Month: April 2018

April 6, 2018

News From Scarborough’s Faire
https://amzn.to/2HdDvD9 https://amzn.to/2GXklmY

This is the cover of my book, Deception, the first in a series I am writing about a family loaded with secrets. It’s pretty obvious what the theme of the novel is; double agents, spies, and love between a Nazi and an M.I.5 agent. Wow!
The ‘how’ of this book is an interesting one. I had written a book entitled, Das Medallion (The Locket). The novel takes place in 1980 and is about a woman plagued by dreams of a little girl, and that little girl speaks a language Margaret can not understand. Margaret is a tough woman determined to get to the bottom of the dreams. The book was set in 1980 because Margaret turns out to be a war orphan of WWII. If the book were set any later, the heroine would be a tottering old woman. That was in 2009.
The title of the original novel was problematic for several reasons: folks thought the book was in German, the cover was too dark,(you can see the original on Amazon under Kathryn Scarborough), and a Jackie Chan movie named The Medallion came out that year. Problematic.
There is a scene in the book when five year old Margaret witnesses gold bars hidden in her Grandmother’s carriage house in Potsdam, Germany. When my son, Andrew read the book, he said, “Mom, you have to tell us about the gold.” So, I started a prequel, Deception,. In the book, I set up Margaret’s parent’s love affair and their marriage – AND the original scene about the gold.
Book Three, The Hidden Attic, is set in the present day and is about Ian, Margaret’s son. Ian goes to Potsdam and locates the gold, and his grandmother’s original journal. What’s in the journal and stashed away in a hidden part of the attic is wanted desperately by really bad guys. They can and will kill you without batting an eye. (Shiver). Stay tuned for The Hidden Attic. Hopefully it will be out this year!

 

                                              

 

A big thanks to my very talented son Ryan Gilmore, who designed the book covers. If you’d like him to design one for you: he can be emailed at The Wayward Traveler@ High Vibrations Studios.com

And my latest !               The Wild Mountain Thyme

Https://amzn.to/2Emvvwp

 

 

Blog April 9, 2018
Oh The Summer Time is Comin’

I guess I missed my chance to write on St. Patrick’s Day three weeks ago; after all, The Wild Mountain Thyme, my latest from The Wild Rose Press, is all about Ireland.
Ireland, is a fascinating place, and a small as it is, is filled with natural treasures, poets, playwrights, writers of all types, and of course the mystical, magical things that can only be found in places where  no man has yet to set his foot.
The setting for multiple scenes is Castle Pollard and the ancient monastery of St. Feichin. The monastery has several renowned sights, a backward running stream, The Holy Tree,  and the monastery has not one, but two towers.  I created a working monastery there. The brothers  I created keep goats, make cheese, and  sell their product over the Internet. I had to figure out some way to have a working community so Jim and Megan have a place to recite marriage vows in their minds; sorry, guys, gotta read the book if you want to know what happens!
The best thing to me about TWMT, is Seamus. He sings, plays the harp, and recites poetry. When I was a kid , my brother Bill and I sang together all the time. We loved the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.  They are an Irish folk group; four Irish men  in Irish fishermen sweaters playing guitars, banjos, and singing in beautiful harmony. Bill plays the guitar like a master, and always has; it was easy to sing with him. I may have a few degrees in music, but he will always be a better musician than I am. We sang lots of places, open mic night during outdoor summer concerts, at school,  a coffee house in NYC (don’t tell my parents), but mostly in his bedroom. A lot of Seamus’s spontaneous plucking the harp out of the air and singing reminds me of Bill.
I had lots of fun writing Seamus; the serial killer was a tough one, but again; you gotta read the book!
Have a grand time, as they say in the Emerald Isle, and keep music in your heart.
Check out The Clancy Brothers singing The Wild Mountain Thyme.
https://yhoo.it/2Hb3m0E