Tuesday 6 May 2014

Tuesday Trips




My post today is about taking little trips and longer trips. 

What do I like best about writing my contemporary novels as opposed to my historical ones?

In my contemporary novels, I have used lots of fabulous world locations – most of which I’ve managed to visit and remember with great fondness. In my ancestral mystery/ thriller, Topaz Eyes, I started off with Heidelberg -a city of great beauty and character. As the story developed, I realised I wanted to have my characters search for the missing Tiru Salana emerald collection in some of the other fantastic world cities which were great places to visit.

The story wasn’t intended as some kind of travelogue, but if any of my writing prompts people to experience the places for themselves then it has to be a great thing. One particular reviewer stated: " ...A fun, engaging read that will have you calling your travel agent."

I loved remembering about the elegant and ancient parts of Vienna and the bustling canals of Venice, but I’ve also included Edinburgh as a place of action in the novel. Keira Drummond, a main protagonist, is an Edinburgh lass but there’s very little of the city actually mentioned in the novel- in comparison with the other places- since her father’s house is in Collinton, a suburb of Edinburgh. The pace of the novel dictated some tourist time in other locations but since some of the action happens in Keira's father's house there's no description of the city of Edinburgh.

My omission of city details was intentional since there was no reaon for Teun and Keira to be there. That was a shame, in many ways, because Edinburgh is an incredibly fine city to visit. I could recommend tourist places here in this blog, but they are set out so much better on the many blog articles available if anyone is intereted in more info.




I love popping down to visit Edinburgh which is around 150 away from where I live. There’s always something to see and do, and if I meet up with friends or relatives then it’s even better.

Keira Drummond in Topaz Eyes is a lass who travels internationally as a translator but she’s got her roots firmly set in Edinburgh. My readers might be interested to know that all of the names used in Topaz Eyes were particularly chosen. Keira is a nice Scottish name as is Drummond. Drummond isn’t exactly a common name throughout Scotland, but from a quick search I chose it becasue there's a good whean o' folks of that name to the east of the Central Belt of Scotland. 

Slainthe! 

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