On page 9 of Ranger’s Odyssey, Freya tells Mara that she may not have announced that she was coming to Ambergrove, but it’s what her soul wanted. My soul also got what it wanted when I fell asleep on a 2:00am flight to Edinburgh and woke up as we were flying over the islands.
This blog will likely be my longest, as I share a fraction of the over 1,000 pictures I took on this trip. When I went to Scotland in 2011, I never thought I would be able to return. I never thought I would be able to finish a book. So many things came full-circle on this trip, and such magic was awoken. But let’s start at the beginning.
I took little D&D minifigures of Mara and Ember along with me. By the second picture, Mara had lost half the handle of her battle axe, and before the end, she’d lost the head of her small axe. But they came along for the adventure, and I got a few pictures on the flight over. There was a layover before making the final flight across the pond, and we ended up having a four-hour delay. But we made it. I made the tram to the bus station and got a train to Dundee. I forgot how much I love the trains. It was also really cool to cross the Forth Bridge.
After a long trek—about 24 hours of travel—I made it on the bus to Kirrie and got to the square. Kirriemuir is the birthplace of JM Barrie, and there are Peter Pan things all over the town. I stopped at the statue in the square and held Mara up to Peter for just a moment and breathed in the self-fulfillment of the moment before heading to the house.
Soon after arriving in Kirrie, it was time for me to make the trek up to Huntly for the first events of the mini book tour. On the way up, I stopped at my favorite place in Scotland: Restenneth Priory.
A ruined priory resting on a small hill in someone’s field, Restenneth is full of magic. The moss has taken over all of it, crawling over the stone and pressing up under the grass. Just walking on the spongy moss adds an otherworldy feel to the place. It’s just so pleasant and beautiful.
I wore my library listing shoes for this whole trip, so I have a few pictures of the shoes in these places. Such as sinking into the moss at Restenneth.
After making the trek to Restenneth, I took a train to Stonehaven and then to Aberdeen, spending the night in Aberdeen before making the final journey to Huntly in the morning. I did take the time just this one day to have a proper Scottish breakfast (sans black pudding). Complete with haggis patty and Irn Bru. I may or may not have had haggis whenever it was on the menu and solely drank Irn Bru for most of the trip.
I made it to Huntly by late afternoon, and I first went to the library to see my books on the shelves. I sent 108 copies of my books—36 sets—to the Aberdeenshire main library for distribution to all the libraries in Aberdeenshire. In the absolutely magnificent Huntly library, the books were on prominent display in the YA section. The librarian also requested I send a copy of Dawn of the Dragonwolf when it is finally completed.
Orb’s Bookshop is right next to the library, and they also ha my books prominently displayed in the window. They intend to keep them in the window for a while as well.
I had two events at Orb’s. For the first event, the librarian at the school brought students over. There were supposed to be sixteen, but the final count of attendees of the first event was twenty-five. The students sat and quietly listened as I talked about how Scotland inspired the books, what the books are about, and how they differ from others of the genre. I also read an excerpt, answered questions, and signed maps and bookmarks.
For the second session, we had a more sort of “conversation with the author” event. It was attended by the local writer’s group and a young writer and her mother. We chatted about the books and the writing process, themes and tropes. It was lovely, and they both went really well!
The following day, I had loads of plans for castles. I intended to see Huntly, Kildrummy, and Dunnottar castles. I woke up too late to see Huntly Castle without missing something else, and I realized on the train that Kildrummy was actually closed that day. But it meant that I had more time for Dunnottar, an absolutely fantastic castle on a cliff. I’d seen Dunnottar back in 2011, but it’s certainly a place to see time and time again. Even if it is a long trek.
The whole castle grounds are open for visitors to explore, and I spent about three hours just walking around, listening to the waves, feeling the moss, and taking pictures of little Ember and Mara all over the grounds. I even had the opportunity to bring Ember in the Forge—the real forge in the castle.
The following day, I got the souvenir I’d wanted for this trip: a thistle. When I came on my last trip to Scotland, I got a tattoo of the leafy triskele on my ankle.
Heading into the weekend, I was able to explore some of Perthshire with my host mum. We had the privilege of taking a Buddhist nun to a hermitage in Perthshire. I was able to see so many lovely things there and experience customs of her faith. Out of respect, I’m just including one photo from the outer grounds of the hermitage.
After leaving the hermitage, we visited Dunkeld and saw the cathedral and the river.
Just across the river is the remains of Birnam Wood, featured in Shakespeare’s Scottish Play. There is one remaining oak, hollowed out, and a sycamore the locals call the “Young Pretender”.
A week after I left for Scotland, and my second to last day in the country, my host mum and I went on another big adventure—this time to places we’d gone to before. We visited the White Caterthun, a Bronze Age hill civilization that’s reduced to stone rings on the hill and one cairn that visitors build onto when they stop by.
On this day, we finally had the first bit of typical Scottish weather. The wind atop the caterthun was biting, and I loved it.
After seeing the caterthuns, we went to the Blue Door Path by Edzell Castle. It’s a simple nature walk along a river, through moss-covered trees.
There were ample places to stop and feel the majesty of the place and so many places to pose Ember and Mara. It was impossible not to be inspired by all the moss-covered stones and trees.
When we headed back to Kirrie, my host mum dropped me off at the top of Kirrie Hill. It was there on Kirrie Hill in 2011 that I first created Ambergrove. I walked back to that same red gazebo and worked on Ember in the Forge like I had worked on the Ambergrove map, on worldbuilding, on the first steps of Mara’s story.
I walked around the small (amber) grove on the hill between the red gazebo and Kirrie Hill’s standing stone.
We had a couple nights of coal fires. This night, after the chill and the wind, we had dinner by the fire and I had some hot cocoa. I also took some pictures of Ember and Mara beside the fire.
From Ranger’s Odyssey chapter 1, after Mara sat playing D&D by a fireplace and began to doze off:
Mara’s eyes fluttered closed, and calm sleep took her, blanketed in the warmth of the fire. | When Mara woke, the room was pitch black but for the embers of the dying fire.
The final day in Scotland was also the final event of the mini book tour. I headed back to the school in Kirrie for a talk with 120 kids, and there was a short hailstorm on the way up (which I loved!). I met up with my favorite teacher of all time, my English teacher from Scotland. I had the opportunity to walk to his classroom, where he’d encouraged my writing. I went to the school library, where I’d plotted some of the world. During the talk the kids were attentive, and after they had so many questions. It was absolutely spectacular.
After the event at the school, I ran to Dundee to ship some materials back across the pond, and then I came back to my Scottish home for a final night of quality time with my host parents.
My train to Edinburgh left at 5:40am the following morning, so I said goodbye to my host mum before bed and then my host dad drove me to the train station in the morning.
I was able to spend a day crossing Ireland to see a childhood friend of mine before heading back to Edinburgh to make the final flight home. I was able to get a lovely final picture of Scotland from the plane.
I got some mini dice from a cool game store in Galway, Ireland, and took a few pictures with them to round out my trip.
My husband met me at the airport with an “H. T. Martineau” sign and thus my book tour was over.
It was an adventure of a lifetime, going back to Scotland as an author, sharing my stories with a new generation, and returning to the places that inspired Ambergrove. It was magical and transformative. It was a dream come true.
Dreams come true if you work for them. This dream was twelve years in the making, and there were so many bumps and holdups along the way, but it happened. If something matters to you, never stop fighting for it.
Until next time, adventurers!
Tales of Ambergrove 