Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui

 This morning I saw a post on Facebook about the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui and was reminded of the first time I ever read about the phenomenon. Joan Grant and her husband went to Scotland in 1928 and here is the excerpt I remembered:

On one of our Sundays off, Leslie and I went to Rothiemurchus intending to climb towards the Cairngorms. It was a beautiful day and we had it to ourselves. Basking naked in the sun, we ate sandwiches beside a burn. It was far too hot and peaceful for serious walking, so we decided to wander on for another mile or so, and then go for dinner to the hotel in Aviemore. Nothing could have been further from my mind than spooks when suddenly I was seized with such terror that I turned and in panic fled back along the path. Leslie ran after me, imploring me to tell him what was wrong. I could only spare breath enough to tell him to run faster, faster.  Something -utterly malign, four-legged and yet obscenely human, invisible and yet solid enough for me to hear the pounding of its hooves, was trying to reach me. If it did I should die, for I was far too frightened to know how to defend myself. I had run about half a mile when I burst through an invisible barrier behind which I was safe. I knew I was safe now, though a second before I had been in mortal danger; I knew it as certainly as though I were a torero who has jumped the barrier in front of a charging bull.

A year later one of Father’s professors described an almost exactly similar experience he had had when bug-hunting in the Cairngorms. He was materialist, but had been so profoundly startled that he wrote to the Times – and received a letter from a reader who had also been pursued by the “Thing.” Some years later, when I was living at Muckerach, the doctor told me that two hikers, for whom search-parties had been out three days, had been found dead. He showed me the exact spot on the map. It was the place of my terror. Both men were under thirty. One came from Grantown, the other from Aviemore. The weather was fine. They had spent a good night under the shelter-stone on the highest ridge, for they had written to that effect in the book which is kept there. They were found within a hundred yards of each other, sprawled face downward as though they had fallen headlong when in flight. “I did a post-mortem on them both,” said the doctor gravely. “Never in my life have I seen healthier corpses: not a thing wrong with either of the poor chaps except that their hearts had stopped. I put ‘heart-failure’ on the chit, but it is my considered opinion that they died of fright.”

Joan Grant, Time out of Mind 1956

There are videos and conversations about the Big Grey Man if you chose to Google the topic.

Try to Keep Up!

It is a long time since I paid any attention to this blog. Some of you might have noticed I have begun making changes already! (It desperately needed some love.)

Clustrmaps has diappeared from view without explanation. MapMy Visitors has taken its place. Let's hope it works well.

My most recent titles are listed on the sidebar, and now they have a direct link to Amazon so you can click to find out more about  them. 

There will no doubt be more changes coming down the line. Every update seems to bring changes where I didn't expect them but I shall try and keep up!

Never a dull moment

 Wondering this morning why Amazon has suddenly dropped off the Marketplace statistics on my KDP reports. The US always used to be the major player but as of this month it has fallen way behind. 

This has led me to checking as far as I can but I cannot see a reason for it. Unless it is because I charged a dollar more for my books? Would that do it?

Now that I am not writing - The Earl's Protection has been on sale for 12 days now - I have time to look at all these things. I really should have another go with Mailerlite and see if email lists really work or not. I have the feeling they may be just annoying to most people but the experts insist it is the way to go. Unless one chooses to go with a business venture that promises to "do it all for you - and sell thousands of titles!" There are a lot of them about on Facebook and Instagram these days. I also should look at TikTok, which so far has remained a mystery to me. Never a dull moment when you are a KDP author!

The gateway is Prudhoe Castle, built in early medieval days and still standing above the river Tyne in Northumberland

Frozen posts

 Just when I want to know how my ads are doing, KDP refuses to co-operate. It is probably my fault. I must have pressed something in my attempt to archive old ads and suddenly the page is virtually blank. I wish there was a re-set button where everything would miraculously go back to my original settings.

The other thing that  bugs me is that my ipad appears frozen on  one particular post. Nothing I do shifts it. It is a photo of three heads (of tennis players) supposedly carved into mount Rushmore, asking who the 4th great player should be. Things like Instagram and everything else work as normal but not Facebook. Has another data centre been knocked out or something?

I struggle with it and really I should be outside weeding my garden...

A love of dragons

 Discovering a book that holds me through the first few pages and beyond is getting harder and harder. So many have excellent blurbs but the inside is tiresomely boring. I suppose a lifetime of reading means that most tricks, plots and themes have been read before, and some many times. When I was twenty, anything I read was exciting because chances are everything about it was new. The themes might not have been new, but I was new to them.

Now that does not hold true though I go on searching and hoping. I have moved from historical to romance to crime and then onto  urban fantasy as long as there are dragons. True historicals take a long time to write and the big authors do not publish often. Modern Historical romance seems to have taken a dive into sex and that seems popular in certain quarters. While I don't dislike reading sex, a little goes a long way and I'd rather have more story. Contemporary romance has never been my thing. Crime has proved entertaining, even when some of it is positively frightening - the things people can think up to do to one another!  Dick Francis was always good. No doubt I will recall several more favourites from the past once I've published this little post.

But I do admit to a love of dragons. I guess it started way back with the dragons of Pern. After the author's death they seemed to disappear. (No, I never tried those written by the son and daughter.) Now they are back and I'm enjoying them.

New Book: The Earl's Protection

 New Book:  Now available for pre-order

A marriage born of necessity becomes the one place Caroline discovers she is free.

Plunged into grief when her father and the man she was to marry both fall at Waterloo, Caroline Hewitt does not expect her only brother to dictate the rest of her life. 

The estate Andrew has inherited is on the brink of ruin, and he knows both he and his sister must marry well—and quickly. Caroline rebels against Andrew’s tightening control, but her defiance only provokes his temper. What she does not expect is for him to seize her future with cold determination. 

Driven into peril by his schemes, she finds unexpected rescue in a stranger—a man whose quiet strength unsettles her as much as it reassures. He offers her protection, but safety comes at the cost of a marriage neither of them planned. Their sudden union brings Caroline into a new world of unfamiliar kindness, wary servants, and a family still healing from its own wounds. As she learns to stand on her own feet, she also learns what it is to be cherished. 

But Andrew’s threats grow bolder, and Caroline must choose whether to retreat into fear or step forward into the life—and love—she is beginning to desire. To claim her future, she must confront the brother she once loved—and the courage she never believed she possessed. A tender, slow‑burn Regency romance about trust, belonging, and the quiet bravery required to claim one’s own happiness.

How long does a book

How long does a book have to be these days? My understanding when I began this game a decade ago was that the standard Regency romance would be around 70k words but those I have read recently seem to be getting shorter. Is that true or not true? One I read in the last year, by a very famous author, had pages and pages of sex and very little actual story. A little is sort of expected these days but extended pages scream (to me) that the author couldn't think of more story. 

Deadline approaching on latest book but I have no cover for it yet. Tried Shutterstock a couple of times but nothing that suits and since I paid for a set of 5 and still have 2 to take, I won't be looking anywhere else unless I become truly desperate. (Can't break the habits of a lifetime!) Must keep checking!

The pic is of the entry to Prudhoe Castle but this time, looking out. English Heritage held an open day ay on 2nd May and hopefully, this means the castle, which has been closed for several months, has begun a programme of events and open days.