Literary 5-/5

Jude, a gay student who prefers elements of drag, is the target of high school bullies but he gives as much as he gets in unexpected ways. Highly recommended. The writing and characters drew me in deep. Jude is in an impossible situation and his methods for survival while still trying to maintain the essence of who he is only make things worse. Heartbreaking and believable.

Three days of taking all my notes and research and ideas, and putting them into a plan for the novel was not enough–of course! I have the external plot mostly worked out, and quite a bit of the internal plot. More to come, though!

One final bit of research before coming home: we managed a repeat visit to Bletchley Park while waiting for the paperwork for shipping the motorcycle home. But all too soon, we were on a plane, landing back in Calgary. However, I am really inspired to work on the novel…and I have a writers’ retreat next week to work on the plot!

Our trip is almost done. A relaxing ferry ride from Santander to Portsmouth (we saw dolphins leaping, and whales spouting), a stop in Bath, and a few winding roads through Wales brought us to cousins in Ireland. Joan and Malcolm showed us a wonderful time and we even got a repeat visit to the Ulster American Folk museum, where they still burn turf in the fireplaces. It smells quite strong: almost like burning petroleum products.

Our friends have gone home, but we had a few extra days just to return to the amazing Picos de Europa, and stayed in the village of Potes, its heart. Here, we even saw a cattle drive through the streets. Wonderful!