Of More Time and Photographic Journeys

November has been a busy month with work and Nanowrimo, so hopefully I'll have more time to blah-blah-blog. My plan is to share pictures of Ireland interspersed with book reviews and whatever else leaks from brain to fingertips to keyboard. I don't want to waste anybody's time so let me get right to it!

With over 250 photographs and hours of video, I can't help but feel I discover a new jewel each time I look at my Ireland pictures. Fortunately, I can't hold you captive on my couch and force you to look at everything. Highlights only. Having said that, I feel my initial post on the Hill of Slane, County Meath is incomplete so I want to add to it.

The Hill of Slane (492 ft.) is a peaceful, dreamy place overlooking one of the loveliest parts of the Boyne Valley, and on a clear day you can see for miles. See the Ireland Pictures post below for a hilltop view. It's where St. Patrick chose to light the Christian Paschal Fire in defiance of Irish King Laoghaire. Next to the cemetery is Slane Abbey, dating back to the 15th century, the reason for the additional post.

At first glance, the remaining two-story stone walls look unadorned, but if you look closely there are faces gazing back at you.

This photograph shows the stone mason's skill at carving and building archways.

Next, we visited Monasterboice, an ancient monastic site with one of Ireland's tallest round towers, church ruins and beautiful Celtic crosses. The original site is said to have been founded in the 4th century by a follower of St. Patrick named St. Buithe. The small community thrived for centuries until it was seized by vikings in the 10th century. The Irish high king of Tara, Donal, regained the territory soon after, and is said to have single-handedly killed 300 of those pesky viking guys. The elaborately carved Muiredeach's High Cross, dating from 922, is in great condition. Once again, we arrived early managing to tour the site before a bus load of people showed up. Tourists...sheesh. :D

Monasterboice

Muiredeach's High Cross

If you think you're made of stauncher stuff than the average person, rent a car and make your own way. There's really no other way to travel. Your itinerary and hours are yours. Driving on the opposite side of the road with the driver's seat on the opposite side of the car makes for exciting times and the sheer terror--I mean fun-- of screaming your way through a foreign country along narrow, winding roads the size of a large sidewalk with stone walls on either side with no shoulder going 100 km but feels like warp speed should definitely not be underestimated.

Next stop: Carlingford

Slainte!

TWILIGHT MONTH AT PURE IMAGINATION

My blogging buddy, Lori, is having a Twilight/New Moon giveaway at Pure Imagination. Whether you're Team Edward, Team Jacob or just enjoying Bella's love story, jump like a spider monkey to Lori's blog and enter to win some awesome prizes!

Ireland Pictures

I'm back! Truth is, I've been back for some time now, but work and the awful stomach ick (my favorite medical term) has kept me from doing most anything but sleep.

Ireland truly is a magical place with breathtaking landscapes and warm, amiable people. We were fortunate enough to have two weeks of spectacular weather after what everyone said had been a "monsoon summer" with three steady months of rain.

We landed in Dublin at seven in the morning, rented a car and headed directly out of the city. Our first stop was Bru na Boinne , visiting the neolithic sites of Newgrange and Knowth. The tombs are older than the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge in England. The tour was wonderful and informative. It was spectacular to finally see the sites in person after reading about them online for months.

Burial tombs at Knowth

Entrance into tomb at Newgrange

Newgrange

You can actually go inside Newgrange, and they have a simulation of how the sun shines through the opening during the Winter Solstice, illuminating the inner chamber. It was remarkable and if you're planning to go to Ireland, this is a must see. Don't make the mistake I made by not buying souvenirs at the gift shop. I thought I'd be able to find most of what I wanted in Dublin at the end of our trip and thus save our backs from lugging everything around for two weeks, but that wasn't the case. Dublin had great city finds but very little from other areas. The gift shop at Bru na Boinne had beautiful jewelery with the ancient three spiral design which I wish I'd just gone ahead and purchased. There's always next time.

Note the beautiful blue sky!

The next day we went to Hill of Slane. Unlike monuments in the United States, the monuments in Ireland are rarely guarded or roped off. We arrived at Hill of Slane early in the morning, the air crisp and cool, and were pleasantly surprised to find the ruins of the monastery in a large field inhabited by cows. Careful to dodge cowpies, we were able to get close and examine the stone engravings.

More to follow! Hope you come back and visit!

Ireland Here We Come!

Tomorrow we're off to Ireland for 12 days! I can't wait to finally see the Emerald Isle after reading so much about it and enjoying Irish poets and authors for years.

We'll definitely be busy, traveling from coast to coast and back again. And don't I wish Jericho Barrons was for real- Barrons Books and Baubles would be my first stop! I was going to buy tickets to a reading by Seamus Heaney-real and definitely more literary-but so not the same. I admit it, I'm shallow. I'll take a Guinness and my fantasy, please!

Now don't forget about my Monday giveaways! They'll resume when I get back.

Happy reading, everyone, and enjoy the Gerard Butler vids! They're two of my favorite scenes from the movie PS I Love You. Although he's Scottish, he plays one hot singing, dancing leprechaun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2bNw1FU9i0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDgiq21uUhg

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

5 Stars. Highly recommended.

Suzanne Collins has done it again. Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, is just as emotionally charged as the first book. It quickly grips the reader by the heart and squeezes. Raw emotions are ever present. Survival is number one on the hierarchy of need but big surprises await Katniss, Peeta and Gale, ones they could never have predicted. The dark and powerful Capitol looms large over the lives of everyone in the 12 districts, and President Snow wants revenge...

I don't read book jackets because they contain a certain measure of spoileriness and I like to be surprised, so I'll never write a review that gives anything away. Suffice to say, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are intense must read books about a future dystopian North America. (Lots of big words in that sentence but I'm not but a humble pirate. Argh!)

Suzanne Collin's active writing style pulls the reader in. There's nothing passive or extraneous in the writing, not a single verb or adjective is out of place. Every word, every sentence, every dialogue propels the story forward and all we can do is hold on. Just enough back story is layered in to remind the reader of important events from book one. Descriptions are brief but distinct. The reader knows the characters and the environment -very much a character in its own right- without being hammered over the head with details. The author leaves room for readers to use their imaginations and personalize everything. Deep point of view allows us to know and love Catniss Everdeen. She's strong yet vulnerable, but never evokes pity. She's our girl on fire.

Book three can't come soon enough! The book is brilliant and I'll read the series again, which for me, is really saying something.

Let me know what you think. Happy Reading!

Win Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland

Enter to win

Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland

I ran out and purchased this book the first day it hit the shelves in June. It easily piqued my interest and kept me turning pages to find out what happened next. To the exclusion of all things, I finished it in one day. If you enjoy urban fantasy, you'll love this urban fantasy suspense thriller. In Mark of the Demon, I got lost in the magic and didn't analyze the writing, dialogue, characters and world building-although all these things are skillfully managed. I loved this book because it took me AWAY from thoughts of writing and just let me enjoy. I had no choice. I was sucked in!

The main character, Kara Gillian, is a witty detective by day, a demon summoner by night. She's worked hard to get where she is and she's good at it, but the character is sympathetically written with vulnerabilities. She isn't the perfect, beautiful heroine doing the job with a tough obnoxious attitude, unrealistically killing multiple baddies three times her size. (I don't like those kinds of characters.) Kara is totally believable as a demon summoner detective with Fraggle Rock as her ring tone.

The story opens with her successfully summoning one of the highest level demons. She's finally getting the break she's been waiting for in the police department: heading the task force for the Symbol Man's serial murder case, and she must learn to handle herself among the men assigned with her, and solve the crime as quickly as possible. But something goes strangely awry during a routine summoning, and Rhyzkahl, an intensely powerful, angelic creature appears. Oops!

The plot is original, and the suspense had me going all the way to the end. The story was perfectly paced, not long winded. Knowledge of police work is evident, and I loved the interactions between Kara and FBI Agent Ryan Kristoff.

Just an all round sexy, exciting, fun read! The sequel, Blood of the Demon, will be out in Spring, 2010, so I'm sure some pressing questions will be answered. I hope.

4.5 Stars, Recommended

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• The giveaway for Monday, September 7th is the debut novel, Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland. There were new books available at the RWA conference, but I didn't have the opportunity to meet the author. This is a great start to a new series and I can't wait for the next installment. Rowland writes like a seasoned professional. It's very difficult to believe this is her first book! Leave a comment below for one entry to win. Link to the giveaway on your blog for another entry to win. As always, I'll use the random number generator to choose the winner. Contest closes at 5pm EST on Mondays. Good luck, everyone!

Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

Dreamfever, the 4th installment in Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series, does not disappoint. It's edgy, unpredictable and keeps you on the edge of your seat. That's very difficult to do, but Moning is such a talented storyteller and skilled author that she's able to sustain mystery, intrigue and tension throughout the entire book and series. She definitely knows her craft and fans love her for it.

In true Moning fashion, she leads the reader down a bread crumb path meting out clues to ponder, while the pathway gets increasingly darker and more terrifying. There are few answers, but non-answers are plentiful, another Moning trait.

Macayla Lane continues to grow as a character. She's no longer the innocent girl from the south, no longer 2.0 but Mac 4.0! And Barrons! (I love the man. I know he's fictional, but still.) In Dreamfever, we get a bit more insight into his character but burning questions still remain.

The Fever puzzle is gradually falling into place; clues abound but the final picture

shimmers behind a magical veil just out of reach. Exactly how it should be! It's a great series, 4.5 stars and highly recommended. If you want to read the series, it's best to read the books in order. Enjoy!

From Amazon:

MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the erotic Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master’s spell.…In New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning’s stunning new novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin’s battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest—and most erotically charged—adventure of her life.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister’s murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac’s every thought—and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V’lane vie for her body and soul, as cryptic entries from her sister’s diary mysteriously appear and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac’s greatest enemy delivers a final challenge.…

It’s an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth—about herself and her sister, about Jericho Barrons…and about the world she thought she knew.

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (August 18, 2009)