An exciting day today, because I’ve finalised the crowdfunder and it goes live tomorrow. post the link, but it's easier to remember to search "gog-magog" on Indiegogo.com. Or Indiegogmagog as it's known in my house.
Then 40 days of social media jocking, which I hate but has to be done.
And part of that work is to keep this blog going. As well as looking at how the campaign is progressing, it will also involve recalling the trips I did earlier this year, and last, to all of the locations in England and Wales that feature in the book.
It starts in the Himalayas, but I can’t quite afford a trip there, and last time I went over 2000 metres I got altitude sickness. And Gwern’s journey goes through west China, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, which are clearly out of bounds.
So I had to make do with Cornwall, to Tintagel and the failed outing to St Michael’s Mount. There was the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire, to Weyland’s Smithy (called Weland’s Forge in the book). There was the Rollright Stones, where Gwern the hero/narrator retells the local legend of how a Prince was turned to stone by a witch (spoiler – he deserved it). And the trek up Snowdon in the mist and drizzle, although it was June. Views from halfway up were tremendous.
Oh, and Dinas Bran, legendary site of the home of Bran the Blessed, whose head, turned to silver, is the McGuffin of the story, the object everyone wants.
I’ll return to these sites one by one, with some photos. And give some snippets from, and around, the book. For example we visited Merlin’s cave at Tintagel, where the old wizard was reputedly imprisoned by a girl he’d fallen for, who learned his arts and then trapped him. I love the byways of the Arthurian myths – although this one sounds dodgy to me.
Anyway, watch this space, and wait for the expansion of the story, and others.
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