Dunnottar Castle, Scotland, Overlooking the Setting of ARTIFACT

My debut mystery novel, Artifact, goes on sale this week. There are links to buy the book in the side-bar of the blog, but since this is a mysterious photography blog, I'm going to keep things related to photography! (You can read more about Artifact here.)

The setting for the book was inspired by my travels to the Highlands of Scotland, especially the Dunnottar Castle ruins. The site of the ancient fortress is a chunk of land on cliffs that stretch out into the North Sea, only accessible by walking down a steep path and up another one. It's no wonder the site was used as a fortress beginning in the Dark Ages and played a role in Scotland's history throughout the centuries.

In ARTIFACT, historian Jaya Jones travels from San Francisco to London to a Pictish archaeological dig in the Highlands of Scotland, piecing together the secrets of a lost Indian treasure that are hidden in a Scottish legend from the days of the British Raj.

 —Gigi

The Moss-Covered Dunnottar Castle Ruins

I was recently designing a book cover for a book of poetry, and I thought of a photograph that would work wonderfully for it. It was the top image below, a doorway at the Dunnottar Castle ruins in Scotland. When I pulled out my Dunnottar Castle photos to find the image, I realized there was what looked like a face carved in stone above the doorway. I guess I gravitate towards gargoyles and grotesques even when I don't mean to!

I haven't looked at these images for a while, so I'm glad I pulled out these old photos of Dunnottar. This dramatic Scottish landscape is why I set part my first mystery novel in this region of Scotland. I'll talk more about Dunnottar later in the year, but for now, here are some more photos of the moss-covered ruins.

—Gigi

Castles in the Snow

The snow that was rumored to be coming to San Francisco this past weekend never arrived.

Frost did blanket our neighborhood across the bay, killing a squash plant we planted in the garden too early. The rest of the garden is hanging in there so far.

Since I'm an optimist, I'm using the bummer of a dead plant to contemplate happier snowy times. I didn't grow up with snow, so I get excited each time I have the opportunity to visit it. That's one of the reasons I like to vacation in cold places during the winter.

Dunnottar Castle sits on on an eastern cliff overlooking the sea along the lower Highlands of Scotland. Because of its location on a cliff high above the ocean, the castle was once a well-protected fortress that could only be accessed via a steep walking path. Today the same path leads visitors to the historic site. Only now, the castle lies in ruins.

Visiting the Dunnottar Castle ruins after a snowstorm was one of the most inspiring trips to a monument I've experienced. It's a good thing it required so much hiking to get there; otherwise I probably would have frozen. Since I survived without any effects that a cup of tea couldn't cure, the castle's cliffs became one of the settings in the mystery novel I began to write shortly after that winter visit. 

The grounds are full of mystery even when it isn't snowing. Between the fierce sea, the jagged cliffs, and the stone structures that await you at the summit, it's enough to inspire the imagination at any time.

It's especially fun to visit the ruins when the site isn't crowded, but that also means putting up with the off-season weather. During the trip where I took the non-snowy photos above, the wind nearly blew me over on several occasions as I hiked the coastal path along the cliffs.

I learned an important lesson that day -- fingerless gloves are a great friend to the photographer.

--Gigi