Rathlin Island… or is it Farholm?

On our way home we stopped in Ballycastle, County Antrim and had a wander about, a cup of tea, piece of cake and took some photos.

My novel ‘Farholm’ starts with Deke catching the ferry to Farholm from the harbour in Easthope. My novel isn’t set in Ireland, it isn’t set in Ballycastle or on Rathlin, but that is where I found the inspiration!

DSCF1765 — Catch the ferry to Rathlin! You’ll have a wonderful time – it’s not a bit like Farholm!

DSCF1764 — Forget the slopey sea, look at the sky! In the distance you can just make out Rathlin Island – not Farholm Island!

DSCF1761 — I imagine the ferry to Farholm coming up a slipway a little like this one in the real Ballycastle

Sometimes people ask my why I don’t set my novels in real places; in the past it has been the inability to do enough research when I was working and bringing up a family. Now, with the internet I could ‘travel’ to anywhere, see anything… Maybe, but I could not smell what the place is like, or feel the quality of the air, or the type of rain, or see the local faces… I know some writers are able to do this, so maybe I am lazy by just using my imagination and creating my own places!