Tag: Scotland

Kindle Deals & Red Herrings

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Amazon has selected THE LAIRD OF DUNCAIRN to be a featured Kindle Deal for the month of November. All month, the book will be $1.99. It’s not too early to buy some virtual stocking stuffers!

The rough draft of the first Harvest Falls mystery is almost complete! Only a few chapters to go–you know, the ones where our intrepid detective, Charlie Henry, unravels the last clue and the killer is, at last, revealed. Next, I’ll be using some elbow grease to polish up the draft, rip out some bits that didn’t quite work, and salt in some flavor in a few sections that need it!

I’m also working on the Jack Canonbie novella, spinning some things around in the plot, and putting some pretty big obstacles in Jack’s path–not that he isn’t good at creating those on his own! This version of young Jack finds him trying to bully his way through life only to find that might doesn’t always make right.

Thank you! Now, what’s Next?

~ Craig Comer ~ Leave a comment

Thank you to everyone who helped welcome BARROW WITCH into the world! I hope you enjoyed the book. Please let me know your thoughts by posting a comment or by leaving a review on Amazon.

So, what’s next you ask? Some exciting stuff!

I’m working on a novella featuring a young Jack Canonbie. Jack was such a favorite of mine to write, I’d love to give him more room to knock some heads!

And that’s not all. I’m also working on a new mystery series that will be a departure from the gaslamp world of A Fey Matter. The series is dubbed Harvest Falls for now, and will have murder and secrets and tangled webs aplenty, all set in the Pacific Northwest. I’m about halfway through an initial draft of the first book. The killer is lurking, but salty and sweet Charlie Henry is hot on their tail!

More to come on both!

BARROW WITCH Inspiration #4 – Scottish Highlands

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BARROW WITCH, book 3 of my Gaslamp Fantasy series, A Fey Matter, is available for pre-order! As part of the release, I’m sharing some of the inspiration for the book’s events and places.

Hear anyone say, “Scotland,” and almost instantly images of the Highlands come to mind. And for good reason. They are spectacular in ways that my photography skills cannot nearly do justice.

Here are a few images of the places that inspired my imagination, including some of Effie’s Glen Coe!

BARROW WITCH Inspiration #3 – Scottish Writers

~ Craig Comer ~ 2 Comments

BARROW WITCH, book 3 of my Gaslamp Fantasy series, A Fey Matter, is available for pre-order! As part of the release, I’m sharing some of the inspiration for the book’s events and places.

A trip to Edinburgh can’t be had without recognizing the amazing amount of influential writers who have lived within the city over the past 500 years. There is even a Writers’ Museum dedicated to some of its most famous inhabitants… not to mention the monuments and statues!

Sir Walter Scott’s influence on Scottish culture is hard to deny, and his home of Abbotsford is filled with the rich history of the man’s life. His books are everywhere in Edinburgh. The Scott Monument dominates Princes Street.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s childhood house on Heriot Row features quite a bit in A Fey Matter. After all, it is the home of Thomas Stevenson. But did you know that you can not only walk to it, but lodge in it as well? It’s a hotel and hosts private events!

Kenneth Grahame’s house is also now a hotel. I’ve enjoyed staying here a couple of times, and can recommend it. Its views of Edinburgh Castle and location can’t be beat!

For J.K. Rowling fans, check out The Elephant House cafe, where reportedly a large part of the first Harry Potter book was written. It has a long history of writers finding inspiration at its tables, and the views of the castle are spectacular!

BARROW WITCH Inspiration #2 – Borders History

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BARROW WITCH, book 3 of my Gaslamp Fantasy series, A Fey Matter, is available for pre-order! As part of the release, I’m sharing some of the inspiration for the book’s events and places.

The Scottish Borders region is rife with history, and several of the places I’ve visited made it into BARROW WITCH, although not always in their original form. Without spoilers, here are:

  • The Hawick Mote, a hillfort within a town famous for its Tweed knitwear & an annual Common Riding meant to commemorate the defense of the town against Border Reivers
  • The medieval ruins of Roxburgh Castle, an auld stronghold at the junction of the rivers Tweed and Teviot
  • The Jedburgh Castle Jail, a Victorian jail built atop a medieval castle
  • The mysterious Rosslyn Chapel, where the Holy Grail is kept…?

Hope you enjoy reading about these tidbits as much as I did weaving them into Effie’s adventures!

BARROW WITCH Inspiration #1 – Walking the Scottish Borders

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BARROW WITCH, book 3 of my Gaslamp Fantasy series, A Fey Matter, is now available for pre-order! In order to celebrate, I thought I’d share a little bit about the inspiration for the book.

A couple years ago, my wife and I walked the Borders Abbeys Way. Well, most of it…in parts. The point is, we walked a lot for several days! Along the way, we not only saw beautiful scenery, we explored the region’s incredible past, enjoyed its rich culture, and found quite a few spots that made it into the pages of BARROW WITCH. Here is a sampling!

Can you spot the tree where Thomas the Rhymer met the Queen of Elfland?

You can pre-order BARROW WITCH on Amazon! It comes out July 28th!

Craigmillar Castle – Murder Plots & Witchcraft!

~ Craig Comer ~ 2 Comments

Welcome to Realm Tramper, a mini-reboot of my author blog. Here I’ll continue to post status updates about my books, and interviews and tidbits on writing and writers. But I’m also going to post some insights into the places and characters that inspired elements of my writing, from my travels in Scotland and farther afield.

I’m starting with a castle featured in THE LAIRD OF DUNCAIRN, Craigmillar Castle. This isn’t a play on my name but a real fortress in Edinburgh (and a really cool one at that!) Located on the outskirts of the city, it’s where royalty took refuge from plagues, nobility plotted murders, and the brother of one king was imprisoned for the practice of witchcraft.

I first explored the stone tower house and ranges of Craigmillar Castle as a college student, and the memory of it stuck with me–from the beautiful fields surrounding the “High Bare Rock”–a translation of Craigmillar–to the turreted towers and imposing keep. One of the coolest things about Craigmillar is the lack of crowds. As opposed to Edinburgh Castle, which has queues within queues spawned by other crowded queues, visitors of Craigmillar can roam the tower and walls as if they owned the place! (Note the complete lack of other visitors in my pictures.) And if that isn’t great enough, if one is inclined, they can walk the 4 miles between the two castles via some great parks and quaint suburbs, and really get a feel for the modern city.

When I needed a clandestine prison for the Fey Finders to hold Effie, I knew Craigmillar was the perfect place. With its history as a prison and place of nefarious plots, where better to have Effie confront the dastardly Edmund Glover?

Here’s a timeline of some notable events at the castle, along with a drawing of the castle’s layout:

 

 

A view of Edinburgh Castle from Craigmillar’s towers:

 

 

 

 

The ‘service of an archer’, an interior passageway, and the outer courtyard:

Have you ever been to Craigmillar? What did you think? Are there any other great places that stand out from your own travels? Let me know!