Robin Burks's Blog, page 10

More Castles, Cemeteries and the Head of a Saint

So last night was the first really good night’s sleep I’ve had since arriving in Ireland. For some reason, the time change really got to me this time around. But I actually now feel fairly adjusted. I woke up early and had room service deliver breakfast as Sunday mornings in Dublin means that everything is closed. Sundays, are, apparently sacred. Unless, of course, you’re in the pub. Because well, that’s okay.

Anyway, I was up bright and early for a Celtic Boyne tour and met the bus at a bright 8 a.m. The day was a bit chillier than it has been (but still pleasant) and also foggy. I like the fog, though, because it sort of makes everything seem even that much more mystical. We visited the Hill of Tara first, which once housed the place where kings in Ireland were chosen and crowned. There are a few burial mounds there, but most interesting were the fairy trees. Supposedly, if you yank some hair out of your head and tie it on the tree and make a wish, it will come true. I guess we’ll see…

After that, we stopped at Trim Castle. Fans of the movie Braveheart will recognize this immediately, as it’s the castle used for the film. I still think it’s kinda’ interesting that the movie about Scotland demanding its freedom was shot in Ireland. The castle, though is AWESOME. Much nicer than Dublin Castle, mostly because it’s a lot older.

Our third stop was at Loughcrew, which is like Newgrange, but a little more interesting (or so says our tour guide, Jamie). I actually found it fascinating. It’s a series of 5,000-year-old burial mounds. One is so well-preserved that you can go inside and look at the ancient artwork on the walls. Even more interesting? The stone it was built with is not native to the area, so it’s a mystery just how the thing was built.

The website I booked the tour through said that it was a “gentle walk” up to the mound. I’m not sure what their idea of a gentle walk was, but it was more of a 20-minute climb and I kept patting myself on the back for deciding to wear hiking boots today, because that incline, in places, was pretty darn steep. If I weren’t in such good shape, I wouldn’t have made it. A few people in our tour decided to skip this and stayed on the bus because of the climb.

We then stopped for lunch at a pub, in Slane, I think, where I had a hamburger. Now, when I see hamburgers on menus in Ireland, they’re 8 freaking ounces. That’s a lot of meat. But it’s good meat, better than what we get in the U.S. It’s made with freaking steak. And the chips we had were amazing. I sat at a table with another American, from San Diego, and two women from Portugal, one of whom I found out was a huge Assassins Creed fan. We got so deep in discussion that we held up the bus. Oops!

Our next stop was at Monasterboice, which I thought was bigger. It’s pretty tiny, but the Celtic Crosses are a must-see because they’re gorgeous and really really really old.

One of the crosses also had carvings of cats across the bottom. Those monks loved their cats…

After Monasterboice, we went to Drogheda for the macabre part of the tour. We saw the head of St. Oliver in a church there. It was creepy, especially considering how well-preserved it was. I took a photo, but there was so much glare on the glass in front of it, it didn’t really look like much. But it was horrific and awesome, all at the same time.

We then returned to Dublin, just in time for dinner. I went to the Gotham Cafe, which is supposed to be a sort of American food place, but I ordered a cod with mussels and sauce that tasted better than anything I’d get in America like that. This place also served pizza and I have to ask, do all the Irish really eat pizza with a fork and knife? Because I was about to school some folks on how to eat in what’s supposed to be an “American” establishment, or at least a facsimile thereof. I couldn’t help it. It just seemed weird to see such a rambunctious and lively people eating finger food like that.

Anyway, I probably shouldn’t be so ethnocentric, and I was too into this fizzy prosecco drink I ordered that had juice and ice cream in it. For dessert, I tried Baileys gelato, which was divine. Now I’m sitting in my hotel room, waiting for my nightly chocolates. I might watch some BBC, take a long hot bath and yes, I AM SLEEPING IN TOMORROW. I have tickets for the next two days for the hop-on hop-off bus tour, so these next few days will be much more leisurely.

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Castles, Cats and Shopping

I had a big plan today, but I slept in, and the plan got pretty much erased early on, as I consistently changed my mind about what I wanted to do. The weather here has been so lovely that I’ve wanting to be outside more than anything: even if it’s just walking around shopping.

However, I did at least keep to part of my plan and after a breakfast at Bewley’s, which was almost healthy (yogurt and fruit with a croissant and cappucino), I walked to Dublin Castle. I decided to go ahead and go inside, and I’m glad I did, because they were closing the castle at 2 p.m. for a rock concert by the band The Script, who are, apparently, from Dublin. Good for them. Bad for me, though, because most of my shots of the outside of the castle have their equipment and stuff in them.

I arrived in time for a guided tour that took us through the castle’s staterooms, which are still in use, even today.  We also saw some of the original parts of the castle that were discovered on an archaeological dig around the area in the 1980s. That was probably my favorite part of the tour. But it was interesting, and I’m going to be an expert on Ireland’s history by the time I leave here. I’ve learned so much!

The Chester Beatty Library is just next door, so I popped in to its Silk Road Cafe for lunch. I had a very good felafel with a variety of Mediterrean-inspired salads, followed by baklava. This is probably the best museum food I’ve ever had. I visited the library, which had all sorts of wonderful ancient texts, including Biblical pages dating back to 100-200 A.D. That’s amazing! And even better, the museum is entirely free (unlike the castle). There are also a collection of artifacts from all over the world.

After that, I visited Christchurch Cathedral, which is a gothic structure. I went inside and poked around, but I was most amused by this particular character, a grumpy ginger cat that was guarding the grounds (by grumpy, I mean, it tried to bite me, which almost never happens because cats usually love me. It also stalked other tourists and took swipes at their ankles.).

I had two other churches on my list that I wanted to visit, but instead, I decided to wander. I wandered right into a sweets shop I’d been wanting to try called Queen of Tarts. I had tea and an apple crumble tart that was to die for. Very good eating here. I wasn’t even hungry, but I hate the whole tart and drank my tea, yes I did.

I decided shopping was in order after even more food. I had some rather unique ideas for gifts for an upcoming birthday and Christmas, so I went in search of what I was looking for. All I can say now is mission accomplished. Maybe I’ll now buy some stuff for myself! LOL

With that, I decided to call it an early night. Doctor Who will be on the BBC and I don’t want to miss that! So I grabbed a salad from Marks & Spencer, along with some crisps (because I didn’t want to be too healthy! LOL) and am eating that in my pajamas in my hotel room. I have an early morning tomorrow, too, because I’m heading to the Boyne Valley to learn more about the Celts.

All in all, it was a l

 

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

It’s like living in a fairy tale

I suppose I should start today’s blog with last night’s meal. I ate at Fade St. Social, which was on my list, although I’d planned to eat elsewhere. But I was tired, still jet lagged and hungry and the place I originally wanted to eat at wasn’t open for dinner yet. So I ended up at Fade St. And it worked out beautifully.

Fade St. is a gastropub that serves tapas, Irish style. So I started with these little bites of goat cheese wrapped in bacon, breaded and fried. Yes, they were as good as they sound. I followed up with some pumpkin macaroni and some wonderful steak medallions. Although I was already full, especially after two glasses of Rose, I ordered a banofee for dessert, a concoction of banana, custard, caramel, cookie-like crust, served parfait style. I couldn’t finish it. But this meal was as good as the Michelin-starred one of the previous night.

I got into bed relatively early, but I’m still having issues adjusting to the time change. I eventually fell asleep, but I was still not prepared for my 7 a.m. wake-up call. But I dragged myself out of bed, grabbed a coffee and scone from the wonderful coffee shop next door, and headed to meet up with the Wild Wicklow tour I’d booked.

The tour was amazing. By the time we arrived at our first stop, I’d chatted up a lot of people on the bus, made a few new friends from all over the world, and was already laughing at the guide’s antics. Our first stop gave us a spectacular view of Dublin Bay. Obviously, that called for a selfie:

I collected a shell and a rock as mementos from the area and because I’d worn my hiking boots, I got pretty close to the water. I was prepared!

Our next stop took us to what I think is the original Avoca Handweavers shop. I’d already seen the Avoca at Malahide, but this one was so nice and pretty, with lots of beautiful flora and fauna, including my favorite flower: pink baby roses.

Aren’t they absolutely stunning? Knowing that I’d be unhappy if I did not purchase something made of Irish wool, I ended up buying a handwoven throw that will match my living room nicely. Of course, the cats will probably like it, too, but this one is MINE. However, it was a little bulky, so I spent entirely too many Euros to have it shipped back home. But I have it, and that makes me happy. I’ve only bought one souvenir for myself so far (but I have bought things for others), so it was about time. It was expensive, yes, but it was the softest cuddliest throw I’ve ever known. And because it’s well-made, it will last forever.

After Avoca, we headed on up to the Glendalough area in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland. We stopped at the Upper Lake. Because I have no words about the beauty of this place, I’ll just post a photo and tell you to imagine that it’s even nicer than this in person. It simply takes your breath away:

You see, right? It’s like something out of a fairy tale. The fact that such a place exists still blows my mind. We stayed there for awhile and I just roamed around and took it all in.

And then I tried Jamesons whiskey for the first time. I’ve had whiskey before, Jack Daniels, but this was entirely different. It tasted pretty good, actually, kind of sweet and creamy. It did, however, burn like crazy going down and I can’t imagine drinking a lot of it, but I was pleasantly surprised.

After our whisky tasting, we headed to Glendalough, which is an ancient monastery and cemetery, where, presumably, St. Kevin himself is buried. I’m not Catholic, but I can imagine this was exciting for those who were, on our trip. The abbey and cemetery itself was amazing and I felt like I had fallen through time into history.

After that, we visited a bridge that was in a movie called, “P.S., I Love You.” I’ll admit that I haven’t seen it, so wasn’t that excited. However, we also visited the area where the Guinness family home is. And it was gorgeous, especially since it’s the time of year when the heather on the hills is in full bloom.

Gorgeous, right? It really was.

We made it back to Dublin after 6 p.m. I was exhausted and almost entertained notions of just calling it a night and ordering room service, but the Irish part of me was like “Wuss,” and told me to go out instead. So I did, and ended up at Gallagher’s Boxty House for dinner. Now, a boxty is a potato pancake. Interestingly enough, when I was a child, my mother used to make them for me, but I had no idea that’s what they were called (she just called it a potato pancake). The boxty I ordered was wrapped around chicken, leeks and herbs and had a lovely sauce over it. It was divine.

Of course, now that I’ve found I have a taste for whiskey, I paired it with a whiskey sour. I find this highly amusing, as I never saw myself as someone who would be into the hard liquor. But hey, when in Ireland…

Anyway, Gallagher’s is in party central of Dublin, Temple Bar. So not drinking in Temple Bar would probably get me excommunicated from the city.

I also had dessert, which was a divine dark chocolate cake that was sort of molten and warm and had caramel sauce over the top, served with a vanilla ice cream.

I was satiated at that point, and tired, and here I am typing up my day’s adventures. Tomorrow, I get the luxury of sleeping in (YES), which I am so doing. My plan is simple: visit a few interesting churches, go to Dublin Castle and DO MORE SHOPPING. I have a few birthday gifts to pick up, after all.

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Of Ghosts, Creepy Portraits and Sunny Days

Ireland is still treating me very well. Last night, I ate at my first Michelin-starred restaurant, Thornton’s, which incidentally, is in my hotel, the Fitzwilliam Hotel. I had probably the best meal of my life. Four courses PLUS wine. Whew. And they kept trying to feed me! I was like “STOP GIVING ME FOOD!” LOL The Irish are food pushers.

Anyway, I started with an amazingly wonderful scallop. I forgot how much I love fresh seafood until I bit into that. There was also a tomato basil bread roll that was very very good. That was followed with an appetizer beet salad that was also quite good. My entree was good old-fashioned beef and potatoes, but, obviously, done up in a high-scale way. Usually, these sort of meals are small portions, but this alone might have filled me up.

But I kept on eating, because dessert was a chocolate creme brulee that was so divine and had some crackling coconut cream or something over it that was really cool and tasty. The chocolate truffle in the middle was also glorious.

At that point, I was full. I’d also had a glass of Chianti. But nooooooo…. they brought me chocolates to end my meal. And I tried, I really did, but I couldn’t finish them. I had to cave after two pieces.

I went back to my room and took a nice long soak in the large bathtub in my room. I fell asleep quickly after that, but woke up around 1 a.m. Apparently, I wasn’t really awake, because I got up to use the bathroom, stumbled back to the bed, where my mind was convinced I was at home and attempted to get into what I thought was “MY” bed (not the hotel bed) and missed the bed by a few inches. I fell and banged up my knee.

After finally convincing myself that I had not, in fact, broken my knee cap, I went back to sleep, although the bruise on my knee made it painful to bend my leg. Fortunately, by morning, it was much better. But this is just an example of the wonderful joy of my clumsiness.

I also woke up again at around 4 a.m. Why? To take notes for my next novel. I kid you not. I was awakened by Alex Grosjean who insisted I change some things around and re-write a few scenes and set up some other scenes. I got up three times to make notes because when inspiration hits, there’s no stopping it.

Eventually, I went back to sleep. And woke up at 9 a.m., which is late for me. But I pulled myself out of bed and went to a coffee shop and got a scone and coffee. After that, I took the train to Malahide.

Okay, here’s a story about how lovely and nice the Irish people are. At the station, one of the attendants walked me over to the ticket machine, walked me through the process and helped me get my ticket. Not only that, but then he escorted me halfway to my train platform, making sure I knew where I was going.

Seriously, these people are nice. The train took me to Malahide quickly, where I hopped on this extremely touristy train/car thing that went to the castle. The tour guide was a hoot and told me a story about a rich family named Barron who lived in the area some time ago. Of course, a light bulb went off above my head. My grandmother’s name was Barron. Apparently, not only am I descended from a king, but there’s nobility on my grandmother’s side of the family. Who knew?

Malahide Castle was extraordinary. There was one of those creepy paintings that had eyes that followed you around the room and I heard some wonderful ghost stories, including one that occurred in this room, where a jester, aptly named Puck, hung himself after being spurned by a woman. I seriously got the chills in this room. It was colder than the rest of the castle.

The castle itself isn’t huge, but it’s quite lovely, as are its grounds.

I wandered all over the grounds after lunch at the Avoca Cafe (I had the chili salmon, with vegetable salads and potato salad, which was SO good). I walked so much that, obviously, tea and dessert was in order afterwards. I went for a chocolate eclair and a cup of tea. So very UK of me.

After that, I got back on the touristy train thing, all the while chatting with the driver. Because people, the Irish love to talk. And they are very friendly. They seriously never meet a stranger. For me, traveling alone, that’s always nice. And it’s unlike anything I’ve previously experienced in my travels. Even if this country itself weren’t gloriously beautiful, the people are what make it worth visiting.

Tonight, I have tickets for a Dublin Fringe Fest theatre show. And of course, there will be dinner.

For more photos of my visit to Malahide Castle, visit my Flickr.

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Going back to college (for sightseeing)

I’m finally in Ireland. And it’s more beautiful than I ever imagined. I mean, LOOK AT THIS:

It looks like a fairy tale…

I began my journey, as always, with a drive to Memphis airport. But I had a paranoia moment before I got 10 minutes away from my house, so sure that I hadn’t locked the door. So I drove back. Yes, I did. And guess what? It was locked. But then I had peace of mind. I was so distracted earlier yesterday morning when I left, that it was very possible that I could have left the door unlocked. I, however, eventually got to Memphis, where my first flight was delayed by 30 minutes. Being that  I had a three-hour layover in Chicago, I wasn’t too concerned. I checked in with United, which handled the first leg of my flight. However, they couldn’t check me in for Aer Lingus, which was getting me to Dublin.

So guess what I had to do in Chicago? Not only did I have to leave one terminal and go to another, but I had to check in, as if I were just starting my trip ALL OVER AGAIN, and then stand in line for security. So I had to do that whole take your shoes off and scramble to pull the laptop and liquids out of the bag TWICE. At that point, I was grumpy because I was seriously hungry. I’d already made plans to eat in Chicago for lunch, but I didn’t realize I wouldn’t get to eat until 2 p.m.

Eventually, I made it to food and sat down at the bar at Fronteras Tortas, which gets a lot of hype, particularly for an airport restaurant. It’s tortas, which is this sort of Mexican sandwich thing. It’s hard to describe, but it’s really good. I started by ordering a margarita, which helped chill me out from having to go through security twice and then had chips and guacamole. The guac was okay, but I fell in love with this chipotle salsa they offered, as well as a habenero salsa I got, too. The sandwich I ordered was called a pepito and was short rib meat shredded with all kinds of good tasting things in between two delicious slices of bread.

What was most fun about sitting at the bar, though, is I met some lovely people and had some interesting chats. One of the other customers was going to Ireland, too, but was doing a Game of Thrones tour. How did I not know this was a thing? Anyway, she was a lot of fun, and then we met this guy from Minnesota headed to Vienna. Between those two, me, and the bartender, we had quite the little Bon Voyage party.

The flight was nice and I sat next to a nice woman who I chatted with quite a bit. I attempted sleep, but my freaking legs are too long to ever be comfortable and I kept shifting around. Of course, by the time I started to watch something on the video screen, I nodded off. Who knew? LOL

The flight felt like forever, but when it was over, I was fine. I went through immigration and grabbed my bags and got a taxi to the hotel. At 6:30 a.m.

The hotel was booked up and had no rooms. I sort of expected that, as they have check-in and out times for a reason. However, they allowed me use of a day room, so I could shower and change clothes and then stored my luggage. I spent the early morning hours roaming around St. Stephens Green, where the above photo was taken.

Then I realized I needed to charge my phone. It had, after all, been nearly two days since it had last been plugged in. So I sat in the hotel lobby and charged my phone and used their free Wi-Fi. By 9:15 a.m., my room was ready, so I didn’t have to wait as long as I expected. I immediately went up to my room and crashed until almost noon.

I was still a little groggy (and am a little now), but felt a lot better and capable of tackling the day.

Which I did.

Yes, that’s right. THERE’S MORE!

My first order of business was food. I had already researched a few places and so accessed the list of starred restaurants I’d done pre-trip on Google Maps. That led me to Coppinger Row, which is a sort of Irish-meets-Mediterrean restaurant. So yeah, my first meal in Ireland wasn’t even 100 percent Irish. So sue me! However, I ordered the daily special, which was a pasta (rigatoni) with homemade lamb sausage and a tomato sauce. And it was literally the best pasta dish I’ve ever eaten. It was a great start to what is also a culinary adventure (all of my adventures involve food, though).

I then went to Trinity College. Yep, I went back to school! LOL I saw the infamous Book of Kells, which was so unbelievably gorgeous and completely indescribable. To think that something that was created by hand by monks in 800 A.D. still looks as good as it does, with every detail on display. It’s literally mind-boggling.

I then went to the college’s Long Hall library. I’m a writer, OF COURSE I’M GOING TO THE LIBRARY! There, the college had a Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf exhibition on display. I learned that my surname was linked to this great ancient High King of Ireland. Apparently, some guy named Burks (originally Burgo, I believe) wrote about Brian Boru’s adventures, and he was a descendant of the king.

I know a lot of people come to Ireland to learn about their family heritage, but I honestly hadn’t expected that. I know quite a bit on my father’s side, so I knew we were some of the first English settlers in Ireland. However, I had no idea we were linked to royalty.

I strolled around the college grounds and enjoyed the most beautiful day of my life (sun shining, green grass, blue skies). I also enjoyed some shopping. Grafton Street, the mecca of shopping in Dublin, is way too close to my hotel.

I also grabbed a gelato and sat in the Green again for a little while before coming back to the hotel to make dinner reservations. The plan is to have a good dinner, some wine, and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, more adventure awaits!

In the meantime, here are a few more photos I snapped today.

 

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Discovering stuff at Discovery Park

My niece is in for the long three-day weekend, the first three- day weekend I can remember ever having myself in a really long time. Of course, being a writer means that you never really have a day off, as even when you’re not writing, you’re still thinking about that next chapter, that next article, that next set of words.

I’ve been doing just that. I wrote a scene that sort of left me unsettled for “Return of The Titans,” the third book in the Alex Grosjean series. But now I’ve turned it into a major plot twist and I haven’t had a chance to write it yet, although I hope to have some writing time tomorrow. This weekend, family comes first, and honestly, I need the time away from my computer. I’m far too married to it.

So our first day of the long weekend consisted of a trip to Discovery Park in Union City, TN.

First, a little background: I live in a rural area, a series of farming communities. There’s not a lot to do within 200 miles from here. So this Discovery Park is a HUGE massive deal, and it’s story is really nice. The guy who founded Kirkland’s (many of us have shopped there), is originally from the area. So he went and made his millions and came back home and built this amazing science, technology and history museum that rivals anything I’ve seen in most large cities. That thing is Discovery Park.

Our trip included a four-year-old, and being that four-year-old attention spans aren’t exactly known for dwelling on any given thing for a very long time, I didn’t have a chance to read every single placard for every single piece in the Discovery Park collection, however, I was impressed. This place is massive and sits on 50 acres of land. There are exhibits inside and outside and, apparently, at least according to a staff member we chatted with, there will be a lot more added in the coming years. The museum covers everything from dinosaurs to space to energy technology to history to an earthquake simulator.

However, I think the most interesting thing I found there wasn’t a replica, but an actual item in the collection: an 1800s vampire hunting kit.

That’s disturbing, right? According to the plaque, this kit was sold to tourists by the Romanians in Europe. CRAZY!

There were lots of other little surprises at Discovery Park, too, and again, I can’t say how impressed I was that this museum is literally in our own back yard, less than an hour drive away.

So if you’re ever in the area of Union City, TN, definitely go check it out. But warning: it’s a LOT of walking. Again, 50 acres of land. Whew! Even the youngest member of our group was exhausted at the end of the day.

If you’d like to see more photos from Discovery Park:

Finally, an update on the volcano. I’ve watched the travel alert status go from orange to red to orange to red, over and over. It’s erupting, as of today, but it’s not subglacial, which means no ash. No ash is good because that means that for all intents and purposes, my Ireland trip next week is still on. Expect me to blog throughout the week with all the wonderful things I’ll be seeing and doing.

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Article in Two Clones Magazine #1

In case you missed my announcement yesterday, I have an article published in Two Clones Magazine #1. This new digital magazine covers all kinds of wonderfully geeky topics, and I was asked to write about my adventures as a fangirl and sexism. So I did! You can buy a copy of the magazine here. The magazine supports writers and pays for content, so please consider buying a copy and having your friends do the same.

In other news, this week has been all about a volcano, called Bardarbunga, in Iceland. Why am I so suddenly interested in a volcano? Well, this volcano is getting ready to blow. Yesterday, a travel alert around the region was raised to red, the highest, which basically means that the airlines are preparing for the worst. In 2010, a similar volcano erupted, and grounded air traffic in Europe for six days.

In other words, that place is about to blow, just like that Ke$ha song. Eep!

Guess who’s going to Europe in two weeks? Yes, that’s right. Me! Well, I hope I’m still going to Europe in two weeks. So I’ve been actively watching the activity of this volcano and praying that if it blows, it does so soon, so it has time to let off steam (no pun intended) before my trip or that it happens during my trip (I have no problem getting stranded in Dublin) or that it happens after my trip. But now, it’s just this waiting game.

This Earth of ours is a wonderful and beautifully crazy place, isn’t it? On the one hand, I’m fascinated by the volcano, on the other, I fear it will delay my travel plans. And I really need this vacation. So… wish me luck!

In other news, Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor (Doctor Who, that is). I watched the new episode “Deep Breath,” and made an absolute fool of myself: cheering, squealing, crying and quietly whispering “NOOOOOOO!” while holding my hand to my mouth. It was brilliantly done and I’m already fond of the new Doctor.

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Missouri burns and I prepare to leave for Ireland

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about the goings-on in Ferguson, Missouri, which is about three hours north of where I live. It’s heartbreaking and horrifying and all we can do is pray for peace there. I’ve been vocal about the events on my social media, so I won’t go into more detail than that.

So let’s go with some more positive news, shall we? I’ll be visiting Dublin, Ireland, in less than a month now. And I’m officially at that panic stage where I’m trying to make sure I’m prepared for the trip. I’m booking bus tours and making sure all my documents are in order and that I still know where my passport is. I’ve made plans for some nighttime activities (because who wants to spend their nights in Ireland in a hotel?), including two FringeFest theatre shows and plans to attend some traditional Irish music bars, where I hope to dance a jig or two with older gentlemen in golf caps. Now that I’m down to the wire, so to speak, I get goosebumps every time I think of it.

Rather than try to tackle the whole of Ireland in one trip, I am basing my stay in Dublin, where I believe I was once told that my grandmother on my father’s side, who I never met, was born. Supposedly, I look like her, but I’ve never seen a photo, so I’ll never know. However, the city is ranked as one of the most friendliest in the world, so I’m looking forward to meeting it. I have a few trips outside Dublin planned, including a tour to the Wicklow Mountains where I’ll visit Glendalough, an ancient monastery and I’ll see a few locations where Braveheart was filmed.

My second day trip is into the Boyne Valley, where I’ll visit Loughcrew, an ancient tomb that, in photos, looks like what I’d imagine a fairy mound to look like. That trip also includes a visit to Trim Castle, which was also used for location shots for Braveheart. Video may turn up of me speaking that famous pre-battle speech if I get so inspired. “BUT YOU CANNOT TAKE OUR FREEDOM.”

My leisure activities involved finishing a skirt I’ve been sewing and starting on a BioShock Infinite/TARDIS dress mash-up. All in all, although this week has sucked, life for me, personally, has been good. I still love my job with Tech Times T-Lounge, and I’ve been writing up a storm.

Otherwise, I’ve been cursing summer because I hate everything about it: the heat, the mugginess, the bugs (my house has been invaded by ants). Fall can’t get here soon enough.

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Not all authors support Hachette in the Amazon/Hachette Battle

Yesterday, I received an email from Amazon about their ongoing dispute with Hachette Publishing.  I’ve been following the argument between the two large companies with some interest as it concerns e-book pricing. For those who follow me on Twitter, I’ve argued for better e-book pricing all along, so I suppose it’s no secret that I’m siding with Amazon here.

The following is from Amazon’s email:

Fast forward to today, and it’s the e-book’s turn to be opposed by the literary establishment. Amazon and Hachette – a big US publisher and part of a $10 billion media conglomerate – are in the middle of a business dispute about e-books. We want lower e-book prices. Hachette does not. Many e-books are being released at $14.99 and even $19.99. That is unjustifiably high for an e-book. With an e-book, there’s no printing, no over-printing, no need to forecast, no returns, no lost sales due to out of stock, no warehousing costs, no transportation costs, and there is no secondary market – e-books cannot be resold as used books. E-books can and should be less expensive.

I agree completely with Amazon’s statement. Pricing e-books at $19.99 is not only insanity, but also hurts the readers. You know, the READERS, those people who buy books and pay for Hachette’s salaries. And although Hachette would have you believe that all authors support them in this fight, I am standing up and saying, no we do not. Let me say that again:

Not all writers are siding with Hachette.

In fact, myself, along with many other independently published authors, as well as independent publishing agencies, want lower prices for e-books. Why? Because we don’t want to screw over readers. Because hey, most of us are readers, too.

I was equally disappointed with the ad that cost over $100,000 that a large group of authors took out in defense of Hachette that was decidedly anti-Amazon. Considering many of those authors are those I enjoy reading, I feel ashamed for them that they don’t really get what this really is about. All they see is that Amazon is pulling titles from Hachette, because Hachette wants to overcharge for them.

For the record? Amazon has EVERY right to do that, just as any business has a right to pull a product from its shelves if it feels it’s not good for its consumers. It’s not like Amazon has a monopoly on selling books. Hachette’s books are everywhere, because they are a major publisher.

But I get off-point here. Those authors who took out that ad get paid the big bucks. And they are only a small minority of writers who make that kind of money to afford such an ad. They have NO idea what it’s like trying to get your books out there to an audience and they’ve probably never done the back breaking work of getting a book  to market. And from what I’ve read, some of these authors don’t even realize that this argument is about e-book pricing (which is really sad, because being uninformed even after taking a side is unacceptable).

Then there are authors like me. Authors that Amazon has helped. Without Amazon, I would have never found readers for my books. Don’t get me wrong, I support online marketplaces like Smashwords 100%, but Amazon has the volumes of shoppers and readers that no other website has.

Ironically enough, this is why Hachette is raising a fuss about Amazon. Do you see them fighting with other retailers about this issue? True, most other retailers aren’t ballsy enough to go head-to-head with a major publisher, but also, Hachette knows that Amazon has helped them sell books. Do you smell the hypocrisy here?

What really frustrates me is that this very issue arose not too long ago with the music industry. And, aparently, the big book publishers weren’t paying attention. Digital items like music and books are not going away. And they need to understand that consumers (in this case, readers) are going to decide with their pocketbooks who wins this war.

As it stands, I’m saying consumers are also siding with Amazon here. Keeping e-book prices low is important and will help both readers and authors because more virtual books are going to get sold. And that’s what is key here.

For those authors whose books are currently pulled from Amazon, I’m sorry. But you yourselves also need to step up to the plate and stand up for your readers, those people who helped pay for your big houses and fancy cars (not to mention line the pockets of publishing industry execs). This is about doing what’s right for anyone who’s ever picked up a book, read it and enjoyed it.

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Some updates about me, life and everything in between

If you follow me on social media, you’re probably already aware that I lost my writing gig with DVICE.com when the owners of the site decided to shut it down. I’ll admit that I was utterly heartbroken because I worked with an amazing staff, including two editors who are definitely responsible for making me a better writer.

I knew, however, that I wanted to continue writing in a similar capacity, so I started applying for jobs and sending out resumes. This is, by far, the hardest part of life: trying to find a new job in a bad economy. However, the first job applied for, Tech Times, eventually contacted me and offered me a position after an interview.

Fast-forward to last week, my first week writing for Tech Times T-Lounge. And I must admit that it was probably my most enjoyable first week of any job I’ve ever had. I wrote about everything from dinosaurs to video games. You’ll see me posting lots of links on social media to the articles I’ve written, so please check them out, share, like, etc.

And if you want to see what I’ve written so far there, you can look here.

With that being said, that doesn’t mean I’m letting up on writing novels. In fact, I started the third Alex Grosjean book next month. Tentatively titled “The Return of the Titans,” I wrote half of it and scrapped it. Well, I didn’t scrap all of it, but as I was writing it, the story became clear and needed tweaking at the beginning. I tried to do what’s called “pantsing,” or writing without an outline, and realized that this doesn’t work for me. So now, I have an outline and am re-working what I’ve already written, hopefully finishing the novel in a month or two.

I’m also working on expanding my short story, “Madame Vampire,” into a novel. The idea was originally for a novel, but I decided to see if I could find her voice. I had so much wonderful feedback on the story, that it’s sort of a no-brainer to bring that character to life even more. Thank you to everyone who’s told me how much they enjoyed it.

So that’s my update, of sorts. I know I’ve been rather bad about blogging here, but I’m going to try to be better, I promise. I didn’t even mention last week’s trip to Memphis for the Monty Python Live (mostly) event, nor have I mentioned the wonderful food I had from both Hog & Hominy and Gibson’s Donuts. However, I usually review restaurants on Yelp, so if you want to know about my foodie stuff, check there.

I’ll be in Dublin, Ireland in about a month, so expect lots of blog posts about rain and accents and really old architecture then.

###

The Curse of Hekate

Alex Grosjean is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex's door and asks for help: he wants to find the insane monster-woman, Lamia, who cursed him. Meanwhile, a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her limits to save the world. Again.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords