​I recently flew to Ireland with my daughter. We visited cousins with whom we’ve been in touch over the past forty years but had never actually met in person. We received the royal treatment, and with our native personal tour guides, saw sites not often frequented by tourists. 

It was fabulous to finally meet these Connolly cousins and realize how thick blood truly is–we felt like old friends and were right at home in their homes. 
Along with site seeing, family visits and the opportunity to see some of the places I’d written about in Book One of the Gallagher Girls Mysteries, I gathered ideas and impressions — fodder for Book Two. Highlights were a trip to the Aran Island of Inisheer, pub-hopping in Dublin, and a visit to the Old Connolly Homestead. 

The only downside to the trip was that we wanted to stay; I mean, if I had the funds and the freedom, I would have bought a cottage on the Dingle Peninsula and tucked in for a summer (at least) of writing, painting, and soaking up all things Irish. 

But home we came (and it was nice to be back! Travel can be exhausting) and I immediately started in on Book Two, The Body in Brú na Bóinne.

Slán go fóill,
​Gail