Tag: london

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#WriteWed FOLLOWING JANE Inspiration

Following JaneToday’s Write Wednesday is dedicated to my fabulous daughter and her debut novel, FOLLOWING JANE.

Samantha was lucky enough to spend a semester in London and when combined with her love of Jane Austen and an assortment of boy bands, it was only natural that she mix up all three loves into a fun and emotionally compelling story.

FOLLOWING JANE is a young adult romance that combines a scavenger hunt left behind by none other than Jane Austen with a young woman’s desire to fulfill her dying mother’s last words: to take up an adventure that is “just around the corner.”

The heroine, Lizzie (of course), sets off to London and along the way meets a young boy band member who will soon assist her in her quest and also present another challenge: romance.

Congratulations Samantha on this debut novel! I am so proud of you! What do others have to say about this novel? Here’s just one of the many 5 star reviews:

“I literally could not put this book down. It follows a young woman around England in such a way, you feel as if you are there yourself. With a little love, lots of laughs, tears, and mystery, this book is a must read. For the 20-somethings, the 30-somethings, and beyond, Jane will show you how to be independent, brave, and true to yourself. Kudos to the author for taking us on this journey!” Meaghan Abell, Reader

samauthorAbout the Author: Debut author Samantha Scordato has been penning stories in her journals for many years. She fell in love with Jane Austen at an early age and kept up with her love through an undergraduate degree in Fashion Merchandising and an MBA from Philadelphia University. After graduating, Samantha turned her attention to her two loves: Running a surf and skate shop and writing. FOLLOWING JANE is Samantha’s first novel, but she has already finished another novel. For more information, please visit www.lifemythlegend.com.

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Travel Tuesday – Buckingham Palace and Mews

Today’s Tuesday is some more photos from my trip to London. This time I’m taking you to Buckingham Palace and the Mews where the Royal horses, carriages and the like are stored.

First thing — the Queen’s Apartments in the Palace are only open in August and September when the Royal Family retires to Scotland for the summer months. During the winter you have to content yourself with views of the exterior, the changing of the guard and the museums at the Palace.

We watched the changing of the guard (some of the last slides you’ll see), but it was packed. We clearly had to get there a lot earlier than we did, but despite the crowd, we were able to see the nearly 45 minute long ceremony as the one group of guards is replaced. Mind you, it’s not just the guards, but their band and everything that is changed. So, there’s a lot of pomp with all the turnover.

We also had an opportunity to visit the Royal Mews and it was really interesting. We got to see some of the horses (huge huge animals) that pull the carriages as well as various carriages, limos, carts, etc. The most interesting one — a golden carriage made for Richard III. It was stunning and the artwork on the doors, etc. was amazing.

It was interesting to see all the different carriages as well as learn how some are postillion driven (riders are on the horses pulling the carriages) versus being driven by a driver on the wagon. A bit of trivia I know I’ll put to use in one of those historical flashbacks in a future novel!

Hope you enjoy these photos. If you can’t see the slideshow below, you can click on this link to visit my Facebook Page or copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060062&id=1130005412&l=7c6a9b55a9

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Travel Tuesday – Westminster Abbey and Parliament Area

Yet more photos from England for you, this time of the area around Westminster Abbey and Parliament (aka the Palace of Westminster)!

We had a great time strolling around this historic area. The only bummer was that you couldn’t take photos inside Westminster Abbey. There was so much to see there and that I wanted to share with you. But the good news is that Westminster Abbey has some great information and photos. You can click here to see some of the sights and get an idea for yourself of the immensity of this cathedral which was built in 960 and holds hundreds of tombs and monuments.

My favorite was the Poet’s Corner where many famous writers are honored, starting with Chaucer. Dickens, Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling are buried in the Abbey and there are monuments to Jane Austen, William Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot just to name a few you might know! We also took a moment to check out where Charles Darwin was buried beside a number of other famous scientists because the geek in me just couldn’t resist.

Big Ben (apparently the name of the big hour bell and not the clock!) is nearby as are the Houses of Parliament. Unfortunately Parliament was closed due to the “bank holiday”, so we missed seeing the House of Commons and House of Lords, but the outside is quite impressive and we had the treat of getting a glimpse at English politics at work when the Prime Minister asked the Queen to disband Parliament and set a date for new elections.

In Britain they only have a month to campaign. What a grand idea! Too bad we can’t do that here!

Almost directly across the way from the Westminster area is the London Eye — a giant ferris wheel of sorts. I wanted to go for a ride, but the lines were very long and my family – knowing my fear of heights – feared I’d freak out since it takes at least 45 minutes to make a complete loop on the Eye.

I hope you enjoy the sites of this part of London! If you can’t see the slide show below, you can also visit my Facebook Page to see the photos of Westminster and Parliament!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058803&id=1130005412&l=a5a6721ca7

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Travel Tuesday – A Visit to Windsor

We took a lovely train ride out to Windsor to see Windsor Castle and the quaint town nearby, also the home to Eton, the exclusive school. Weather was a bit dreary, but not too cold. Unfortunately, Her Majesty was in residence which meant we could go on the castle grounds for free, but were unable to get into any of her “apartments.” Major bummer as I was dying to see the various bedrooms, kitchens, dining areas, etc. that we had seen on the PBS special about a year in the life of Windsor Castle.

Nevertheless, we were able to walk around all the grounds and see St. George’s Chapel. The guards were patrolling all over the area and are quite attractive in their bright red coats and furry hats. Real guns — no one will mess with them.

The gardens and areas in and around Windsor Castle are lovely. Well-kept and so green thanks to the spring rains. If you see the picture of the entrance to the Moat Path in the slide show below, it is now the entrance to the gardens that have replaced the moat.

We then headed to town where we had fish and chips in a delightful pub and walked around town before returning to London. The train ride was nice and it was a good way to also get a glimpse of the suburbs and countryside around London.

I hope you’ll enjoy these pictures. If you can’t see the slide show below, you can also check them out on my Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058180&id=1130005412&l=877be7ad1e

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Travel Tuesday – Tower of London

I hope you’ll enjoy today’s behind the scenes look into a writer’s brain!

As I mentioned, I needed to do some research and spark story ideas for the new book that I’ve been plotting in my brain, hence the cashing in the frequent flyer and hotel rewards for a trip to London.

The book is contemporary and revolves around some secret orders of knights, mystical relics and the need to save the world from demonic forces. But there are scenes set in ancient London and other interesting spots in both the United Kingdom and elsewhere, including New York City.

One of the places I could envision doing some flashback scenes was the Tower of London. It was a fascinating place to visit and some of the things we saw already inspired ideas – like the “Entry to the Traitor’s Gate” that can be seen from boats on the Thames (see below).

Traitor's Gate as seen from the Thames

View of the Gate from within the Tower of London
Traitor's Gate as seen from the Tower of London

I could so picture one of my heroes being rowed through the gate on the way to some punishment in order to get information from them. The guide on the boat trip we took mentioned that the last man to be rowed through the gates was William Wallace (of Braveheart fame).

While we were in the Tower there was an amazing exhibition of armor as well as the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to snap pictures of the jewels. Bummer. I had hoped I could use one of them, or maybe one of the stones in them, as part of the collection of mystical relics in the story. I guess that will require additional thought on my part as well as more research.

I’ll be posting more Tower of London photos to my Facebook page shortly (something wonky is going on with uploading!). As soon as I have the link to those photos, I’ll post it here.

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Travel Tuesday – London Gardens 2010

I’m back! Sorry I wasn’t back yesterday as promised but computer issues ate up most of the day.

So you may have been wondering where I’ve been. Well, hubby and I had been planning this trip for some time and we cashed in all our frequent flyer and hotel miles and headed off to London for a variety of reasons.

We visited our best friend in London and I got great inspiration for new stories and research one in particular.

We had a wonderful time and the break from legal and writing work did me a world of good. After feeling a wealth of frustration over a number of projects in the last few months, all the new sights, sounds and foods revived my flagging creativity.

I hope the sights and info will inspire you as well as over the next few months Tip Tuesdays become Travel Tuesdays as I share some of the 600+ photos that I took all over London and nearby environs.

Today’s photographs are from some of the parks in London as well as the gardens in the area. The Brits love their gardens and it shows in the neatly manicured plots in front of many of the homes. In particular, the camelias caught my eye as they were in full bloom in an assortment of colors. I’ve always wanted to plant a camelia, but NJ is just too cold. Surprisingly, London which is far more North of NJ, has more temperate weather and because of this palm trees, camelias and other plants seem to thrive there.

The weather during our visit was a little drizzly, but not cold which made it just fine for the long walks we took through the various neighborhoods and parks. We even had two beautiful sunny and warm days and when that happened everyone seem to come out of their homes and offices and head to the nearest greens.

The photos in this collection are of three different parks:

St. James Park is located directly behind 10 Downing Street and Whitehall Chapel and in front of Buckingham Palace. It is a lovely park with a lake in the middle of it. Lush lawns, trees and flowers were all over and since this park was close to offices, Parliament, etc. it was mobbed when the sun came out.

Regents Park was right near our hotel in the Camden area of London. It’s also right next to the London Zoo or ZedSL as they call it (ZSL in American Speak). Even bigger than St. James, Regents likewise had lovely gardens and an immense lake filled with an assortment of very interesting water fowl.

Finally, St. John’s Wood Church Grounds was a smaller park along the route to the Tube (aka the subway). We passed by the park several times as they had closed our Tube line for servicing during their “bank holiday” (aka public holiday) over the Easter weekend. Take a moment to notice the very old tombstones scattered in the park and buried beneath the flowering camelias. It was rather creepy to walk past them at night, but it got my writer’s mind going about what might happen in such a place in the dark!

We spent over a week in London and also did a daytrip to Stonehenge and Bath, so look for tons more photos in the coming weeks as well as some video.

I hope you enjoy!

If you can’t see the slideshow below, you can click on this link to see the London Gardens 2010 photos!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055743&id=1130005412&l=7d26d54995

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