For hubby and I, a Hawaii trip has a dual purpose. To visit relatives and take much-needed vacations. The numerous beaches that overlook beautiful aqua blue water are great places to simply sit and write or just let your imagination run wild. Banyan trees look like something from another world. Sea turtles will occasionally swim with humans. And of course, the volcanoes that created the islands themselves are something to behold.

We flew into Honolulu and, after visiting various relatives and playing at Waikiki beach, hopped a plane to Hilo on the Big Island, home of Kilauea and the goddess Pele. This desolate volcanic area is surrounded by lush greenery with hiking trails available to the public. Unfortunately, Kilauea’s lava flow was in such a dangerous cliff area that it was closed to visitors at the time, so we didn’t get to see it. But the dried up lava beds from the 1982 eruption were readily available and we took full advantage of them.

The black lava seems to go on for miles and the massive caldera only adds to the otherworldly feel of the place. Funny thing is, every once in a while we would see plants or shrubs growing out of the desolation. Color in an otherwise black landscape. Life from death. An amazing sight. Hubby and I walked around this place for quite a while and my mind whirred with ideas.

I have fond memories of our swim with the turtles, walks around the great banyan trees, frolicks on the beaches, the native dances, and the tasty food, but I’m looking forward to our next Hawaii trip and a chance to see the actual lava flow with it’s beautiful and deadly orange and yellow colors. To feel the heat from that which keeps Earth herself in flux and full of life. To experience for myself the power and grace of Pele. For now, I have lots of photos of the previous trip and plan to use them as inspiration for future novels.

Happy Reading!

Banyan tree in Hilo, Hawaii. Can't you just imagine this thing on some alien world?

I think this one speaks for itself. :)

Caldera behind me.

One of several plants growing out of the desolation.

Today, I’m moving back to the states and the space industry. I have a fond remembrance of various space facilities, and I credit them for some of my sci-fi interests. After all, it’s science fiction until it isn’t.

First of all, my grandfather worked for NASA in Huntsville and The Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/ One summer when we visited my grandparents in Cape Canaveral, Florida, we got to stand on the family beach with various aunts, uncles and cousins and watch the launch for the Apollo-Soyuz mission. My grandfather was in the control center at the time and afterwards showed all of us kids the finger he used to push the launch button. He said they let him do it as a retirement present. As I grew older, I began to doubt that story but never found out whether it was true or not. My grandparents are gone now but that day is forever burned into my memory. And I like to think that Grandpa single-handedly launched that Apollo mission. If you ever get an offer to stand on that beach and watch a launch, take it.

I also spent a lot of time as a kid at another NASA facility, The Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake, where my family lived back then. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/index.html It was free to get in back in those days. I will always remember the hot summer days my entire family, and later my brother and I, spent wandering around the grounds and the museum and the green-coded buildings at our leisure. We were thrilled that we got to eat in the same cafeteria with white-coated workers. The food moved by on a conveyer belt and we would pluck up what we wanted as it passed. To us, this was the kitchen of the future and I would fantasize about being an astronaut and going into space. I didn’t become an astronaut, but I occasionally use my fond NASA memories to create scenes in my sci-fi work and try very hard to recreate the awe and wonder I felt as a child.

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I lived not far from JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and that thrilled me. Through the years, I took trips to Griffith Observatory http://www.griffithobs.org/ and the California Science Center http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/ which helped re-create my childhood memories of NASA. In fact, the day my husband proposed to me at the beach, we had visited the Science Center. Hubby also wanted to work for NASA as a kid and ended up in the aerospace industry and he’s an avid sci-fi/fantasy reader.

No matter where you live, there is probably a space or science museum nearby and I urge you to visit if you haven’t already. If you take a trip to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake, you might get lucky enough to have my niece as your guide. Yep, we’re keeping it in the family.

Happy Reading!

While I don't have any pics of NASA to share just now, here's a peek of one corner of my room when I was young. I still have that telescope!

What better fantasy prompts does a writer need than to walk around ancient Roman ruins, where emperors, gladiators, and poor slaves once tread and lost their lives? Yet, today, the violent history of this place is overshadowed by the grandeur of the buildings from a long lost era.

Hubby and I flew into Rome, of course, and walked around the city on our way to some of the more famous sites. What I loved most about Rome, is that just about anyplace we walked, we saw ruins of one era or another. The current city is built on older versions, and the more archaeologists dig, the more history they find. I didn’t expect to stroll by Julius Caesar’s murder spot. It’s not much more than the remains of an arena now and not very impressive compared to sites like the Coliseum or the Forum, but you certainly won’t find anything like it here in the states. If I remember correctly, it also serves as a cat sanctuary today.

And we couldn’t visit Rome without touring the Coliseum and the Forum. They are both as spectacular as the books say. More even, because we got to walk on the same grounds and around the same buildings as those who lived in the Great Roman Empire. The place is also a reminder that no matter how great an empire, it will eventually come to an end and another will take it’s place.

After seeing everything we wanted to in Rome, we took the train to Naples and spent the day in the museum. As a writer, I love museums and the hands-on history. Way better than just reading a textbook. From there we continued on to Paestum, where some of the most well-preserved Greek ruins stand today. Yes, I said Greek. A little taste before our trip to Greece, which I’ll talk about in another blog. Then it was on to a place I had been wanting to visit since I was a child - Pompeii. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Ancient Pompeii is everything and more than I learned about in books and from history shows. In this amazing city that was buried in 79 AD by the Vesuvius volcano - yes, I have a thing for volcanoes - I could imagine the original people walking and trading and living just like they did almost 2000 years ago. Hubby and I spent the entire day here walking among the ghosts. And who would have thought that 2000 year old paint could survive the ages, yet it has. We saw some of the most amazing artwork and reliefs here. The casts of those trapped beneath the ash add to the realization of just how dangerous it is living in the shadow of an active or dormant volcano.

I would love to walk around Pompeii alone, but even with other tourists milling around, the place is truly amazing. Pompeii is a must-see in my book and I may even go back someday.

Happy reading!

Pompeii, Italy with Vesuvius in background. That benign looking volcano completely buried this city in 79 AD.

Inside the Coliseum in Rome.

Paestum with Greek ruins.

Today I’ll share a couple of great places in California. Though I wasn’t born in California like hubby was, I consider Los Angeles my home. After all, it’s where I had my first career, went to university, met my husband, got married, began my second career, and started my first novel. If the beach itself isn't enough to fuel your writing imagination, then take PCH or Pacific Coast Hwy 1 up the coast from any beach suburb of Los Angeles, and you’ll eventually find yourself in the Santa Cruz area.

Once there, be sure and look up a place called The Mystery Spot. A must-see, in my opinion, for anyone interested in science fiction. If the drive through the giant redwood forest doesn’t set an alien-like mood for you, then the weird gravitational anomaly of the place certainly will. While here, I tried not to think about the scientific explanations but instead gave myself over to the awesomeness of the place. Trees that grow with twisted trunks, birds that avoid the area, the fun-house effect inside the buildings, and the amazing gravitational pull you feel when hanging onto the handles provided for the experience. To add to the mysterious feel of the place, Hubby and I arrived just in time to get on the last tour of the day and were the only tourists left.

If you still want more mystery, you go north and a little inland until you’ll reach San Jose, home of the Winchester Mystery House. According to our tour guide, the woman who owned the mansion back in the 1880s was a Winchester Rifle heiress, so she was loaded. She was also a bit of an odd duck. When told by a fortuneteller that she couldn’t stop building on her home or else she would die, she took this advice to heart and continued building onto the mansion over the remainder of her lifetime.

She died anyway almost forty years later, but what she did to the mansion makes for an amazing tour. In addition to Victorian grandeur and gaudiness, there are doors that lead to no place and stairs that dead-end into ceilings. I could almost imagine Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart taking place in one of the rooms. Horror and paranormal writers would have a field day writing tales at such a place as the Winchester Mystery House. If you’re like me, you’ll eventually use aspects of them in your work.

Happy reading!

The odd gravitational pull at the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz. The door is straight. I'm the one being pulled by an invisible force.

Where hubby proposed to me back in the day. Notice the dangerous condition sign. There's a cliff that drops off the other side of that fence. Any book ideas yet?

Hope everyone had a spooky and safe Halloween. Okay, so on to the fifth installment in my latest travel blog for writers. Today I’ll share my visit to the north island of New Zealand. The land where The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Xena, Warrior Princess were filmed. You can’t get much more fantasy-oriented than Tolkien. This country is even more beautiful in person than in the films. And the people, who call themselves Kiwis, are amazing and friendly.

Hubby and I couldn’t go to Kiwi land without driving to Hobbiton in Mata Mata, where the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed. Since Hobbiton is located on private property, we had to take a tour bus from the visitor center. But once the bus got us to the hobbit holes (actual structures left over from filming) and the large trees and rolling green hills, the entire place becomes a writer’s dream landscape. My imagination went wild in this place so I can see why filmmakers choose to shoot here. The place is simply magical. And we couldn’t resist sticking our heads through those hobbit hole windows for a few photo ops.

But, I have to say, the most fantastic trip we took in New Zealand was a helicopter ride to White Island, about a 45 minute flight from Rotorua. It’s an active volcano. Yes, active! Since the volcano can erupt any time with little warning, the tour guides must make certain it isn’t showing any unusual activity before they schedule a trip. The best part was that we got to land on this active volcano and walk around. The barren landscape with numerous heat vents and sulfuric acid fumes simply add to the otherworldly feel of the place, and I felt somewhat like an astronaut on a mission. You can reach the “island” by air or sea. Just know that if you choose a boat, you’ll be among a much larger group. We had only four people plus a guide/pilot in ours, which made it more intimate and eerie on this barren landscape. And don’t forget that camera!

Happy Reading!

Flying to White Island active volcano, New Zealand

Walking around White Island active volcano.

Hobbit hole at Hobbiton, Mata Mata, New Zealand
....

Today I’m returning to the U.S. with more great places for sci-fi/fantasy/horror writers. Back in the 90s, hubby and I used to go on a lot of road trips. Partly because we were newly married and lacked money, and partly because we enjoyed road trips. Some of my favorite spots are right here in my current home state of Arizona.

The first is in Winslow - yeah, like the Eagles’ song. A giant crater was created about 50,000 years ago when a meteor slammed into what is now Arizona. The barren area around this crater resembles what I imagine standing on the moon would feel like. Except with oxygen and tolerable temperatures. In fact, Apollo astronauts trained here back in the 60s and 70s. What more could a sci-fi author want in a place? There’s a visitors center and great little gift shop on the premises, where you can purchase souvenirs. I still have my rock pencils and the little bag of meteorites I bought back in the day.

Another great site is Montezuma Castle. It’s not a castle and has nothing to do with Montezuma. Follow me so far? Gotta love Arizona. These magnificent cliff homes (or apartments) were built into the side of a cliff by the Sinagua natives about 1000 years ago. Talk about digging into American history. I remember standing for a very long time admiring these ruins, which are amazingly intact. I even use a facsimile of these ancient cliff dwellers in a novel I’m currently writing.

And, of course, I couldn’t mention Arizona without talking about the Grand Canyon. A fantastic demonstration of Mother Nature at her finest. Lots of trails and lookouts, along with mule rides and hikes down to the center. I could spend hours here, and have done so, just admiring the strata and other features. There are a lot more things to see here in Arizona, but writing about all of them would make a very, very long blog.

Happy reading!

Meteor Crater in Winslow, AZ

Montezuma Castle

At the Grand Canyon

The green hills, along with the numerous castles and old cemeteries, tend to fuel my imagination in ways I can’t get from the states. Of course, finding an ancestor’s grave site in Ireland really helped anchor me to that country. And I can’t seem to pass a castle without stopping to take a peek. But one of my favorite places in this part of Europe happens to be Stonehenge in England.

Standing just feet away from this ancient astronomical site surrounded by burial mounds that predate history had a way of sending my thoughts on great journeys. You’ll find my own interpretation of a more current “Stonehenge” in at least one of my novels. You’ll have to read them to find out which one. And castles and old graveyards pop up now and then in my books too, as well as rolling green hills. You can bet I got the ideas for those scenes from my ancestral homelands. I can’t wait to go back!

Happy reading!

Holding divining rods at Stonehenge, England. They moved on their own from some sort of magnetic field in the area. Hmm, maybe that's why the ancestors were attracted to this place.

Outside Dunstanburgh Castle ruins on a blustery day. This was on our drive from Beadnell, England to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Causeway coast, Ireland. Can't you just imagine all sorts of fairy-like creatures living here?

Derry, Ireland. Some of my ancestors are buried in this cemetery and I was lucky enough to locate their gravestone.

Okay, so today I’m going back a few years to briefly share my travels to New Mexico, which includes Roswell, Gallup and the Very Large Array.  Great places for any sci-fi writer to visit. I couldn’t go to Roswell without taking a tour of the UFO Museum and purchase some cheesy alien souvenirs. Here you’ll find just about everything you ever wanted to know about “little gray aliens”, including info on Area 51 and crop circles. A real X-Files type of treat.

Then it was on to Gallup, where the amazing rock formations and ancient petroglyphs are stuck in my imagination to this day. Since it was winter, hubby and I even saw a frozen waterfall. Just walking around this area seemed to offer a mix of ancient days in an otherworldly setting. If you go in winter, be sure and take warm clothes. It gets downright chilly there.

Now, we visited the Very Large Array on a separate trip but what sci-fi writer can resist a field of radio dishes? I certainly can't. My only complaint here was that we didn't expect the mosquitoes. We don't have them where we live so they were quite a painful surprise.

In Gallup, New Mexico

At the Very Large Array.