More Scotland...

Where was I? I forgot where I left off last time...so please forgive me if I repeat something...I've slept since my last post.

Some of the highlights of my trip were the historical and spiritual aspects of the trip. I'll start with our visit to a wonderful medium at the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre in Edinburgh. The three of us all had appointments with Rebeca Apolo, and her insights were excellent. Not wanting to share anyone's private reading information, I will share that it's not often I get to be on the receiving end of a medium. As I walked with her to her private room, there was definitely the presence of a spirit walking with us. After our meeting, I asked her about it because I sensed it was an older woman, and she shared with me there had been a fire in the upper floor which had resulted in an older woman being trapped and passing away. If you cannot get to Edinburgh to the centre, they do have online/remote opportunities to mee with their practitioners.

While at the Culloden Battlefield gift shop, there was a woman there manning a genealogy station, so I gave her the name of my biological maternal grandfather. The results came back, and I learned the name originated with the Picts-or the painted people-who were the original Celts who came to Scotland. Some of the notable historical figures they were connected with were Robert the Bruce and William Wallace and that they were warriors. I plan on doing some additional research when I find the time between writing books and the day job.

When we visited Culross Village, I learned quite a bit about the last witch trials. Culross was where the accused were taken to be held until they could be transported to Edinburgh for their trials. Most were tortured through sleep deprivation and that resulted in their having hallucinations which pretty much sealed their fate. One of the last women accused was held in the attic of the church and decided it was better to fling herself out the window to her death on the cobblestones below as opposed to what she had heard would happen if she were taken to Edinburgh. There is an entire trail for the accused in Fife. Next time around, I wouldn't mind taking that same trail.

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I cannot wait until next year's Authors Invade Scotland which will take place in Glasgow. Lessons learned...do not fly into Heathrow...so we can take a direct flight from Indianapolis to Dublin and hop on one of the smaller European airlines to Glasgow. Not renting a car this time because I really feel like I missed some fabulous photos, so after the event we will be hopping on a tour bus to Skye and maybe the Outer Hebrides. in the meantime, I'm going to be doing research into bus tours to see where else we could go. If you haven't done so, head over to the Authors Invade Scotland Facebook page for up to the day news on the event. I cannot say enough about how awesome Josephine Wrightson and VL Peters are with organizing and hostessing this event.

Back to the normal author stuff now. If you are going to be in the vicinity of Peoria, IL on 9/27/25, Readers and Writers Rendezvous will be taking place at the Peoria Civic Center from 10-5. I would love to have you stop by. I will be raffling off a basket of witchy things and you can enter one of three ways...buy a book for a free entry, sign up for my mailing list for a free entry, or buy a raffle ticket for $2. All cash proceeds will be donated to Guardians of the Children.

With autumn upon us and winter not far behind, this author will be enjoying weekends and evenings at home with good food, a cup of tea, and my laptop. I have a lot of works in process that will be coming your way soon. I have Book 5 of my vigilante vampire series, Book 3 of my Wheel of the Witch series, my new series Sunflower Acres and my time travel romance called Uncommon Heather inspired by a lovely little lady I met in Wigtown. I'll also be doing some crafty things to try to get ready for the pop-up market season when spring arrives again.

In addition to everything else going on, I am partnering with two of my lovely, talented author friends to open a bookstore in our community that will be geared toward promoting indie authors, helping other indie authors navigate the publishing world, and having events that give everyone a peak into the wonderful world of art and writing. It will be a destination...not just your average bookstore. Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted.

Well, I smell the cornbread and chili cooking in the kitchen, so I'm going to sign off until next time. I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead and thanks so much for stopping by!!