Researching!

I was doing some additional research for my current Scottish historical and stumbled upon the perfect place for my heroine to "hide".  I had a picture in my mind, but wanted to check the geography of the region (north east Scotland).  Amazing how my imagination closely matched what I found.

I love stumbling upon great images and factual tidbits. You just never know where you may use it in a story, but it's nice to tuck away for later use. These caves are perfect for my story and I can't wait to write the scene(s).
I also needed some flora and fauna information. We all know about the Scottish thistle, heather, and lavender.  I needed so deep details, more specific to a region. I was surprised to learn about some of the trees that grew in the area which seems a little bleak to even allow anything to take life.
I was pleased to learn about the bottle nose dolphin that populates the waters shown in the picture.  Moray Firth is swimming (sorry the pun) with them and I love the dolphin and will love to pull some into my story as well.

And who couldn't love the Highland Cattle (Gaelic: kyloe)? They are so cute and furry that I would love to have them in the back yard.  My husband said no. He didn't even hesitate, just no!  And I'm sure my dog would have heart failure at the huge beasties roaming her territory.

Inspiring Inspirations

Just finished 2 books by Ruth Logan Herne. She's a local writer and friend and extraordinary prolific.  Currently she's published 8 books with Harlequin Love Inspired and she writes a great blog.

What I love about Ruth's books is that they are gritty inspirationals. Real people, real problems.  Tough problems that take a lot of hard work and faith to resolve.  I love her characters and the way she writes them as if they were my neighbors.  To top it off, she writes about local places and I love that.


Another thing I like is that she's changed my view on Inspriational novels. They are much more contemporary than I thought, more involved, and character driven.

That's it according to Maddy~

Madelyn

Reading & Re-Reading

I've just finished a great Scottish Historical that I loved. It is the first book in a series by Maya Banks. I've already read the series, but it's in my Nook app on my iPad and it's super convenient to read when I'm on the treadmill.  Plus I've exceeded my book purchase budget this month, so I'm stuck re-reading.

There are very few books that I re-read. I'm always in for a Jane Austen reread. I make it a point to read Jane Eyre at least once a year. And Shakespeare, I read him as much as possible. But there are also a ton of variations on these classics and I enjoy the creativity to make the story new and fresh.

So what do you re-read? Is there that book you must read every so often or else you feel as if you are missing out? Do you hate to re-read and just wait for new releases?

I'm patiently waiting for the next Scottish Historical by Maya Banks, but it looks as if that is months away - heavy sigh.

That's it According to Maddy~

Tootles,
Madelyn

New Blog Design

Hello,
There has been some chatter on writer blogs these days about writer's websites. With Facebook and blogs is it really necessary to have a website? At first I thought yes. But as I thought about things, really why do you need a website if you are visible on facebook and have a blog (which feeds to Facebook)?

I can add book excerpts, writing updates, add pages for contests and contact info. So really a website isn't truly necessary.

What is necessary is a way for writers to find you. See what you are currently doing and look at our backlist. Readers need to be able to email us or post a comment on Facebook. Just a way to communicate and share. And a website is static where as Facebook and blogs are asynchronous communication avenues that work great for writers and readers.

So my website address will now filter to my blog which will allow for readers and writers to access as well as feed to Facebook. All and all a great solution.

That's it according to Maddy~

Tootles,
Madelyn