Cathie Dunn writes...

Today, while the rain threatened above the Pentland Hills, hubby and I hiked past them to a nearby area called Old Pentland. On his last walk there, hubby spotted an old graveyard, tucked away from the road. Blink and you'd miss it. So today we headed there (and onwards to Roslin - yes, that's the village with the famous Rosslyn chapel - for lunch). Having fortified myself with chocolate (what else?!), we finally veered off the main road along the hills towards said area. The area, only a few hundred yards, maybe a mile, from the Edinburgh city bypass, is covered in lush green fields. Happy horses and sheep grazed, dozed or munched as we wandered past them. I could easily live on that side of the city (well, outside the boundaries, strictly speaking). Eventually we got to a small entrance, a gate covered by a tree. The iron gate was heavy so hubby had the pleasure of opening it for me. We walked into another world. Gravestones dating back to 1624 but mostly from the 18th ...

No, actually Norman Legacy didn't end on a full stop. It ended with a question mark. But to get to the point... I completed it! ~bounce~ Murder. Politics. Lust. Revenge. Loss. Love. It's all here. This story, a historical novel set in Gloucestershire and Normandy in 1141, had its humble beginnings at a South Wales train station, a few weeks after we took the car to Gloucester and Hereford on a day trip, passing through the Welsh Borders on the way. The area is stunningly beautiful and full of history, dotted with castles, ruins, abbeys and cathedrals. No surprise I was inspired. The first few chapters received positive critiques from members at Writelink, and later, after our move to Scotland, I re-wrote the lot during my Novel Writing course, including a switch of the later setting to Normandy following our holiday there (see previous posts about how incredible Normandy is). But then I hit the brick wall. The words stopped. In a way that was a blessing in disguise - i...

Finally, after months of searching, testing, jumping up & down, throwing things against the wall, chasing hubby from the room, and swearing, the time has arrived: I am happy with my website! ;-) I found a cool webpage design, minus all the various restrictions, boxes, etc, you get from a blog template, tried and tested it this morning, and I still like it! So please check out www.cathiedunn.com - where I'll be posting news, excerpts & background information on my novels. Please let me know what you think... PS - counting down the weeks to 20th July 2011 - my release date!

Woohoo! Here's a date for your diaries:   Wednesday, 20th July 2011!  That's when Highland Arms is due to hit the virtual bookshelves. I'm sooooo excited! I can't wait to share Rory and Catriona's story with you. I'll start posting snippets soon and I'm already planning a couple of competitions and giveaways closer to the time so keep your eyes peeled open! ;-) ~happy dance~ Cathie xx

Piety and Tourism: Mont St Michel Finally, our last exploration led us to the highlight of our stay: the amazing Mont St Michel. An estimated couple of hours’ drive from ‘home’, we decided nonetheless to take the scenic route through the countryside, rather than opt for the faster motorways north, then west. We set off toward Domfront, a small medieval town halfway between Argentan and le Mont. I was taking it easy with the driving. We enjoyed views across the green fields by the roadside, soft rolling hills dotted with sheep and cows. We passed through some lovely forests, leaves falling onto our car, turned softly golden in the autumn sun. We sadly didn’t stop off in Domfront, conscious of the time, but we could see medieval church spires in the town centre as we passed. This was one place to aim for another time, as it had more ‘old’ architecture. But we nearly stopped in a picturesque village called Ducey not far from the end of our journey. One of the reasons to stop would h...