On location

Three weeks ago today, I left for two weeks of vacation. I spent most of it in northern England, walking the path that runs along Hadrian’s Wall. The Roman Emperor Hadrian, in 122 AD, decided to build a defensive wall at what was then the northern edge of the Roman Empire. The finished wall was about 80 miles long. Today the path that (mostly) runs along the course of the wall – or where the wall stood – is frequented by hikers. I went with a couple of friends from work, and we had a great time.

One of my intentions on the trip was to post here as I went, as the trip was also part of my research for the next book in the Jamie Brodie series, Stoned to Death. Alas, wi-fi connections in northern England are notoriously spotty, and I was lucky to be able to access email, much less to download pictures or write blog posts.

I didn’t get much writing done, either, as I took my ChromeBook – and it only works in the cloud. No wi-fi, no cloud. I learned my lesson! I actually bought a spiral notebook and wrote about ten pages by hand, I got so frustrated.

But now I’m back, and after a week of playing catch-up at work, I’m settling into my writing routine again.

Here is one of the pictures I would have posted:

That is a saddle quern. It was used in Neolithic times to grind grain between the two stones.

It might – just might – have at one time or another made a pretty effective murder weapon.

Just sayin’. :D