May and June, but there it was in the Highlands of Scotland!  The colors were truly amazing!  There were vibrant greens of every shade imaginable and scenery hard to match anywhere!  My pictures will never do it justice, but trust me the Highlands are BEAUTIFUL!

A ring from Scotland!

     Believe it or not in this day of, "everyone has a cell phone attached to their ear," you can still find working British phone booths in Scotland.  This one was even in a rural setting!  I can't remember the last time I saw a phone booth in the U.S. and certainly not one that works!  Just for fun I have to have someone use one in my next book.  Now at least you will believe me when you read the book!

Palm Trees in Scotland

     You may recall reading about the little village of Plockton, Scotland in Message in the Skye.  Kiska and Gully stopped there to meet an artist.  It is an amazing place, absolutely beautiful!  Yes, they really do have a type of palm tree there.  Located about ten miles from the Isle of Skye, this tiny village is often as much as ten degrees warmer than the island.  Tucked in between the mountains and the water, it is a gem of beautiful scenery in every direction.  It is certainly not surprising that many artists live there.

Mind Your Head!

     For those of you who find it difficult to believe that people were really as short as Kiska thousands of years ago, please go to Scotland and visit some of the ancient structures.  This is a cairn.  From a distance it looks like a pile of rocks, but it is really a structure you can crawl into and stand up in the middle.  It was built thousands of years ago and no one knows for certain how they were used.  I will tell you the openings are very short.
    Most castles have room entrances that are much shorter than people today as well.  I can not tell you how many times my poor husband bumped his head when we visited places.  It got to be a joke between us because I was always telling him to "Mind Your Head!"

Brochs

    If you have read my first two books you might recall reading about brochs.  They were constructed by the Picts in the Highlands of Scotland about two thousand years ago.  To say that they are amazing is an understatement.  These structures were built without concrete or cement.  They are stacked stones with thick walls that were built most likely for defensive purposes.  Although partially in ruin, the main reason for that is that people took them apart to use their stones for other purposes and not because they fell.   While I was in Scotland I explored quite a few of these structures and although they seemed similar in construction, their awesomeness continued to inspire me.