A journey of imagination

I know it's bad form to foist your vacation pictures on the unsuspecting, but I did promise to share some of the highlights from our Bermuda trip last week.

This is the Commissioner's House on Bermuda and it was the view right out our cabin's veranda. I confess this fortress tickled my imagination. It was built in the 1820's by Irish convict labor. I kept wondering what would happen if the commissioner's daughter got tangled up with one of the Irish workmen. Sounds most improper and highly unlikely, but that's the fun thing about making things up. Anything can happen.

The three story structure is the first ever cast iron building and it has a wide veranda on each level. The views are spectacular, turquoise seas and a sweeping aspect of the scythe-shaped island. I'm taking a little rest on one of the benches, imagining my commissioner's daughter watching the brawny, sweat-covered workers toiling in the yard below. Just FYI, many prisoners were dropped off on Bermuda and allowed free run of the island if they gave their parole. There are hundreds of miles of ocean between them and the nearest mainland. Where are they going to go?


This lovely historic cathedral boasts the highest spot in Hamilton, Bermuda's capital. By law, no building can be higher than the bell tower of this Anglican church. My DH and I climbed the 155 steps to the top and so got our aerobic workout for the day. I wondered if a sympathetic priest might perform a secret wedding for my commissioner's daughter and her Irish lover.

We took a glass bottom boat tour to see some of the extensive reef system ringing the islands (Bermuda is made up of hundreds of islands, some of them no more than a foot of earth peeping from the waves). The water temperature was "refreshingly honest" so we opted not to snorkle, but this tour gave us a chance to view the different types of coral and colorful fish. We also saw a shipwreck that had been there 150 years and was being engulfed by the coral.

The dome shaped island in the background is called "Daniel's Head," formerly known as Devil's Head, and is the northern apex of the infamous Bermuda Triangle. I'm happy to report no one disappeared from our tour, but I wondered if a mysterious disappearance might not fit nicely into the saga of the commissioner's daughter and the Irish convict (who really isn't guilty, of course! He confessed to a crime he didn't commit to protect his brother).

Bermuda is one of the most remote island systems in the world, small pinpoints of land in an endless sea. It's also one of the most lovely. We wallowed in the joy of doing almost nothing in this gorgeous setting. Of course, my imagination is always churning, even when doing nothing.

Wouldn't this deserted cove be an excellent trysting spot for the commissioner's daughter and the Irish convict?

We had a fabulous time and now I'm scrambling furiously to finish TOUCH OF A THIEF (my first Mia Marlowe title) which is due June 1st. The end is near, but I also want to polish up the manuscript as well as I can.

Have you ever traveled someplace that suggested a story to you?