Archaeological dig in York, UK
Asking for advice in tourist office, Bergen, Norway
Bookshop Clonmell, Ireland
Setting sail
Forest near Bergen, Norway
About to board the plane from Dublin to Paris
Globe Theatre, London, UK
An Irish roundhouse in fifth century style
Prehistoric mammoth head
O'Neill's pub, Dublin, Ireland
Taking notes on my pocket pc
How's your French?
Sod it!
Fancy a game?
Troll in forest, Norway
Waterford crystal factory, Ireland
Rock of Cashel, Ireland
That's me in the centre. I now understand how gold diggers feel! It was painful and back-breaking but I was driven on by the hope that the next scrape of the trowel might turn up some wonderful trophy. I did find fragments of Roman pottery, medieval roof tiles and broken pipes from the nineteenth century.
Well...if you look closely you'll notice that the person giving me advice is rather stuffed!
We found two or three little bookshops in every Irish village. The Irish have great respect for books and authors. The Irish Tourist Authority treated me royally and gave me an introductory letter to show everywhere.
This is a reconstruction of a typical ship that took emigrants from Ireland during the dreadful famine years of the nineteenth century.
This is the type of forest found in the Viking Magic books around the homes of Thora and Oddo
Husband Gary poses in front of a Jet2.com plane. We bought a cheap ticket on the internet and we were worried it might not really exist!
This is a reconstruction of Shakespeare's theatre, built in the area where the original theatre stood. This style of building with wood-framed walls and a thatched roof was common in London in the seventeenth century till they were all destroyed by the great fire of London.
That's me looking like a walking mushroom, about to discover what it was like to live in Ireland 1600 years ago. (All part of my research for Night of the Fifth Moon.) This is a reconstruction at the Irish National Heritage Park, Wexford, Ireland.
The one on the left is the mammoth head, and the one on the right is me, looking a bit dazed. It really is enormous! On display in a prehistory museum in Ireland.
Soaking up the atmosphere while having a meal
As I travelled around doing research for my books, I recorded everything in my faithful little pocket pc. Here I'm taking notes in a historic house. Can you see the quill pen on the desk next to me?
This is a sign from the door of a Metro underground train. Can you work out what it means?
No, I'm not swearing. If you look closely you'll see this roof is made of sods with grass growing out the top. The Vikings used to build their houses with roofs like this, and we spied this building in modern Norway.
These Irish kids and their dad are playing the ancient game of hurley, which is mentioned in the Irish sagas written hundreds of years ago. A hurley stick looks a bit like a hockey stick.
Spied this troll while we were wandering through a forest in Norway...
While we were in Ireland we had to do ONE touristy thing that wasn't for historical research. This is a man engraving glass at the famous Waterford crystal factory.
Brian Ború, who was crowned here in 977, became the most famous and successful High King of Ireland.
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Archaeological dig in York, UK
That's me in the centre. I now understand how gold diggers feel! It was painful and back-breaking but I was driven on by the hope that the next scrape of the trowel might turn up some wonderful trophy. I did find fragments of Roman pottery, medieval roof tiles and broken pipes from the nineteenth century.