Humor, Thinking and Witchery In Scotland

My next book, out in August of 2015, is set in Scotland. So la dee dah, I got to visit! That I have a daughter going to school there, too, made it all the more fun.

I try to look for humor wherever I am.  I need it. WE need it, right?  Below are a few of the funnier (is funnier a word?) shots I took while skipping around Scotland.  These are the shots that made me laugh or think or pause.

Or, best yet, the shots that gave me ideas for my next story.

And yes, I did see men in kilts. Quite handsome they were, and those bagpipes? There is nothing like the haunting, cheerful, mysterious, soul – touching, musical blast of bagpipes.

There is only one picture that is not self explanatory. It’s the one where there is a hole. This hole was in a castle, built and rebuilt at different points during the last 800 years and is now in ruins.

The Archbishop used to throw people he didn’t like down the hole.  The hole was a prison, located in the castle he lived in in richness and splendor.  The prisoner is thrown through the hole and down the tunnel, which widens at the bottom. Like a science beaker. The poor prisoner was probably someone who spoke out against the Archbishop or the church. Charming, wasn’t he?

One of the archbishops of the castle also had 20 illegitimate children…another real winner, clearly devoted to the church’s teachings…