Doune Castle lies northwest of Edinburgh in Stirlingshire just outside the small town of Doune.

Famous for being a location in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as you walk the grounds, you hear quotes from the movie called out. “Fetchez la vache!” And I witnessed a woman in the courtyard clapping coconuts. 🙂

Scenes from IN PURSUIT OF DRAGONS take place in that very courtyard, at the top of the stairway to the kitchen and in the great hall. The postern door – once open to the side of the castle down a second flight of stairs leading from the kitchen – has been sealed over.

The castle is filled with amazing fireplaces, but it’s this one that captured my imagination. What better location for a dragon to collect her hoard?

In a room above the kitchens, a small barred window looks out upon the River Teith which flows behind Castle Doune.

With the postern door long since sealed over, I had to exit via the main gate, then walk around the side of the castle to find the path down to the river.

And here’s where a hint of spoilers sneak in. Do you want to flee this page and come back when you’ve finished? Or perhaps you’ve already read IN PURSUIT OF DRAGONS? Well, then, perhaps you recognize the edge of this river? All it needs is a small boat buried in the weeds.

I stood here, at the edge of the River Teith and took a long video. Quiet and peaceful, you can listen to the rush of water… and imagine the flap of leathery wings overhead.

From Doune, we continued upriver, driving through Callander – Gateway to the Highlands – and then yet further north into the Trossachs where we stopped briefly to take in the beauty that is Loch Lubnaig.

And I’ll say no more. Just in case you kept reading when you shouldn’t have. 😉

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About Anne

Though USA TODAY bestselling author Anne Renwick holds a Ph.D. in biology and greatly enjoyed tormenting the overburdened undergraduates who were her students, fiction has always been her first love. Today, she writes steampunk romance, placing a new kind of biotech in the hands of mad scientists, proper young ladies and determined villains. Anne brings an unusual perspective to steampunk. A number of years spent locked inside the bowels of a biological research facility left her permanently altered. In her steampunk world, the Victorian fascination with all things anatomical led to a number of alarming biotechnological advances. Ones that the enemies of Britain would dearly love to possess.