St. David's Day

This is St. David's Day. He is Patron Saint of Wales and there is the gorgeous Welsh flag. Unfortunately you can't see the white edges to view it in its magnificence. The red dragon on green and white. I have the flag on our front doorstep.

And to add to this day celebrating Wales, I am displaying the covers of my two books, Isabelle's Diary and Isabelle's Story. Both stories are set in and around the mid-Wales town, Llandrindod Wells - the old spa town. The countryside is rugged. Hills, valleys and wild moors. Great for hill walking but avoid the peat bogs. I accidentally stepped in one and my boots were covered in oily black peaty water. Not nice. The Spa was famous in the latter part of the nineteenth century and wealthy people flocked there to take the healing waters. However, sea bathing became the next big thing, and the spa at Llandrindod Wells lost its allure.

Wales is not as well know as England, Scotland or Ireland where they extol their history, their virtues and their rugby teams. Wales produces fine writers, think of Dylan Thomas, and actors, Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins and rugby players. As for singers! Listen to a Welsh male voice choir singing, "There'll be a welcome in the hillsides, There'll be a welcome in the dales ... and then the line, "When you come home again to Wales." And my heart swells and my tears fall and I blubber.

Why choose Llandrindod Wells to set my Isabelle stories? My husband and I were on a walking holiday in mid-Wales and stopped in a cafe in the town for a coffee. I saw a girl dressed in black sitting at window table drinking a Coke and waiting for someone. But I imagined something different. The girl I imagined was dressed in somber Victorian black and wept over the pages of a diary. And that's how I came up with Isabelle's Diary and followed it with Isabelle's Story. My books are published by Cerridwen Press. Check my website for excerpts from the Isabelle books and from my historical romance, A Very Difficult Man.

A Welsh friend came by with Welsh cakes. Yummy. I wish I could share. I'll think of you as I eat them. One after the other!

Enjoy the day and think, Wales!
Anita
www.anitabirt.com