writerSandy
  • home
  • bio
  • events
  • teaser tuesday
  • blog
  • book of shadows
  • potions & herbs
  • contact

Hollow Bones

"In our life there is a time of wonder. Walking with the ancient ones as they share their world. And the dancing voices are carried by the wind. As I walk this sacred ground, I know I'm not alone, and I thank Mother Earth."  ~Alex Davis, Seneca Cayuga

Fire in the Earth

10/26/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Strombili volcano in Italy. Photograph by Martin Reitzel/Gazelian
The hubs and I watched a PBS Nova special this week that intrigued me—and got me started on enthusiastic research for Book 3 in my Ancient Magic series.

The mystery began when archaeologists found a hastily dug mass grave of 4,000 people in London.

So what killed all these people?

At first they assume it’s a plague pit from the Black Death. But when they date the bones, the remains turn out of be one hundred years too old.

The chronicles of that time describe a run of wild weather that devastated crops and spread famine across Europe.

As part of their research, scientists took ice core samples from the North Pole and looked at the section from the same time period, 1285. That year showed a huge spike in sulfuric acid residue in the core sample. Then they took an ice sample from the South Pole and found the same results.

Based on these findings, the Nova research team began to look for the signature of a volcanic eruption big enough to have blasted a huge cloud of ash and sulfuric acid into the atmosphere which chilled the entire planet. From Greenland to Antarctica, the team found telltale “fingerprints” in ice and soil layers until, finally, they narrow down the culprit to a smoldering caldera, a “blown out” volcano, on a remote Indonesian island.

Nearly 750 years ago, this volcano’s colossal explosion shot a million tons of rock and ash every second into the atmosphere. Across the globe, it turned summer into winter. Yes, you read that right. ACROSS THE GLOBE! Turns out, volcanic eruptions along the equator will swirl that debris both north and south through the atmosphere.

So first came the obvious question of, “Could it happen again?” Then my novelist radar went off, screaming, “There is such a paranormal story here!”

​
I already know that the third book in my series involves the volcano Goddess Pele. I envisioned it taking place in Hawaii, but, based on my current research, Mexico, Italy and Central America are also possibilities. 
Picture
P0p0cateptl, near Mexico City, has erupted 20 times since 1519, most recently in 2000. Nearly nine million people live nearby.

Picture
Vesuvius in Italy has a history of eruptions every twenty years. This is the volcano that buried Pompeii. And it's overdue--the last major eruption was 1944.

Picture
Galeras is in Columbia near the Ecuador border. A 1993 eruption killed nine people, including scientists who had descended into the volcano's crater to take measurements to predict future eruptions. 

Picture
Kilauea in Hawaii erupts every three years or so. It is one of five shield volcanoes that collectively form the Big Island of Hawaii.

With NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) starting in a week, I may just find myself working on three novels!  I’ll give you the details in next week’s post, and so please drop by here again.

I plan to post book details and updates, character descriptions and pictures of how I imagine them, as well as “behind the scene” factoids about each book on this blog throughout November and early December.
​
Have a blessed Samhain and a scary but safe Halloween. See you next weekend!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Writer, witch, mother and wife. Order of importance is a continual shuffle.

    Blog Updates

    Yes, I want to become a member of the Blog Updates Mailing List.
    Enter your e-mail address:

    Please confirm your e-mail address:


    Archives

    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    September 2013
    April 2013
    July 2012

    Categories

    All
    13 Yule Lads
    Beach Wedding
    Beautiful Bride
    Beltane
    Blood Moon Eclipse
    Bucket List
    Caganer Figurine
    Candy Cane Flavors
    Carlton Hill
    Christmas
    Christmas Cat
    Christmas Pickle
    Climate Change
    Corvid Magic
    Crescent Moon Crossing
    Crow Magic
    David Richo
    Deaths In The Desert
    Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival
    Essential Workers
    Free Book
    Holiday
    Hryla
    Human Smuggling
    Iceland
    Informal Marriage Ceremony
    Jarl Jung
    Love
    Love Potion
    Marriage Blessing
    Maypole
    Mexican Border
    Mindfulness
    Mother's Day
    NaNoWriMo
    Nativity Scenes
    Newlyweds
    Northern Arizona Snow
    No Tomorrow
    Pandemic
    Proposed Import Tax
    Psychology
    Raven Magic
    Scotland
    Shadow Dance
    Shadow Self
    Shadow Work
    Sinoloan Cartel
    Snow Days
    Snow Fun
    Super Moon Eclipse
    Suspense Writing
    Tarot
    Travel
    Trump
    Weird Holiday Traditions
    Wendy Rule
    Yule
    Zen

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.