Blogging Old School (Day 2 of my Ireland trip)

Hi Everyone,

I know you want pics. And I have them...lots of them. Unfortunately, I'm typing this message to you from a computer in the study at the B&B we're staying at because my laptop is corrupted. Yeah. It decided to "corrupt" on me at the beginning of my journey. So...you'll get even more posts: ones like this that contain a bunch of words and short, snappy posts that just contain pics and captions (from my husband's phone).

Okay, why am I here? I'm researching for my next book series: a three-part story about an American heroine who travels to County Sligo the summer before her senior year of college. She goes there to clean out her grandfather's estate (a small farm he left to her in his will). She meets our hero who's singular purpose in life has nothing to do with falling in love with her (she has different plans) :) He's more interested in revenge against four men responsible for killing his girlfriend during a revenge killing back in 1998. Revenge killing, you ask? Yeah, that's where all the history comes in. I don't want to give away too much of my story yet since it's in the early plot development stages, but here are things that will be included:

1. Tumultuous love affair
2. Farming potatoes (no, it will not be uber stereotypical)
3. Guinness
4. "The Troubles"
5. Familial ties/ Irish blood ties

Our journey so far? Landed in Dublin yesterday at 7 am. Longest day ever. Walked around some of the city. Toured the Guinness Factory (I needed to do something that didn't require too much brain power). I did learn how to pour the "perfect pint." For anyone interested, it's a whole big process that's taken really seriously. Yeah, you better tilt that glass at 45 degrees! (My husband fumbled his...lol) Today we're in Derry, N. I. We're here for three full days. This is one of the places that was a hotbed of unrest during the Troubles. And history I'm including in my book series. I'll explain the whole war between Catholics and Protestants tonight, but for now, we're off to learn about the Siege of Derry and Bloody Sunday.

Stay tuned for pics and a little history lesson later. xo