Voting, Edits, Belfast

First of all, if you are in Texas, today is election day for the primaries. Go vote! Even if you’ve never voted in a primary before, it’s super easy. Look up a sample ballot on your county’s site or with vote411.org. When you get to the polling place, they’ll ask if you want to vote in the Republican or Democratic primary. You can only choose one, but you don’t need to have pre-registered or anything, and the choice is only for this voting year. The polls are open until 7:00PM.

Other than voting, it’s all edits, all the time. I finished the mini-edit for Polaris Rising and now I’m working on The Queen’s Gambit. There were some issues, so it’s a fairly serious edit. Everything from chapter seven onwards is getting a major overhaul. So, for those of you planning to buy the ebook, you’ll end up with a much stronger story and really get to see how editing shapes a book.

Finally, I’m visiting Belfast soon. It’s my first visit, so if anyone has any suggestions about what I should see or do while I’m there, I would love to hear them! I’ll have a couple days free where I could travel outside the city, but something reachable by bus/train would be best because that whole driving on the other side of the road thing freaks me out. I did it in New Zealand, but I worried the whole time. :)

9 thoughts on “Voting, Edits, Belfast”

  1. We went on a tour of Ireland in October, and in Belfast, we went to the Titanic Museum. It was very interesting, but you can spend a lot of time in the early rooms and not make it through the entire museum – it’s sort of one-way through 4 floors of exhibits. The Titanic was built in Belfast, so they focus on the shipyard and not so much on the disaster. Note that you could spend a lot of time there if you’re into that sort of thing. They do have some good exhibits on the disaster itself and an underwater video of the wreck. They have a couple of restaurants on site so you can get light or some nicer food there.

    There are also some interesting statues – the Beacon of Hope and the Rise sculpture are both quite interesting, but it’s something you’d see out of your window on the way to somewhere else, or make a short stop. Both are more impressive viewed from a short distance than from right at their locations. They are both representing the “new” Belfast, so they represent hope and renewal.

    We took a bus tour of Ireland precisely because we didn’t want to have to drive on the wrong side of the street, and we’re glad we did. I agree it’s pretty scary when the streets are narrow and the cars are driving on the “wrong” side of the road.

  2. I’ve only been to Belfast once, but based on that:

    The Titanic museum is spectacular!

    Also, visit St George’s Market if you are there on a Fri/Sat/Sun. The building itself cool, and I got a great print from an artist there.

    Also, Giant’s Causeway IS day-tripable from there.

  3. The Giant’s Causeway is really impressive (www.giantscausewayofficialguide.com). I’ve been the Giant’s Causeway, to Fingal’s Cave in Scotland, and to the black sand beach at Vik in Iceland, and I like to imagine that all of their magnificent black basalt columns were formed from the same massive volcanic event.

    Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge is fun too
    (www.discovernorthernireland.com/Carrick-a-Rede-Rope-Bridge-Ballintoy-Ballycastle-P2829/).

    And of course for just a pretty view there’s the Dark Hedges (http://discovernorthernireland.com/The-Dark-Hedges-Armoy-Ballymoney-P27502/).

    All of that can easily be done in a day, and there are some moody ruins along the coastline near them.

    I drove. The other-side-of-the-road freakout is real, but it fades, and then you feel like a badass (especially when the rental is a stick shift!). But I am certain that there are bus day tours from Belfast, I think I remember seeing them on TripAdvisor or Viator.

    1. Thank you so much! I barely drive stick with my dominant hand, so trying it with my off hand while also trying to remember to stay on my side of the road sounds like a recipe for disaster. :) You are definitely a badass for making it work!

      1. It can be really stressful! I couldn’t’ve done it without a friend in the passenger seat managing the directions.

        One other day trip idea — if you’re into ancient history, there’s Newgrange/Bru na Boinne, south towards Dublin (http://www.worldheritageireland.ie/bru-na-boinne/built-heritage/newgrange/).
        It’s a prehistoric passage tomb and a world heritage site. There are day trips from Belfast.

        I thought it was weird and interesting, but for me personally if I had only one day trip day the stuff along the Northern Ireland coast would be the clear winner.

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