Unconventional Romance and Historical Fiction

Tendu by Ailish Sinclair - unconventional romance

I write unconventional romance and historical fiction, often set in Aberdeenshire, the area of Scotland where I live. My historical novels combine little-known dark events with love stories. There are witches, bears and Romans to be found in them, detailed here. My contemporary work is much, much naughtier, though still dark, and available now.

I take a LOT of photos as is evidenced throughout the site.

Here on the blog, I write about castleshistorystone circlesdance, living with chronic illness, and writing. See my about page here.

A Dancer’s Journey – unconventional romance

A Dancer's Journey, a 3 book series by Ailish Sinclair. Unconventional romance.

My dance background and love of history and spicy stories are what inspired this wild mix of romance and ballet set between a Scottish castle and London.

There are no cliffhanger endings in this series; each book completes a story, but then there is more. So much more. Read all the blurbs here

When dance student Amalphia Treadwell embarks on a secret relationship with her rich, handsome new teacher, she has no idea of the danger that lurks in his school in Scotland…

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

Book covers of A Dancer's Journey series by Ailish Sinclair: celebratory dance.

Posts on the inspiration behind these stories:

A Dancer's Journey series by Ailish Sinclair

Historical Fiction

The historical novels of Ailish Sinclair

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

The Romans called it the edge of the world

Further Insight

Newsletter, Updates and ARCs

Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a bit more intimate than the blog. If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

Reviewers can apply for Advance Reader Copies of future books here.

Ballet feet en pointe, legs in jeans

Some Dance Research in the Dungeon

Tendu: Dancing in the Castle by Ailish Sinclair

In TENDU (out now) some rather strange dance research takes place in the dungeon studio of the castle. Much has changed in the story that I first conceived thirteen years ago, but that part has stayed more or less the same.

Childhood Memories

My late father was a research scientist, and I grew up hearing about how scientific studies can be heavily influenced by those that finance them and how they can be geared to lead to desired results. They can sometimes be unscientific. And unethical. It was all very interesting, and it stuck with me.

  • I should note that Amalphia’s parents are not based on my parents. Lynn and James Treadwell (very minor characters) are an example of the narcissist/enabler dysfunction as described in the book Toxic Parents.
dancer: some dance research
Photo: David Hofmann on Unsplash – Simone (an antagonist in TENDU) vibes here…

Dance Research and Therapy

I do four grand pliés in fourth and fifth position every morning while I wait for the kettle to boil for tea. It feels like a strong way to start the day. I find it calming and grounding. And I need that just now, with a book release so close. For several years, due to illness, my legs were too weak to manage this exercise, so it’s joyous as well as beneficial.

The benefits of dance for conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease are becoming quite well known, of course, and it’s dancers’ brains that get studied in my books. They have been studied quite a bit in the real world too. Examples below:

The fictional research I created is a bit different from these very serious studies. It had to have some instant and dramatic effects to be interesting as part of a novel. Different characters will believe different things about those effects over the series, and I hope it’s entertaining to read!

Tendu: Dancing in the Castle - some dance research in the dungeon

About the books

My dance background and love of history and spicy stories are what inspired this heady mix of contemporary romance and ballet set in a castle. Readers of my historical fiction will recognise the castle and stone circle that feature in these books.

A Dancer’s Journey is available in paperback and Kindle and on Kindle Unlimited.

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

Page with blurbs and quotes

Dance and Despair: Writing What You Know on Women Writers, Women[‘s] Books.

A Dancer's Journey by Ailish Sinclair

Newsletter

Keep up to date with all my news by signing up to the mailing list. It’s a more intimate space than the blog and always contains some exclusive photos. If you would like to hear about new books and offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

About Page

Ailish's feet

Read all about little old me here!

Writer’s Tip Jar

A Week of Woodland Walks

Scottish woodland, autumn

I’ve been breathing in beauty on recent woodland walks. Mild weather is extending and enriching the colour palette of the season here in Scotland.

Scottish woodland - leaves and berries

There have been storms, but it’s still bright and leafy out there.

Scottish woodland walks

Sometimes the sky is grey. Sometimes the trees are silver and gold.

silver birches

Sunshine blasts through, highlighting the brilliant bronze shades of the leaves, and I slow my stride. I stop, overwhelmed and delighted all at once. It’s almost too much. Nature is audacious and bold and completely glorious.

Humbled and blessed, I take a deep breath and walk on.

sunshine on trees: Scottish woodland

More Woodland Walks

The Mermaid and the Bear

The Mermaid and the Bear by Ailish Sinclair

If you like castles, Scotland, history, witches, stone circles and Christmas done medieval-style, you might like THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR. There’s also a love story.

Paperback and kindle on Amazon

View full book detail page here

“A delight from end to end.” Undiscovered Scotland

About Page

ballet feet of Ailish Sinclair

See my About Page

Newsletter

Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a bit more intimate than the blog. If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

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Accused Scottish Witches and Autumn Gold

Map of accused Scottish witches

Accused Scottish Witches

The Map of Accused Scottish Witches is a wonderful resource from the University of Edinburgh, utilising the extensive data collected in their Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database. See it here.

It’s a clickable map of over 3000 people accused of witchcraft in Scotland. It’s both fascinating and terrible as this subject always is. My three quines from THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR are included (see Isobell’s entry above) as are a disturbing Witch Pricker’s Journey and various other stories. You can choose to view a modern map or a historical one, the latter suiting it better, I think.

The map and database were extremely useful to me when researching and writing about this subject.

The Beauty of Autumn

After peering into the dark, I need to look at beauty, so here’s some golden autumnal goodness:

Blue and gold after the map of accused Scottish witches

The gold of the harvest.

rockpool

Pink shimmering rockpools at New Aberdour beach.

New Aberdour Beach and a map of accused Scottish witches

A dark cave, blue reflected within.

a dark cave and a map of accused Scottish witches

And the path up to St Drostan’s well, shining in the golden sunlight:

St Drostan's well and a map of witches

Newsletter

Keep up to date with all my news, witchy and otherwise, by signing up to the mailing list. It’s a more intimate space than the blog and always contains some exclusive photos. If you would like to hear about new books and offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

Contemporary Fiction

A Dancer's Journey Series by Ailish Sinclair

Scotland’s all misty lochs and magical forests and perfect boyfriends, right?

When dance student Amalphia Treadwell embarks on a secret relationship with her rich, handsome teacher, she has no idea of the danger that lurks in his school in Scotland…

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

My dance background and love of history and spicy stories are what inspired this heady mix of contemporary romance and ballet set in a castle. Readers of my historical fiction will recognise the castle and stone circle that feature in these books.

There are no cliffhanger endings in this series; each book completes a story, but then there is more. So much more. Read all the blurbs here

Historical Fiction

Books by Ailish Sinclair

These novels combine little-known dark events with love stories and a hint of magic.

“Ethereal and spellbinding….” Historical Novel Society

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Writer’s Tip Jar

Duff House Woods and Mausoleum

steps of Duff House Mausoleum

I wandered through the woods to the 18th century Duff House Mausoleum.

It’s about a mile away from majestic Duff House, which is now an art gallery, and about two miles from the Bridge of Alvah. When I was a child, the house was in quite a rough state. Furniture was covered in sheets, paint was peeling off the walls, and spooky music floated up from the lower levels.

I loved it.

I still do.

Duff House

Duff House

The Mausoleum

Duff House mausoleum

Round the back…

knight at Duff House Mausoleum

The effigy of a knight is not Robert the Bruce as once purported by the Earl who built the mausoleum. The skulls, crossbones and wheat are quite common on older graves in Aberdeenshire.

Below: the interior of the mausoleum.

inside Duff House Mausoleum

The River Deveron

During autumn in Scotland the days seem to be either golden or grey, sunny or dreich. It didn’t get properly light at all on this day, but autumn added its gold regardless.

River Deveron

Dickensian Dog Graves

I came upon an old dog grave in the lower parts of Wrack Wood. The dogs had lovely Dickensian sounding names.

dog grave

Grey and golden, the colours of the day:

grey and golden leaf

Chosen Sisters, Romans and Romance

Set in 1st century Scotland, my latest novel, SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, includes the battle of Mons Graupius between the Romans and the Caledonian tribes. The book features a neurodivergent main character and some rather complicated romance.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

“Ethereal and spellbinding….” Historical Novel Society

See the press release here

Read the article Roman Aberdeenshire features in author’s new book from Grampian Online.

An Autistic Dancer and a Byronic Hero

A Dancer's Journey Series by Ailish Sinclair

He’s a damaged diva, used to getting his own way. She’s an autistic ballet girl who speaks her truth without tact. What could possibly go wrong?

Amazon UK

Amazon worldwide

  •  Romantic Suspense
  •  Age-gap Romance
  •  Secret Relationship
  •  Set in Scotland and London
  •  Completed series

I could feel what the characters were feeling, feel their pain; it broke my heart and then healed it and made it sing.” Amazon review

New novel from Aberdeenshire author combines passions from Grampian Online.

Cabriole by Ailish Sinclair

About Page

Ailish Sinclair dances in a stone circle.
Ailish

See the About Page here

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Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include some exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. If you would like to hear about new books and offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

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Witchcraft, Kidnapping, and the Cobbles of Aberdeen

cobbles of Correction Wynd in Aberdeen

I do seem to have a habit of running up and down the medieval cobbles, or ‘cassies’, of Aberdeen in the name of research.

Correction Wynd

Here I am again, travelling down Correction Wynd, site of the 17th century House of Correction. But it’s not the old poorhouse/jail that I’m investigating. Not today anyway…

I pass St Nicholas Kirk, where people accused of witchcraft were held in the 16th century.

cobbles of Aberdeen

It’s time to move on from that now.

On from THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR.

Researching and writing those times have led me to another.

Over the cobbles of Aberdeen towards The Green, in Aberdeen

Over the cobbles I go, glancing up at the modern city above.

Archway in Correction Wynd, Aberdeen. Cobbles of Aberdeen.

Over the Cobbles to the Green

Through the beam of light and into the, also rather modern seeming, Green.

The Green, Aberdeen

The kidnapped children of Aberdeen were held here in the 1740s. In a barn.

The Green in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Passers by sometimes heard music coming from the place as the kidnappers tried to keep the children entertained.

The Green

These events inspired my novel Fireflies and Chocolate, and the Green is specifically mentioned:

Fireflies and Chocolate, out April 2021

“Another barn,” notes Peter, when we are ushered into a large ramshackle wooden building. Again we find a space to sit together, among the others. Again, we are on the floor, this time an earthen one. No chairs are provided for the likes of us anywhere now it seems. “I was kept in a barn in Aberdeen,” he tells me. “Down at the Green.”

I ken the Green. I used to think it was a nice place to walk through, a space between buildings, like a city version of a forest glade.

The Tolbooth

The children were also kept in the Tolbooth at times. There are tales of desperate parents trying to break down the door to get to them. Peter Williamson, who appears in the above quote, would be held there again in later life as punishment for his book, in which he accused the town magistrates of involvement in the kidnappings. You can read a large print version in the Tolbooth museum today beside a life size cut out of Peter!

He’s not the main character in Fireflies and Chocolate, though. That’s Elizabeth Manteith, who is entirely fictional. But I love her. In their press release about the book the publisher describes her like this:

Fiery and forthright, Elizabeth isn’t someone to be argued with. She knows her own mind, and isn’t afraid to speak it. Through her experiences, the reader sees her grow from a girl, into a woman with a powerful voice… a woman of her time, but very much of ours too.

The cobbles of Correction Wynd in Aberdeen, dark Kirk behind.

Those dark cobbles of Aberdeen do take me places!

The Book

Torn out of her isolated life in a Scottish castle, Elizabeth embarks on a determined quest to return home. Exhilarating adventures unfold on the high seas, love blossoms, and the chocolate, purchased in Ben Franklin’s printing shop, is delicious!

FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 600 children and young people who were kidnapped from Aberdeen during the 1740s and sold into indentured servitude in the American Colonies.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society Editor’s Pick

Fireflies and Chocolate by Ailish Sinclair

About Page

ballet feet of Ailish Sinclair

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Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a bit more intimate than the blog. If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

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Autumn, I love you!

Autumn, I love you

Autumn, I love you. Really, I do.

I love your gold. I love your blue.

Autumn, I love you

Your leafy lanes. And red berries.

Autumn, I love you: berries

I love your great banks of colour and darkening skies.

Autumn, I love you: trees

You’re the in-between, the relaxation from summer to winter, the slowing of the year. And, did I mention that I love you, autumn?

bench by the lake

Contemporary Fiction

Cabriole by Ailish Sinclair

Leaving your boyfriend to pursue a career on the stage is easy, right?

Back in London, and newly single, Amalphia moves into a seven-figure apartment and walks into a job with a top ballet company. Despite these advantages, she soon encounters new pain and a dark far deeper than that of the dungeon.

As dark and witty as its predecessor, the second instalment of A Dancer’s Journey is a sensual story of love, dance and self-discovery.

Amazon UK

Amazon worldwide

From emmalolly13 on TikTok: “This series has a special place in my heart… I feel so blessed to continue reading Amalphia’s story… Her journey with love has been rough… this is such a soul-touching series.

Historical Fiction

Fireflies and Chocolate by Ailish Sinclair

Torn out of her isolated life in a Scottish castle, Elizabeth embarks on a determined quest to return home. Exhilarating adventures unfold on the high seas, love blossoms, and the chocolate, purchased in Ben Franklin’s printing shop, is delicious!

FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 600 children and young people who were kidnapped from Aberdeen during the 1740s and sold into indentured servitude in the American Colonies.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society Editor’s Pick

About Page

ballet feet of Ailish Sinclair

See my About Page

Newsletter

Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a bit more intimate than the blog. If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

Writer’s Tip Jar

My Witchy Debut Novel, Published 2019

The Mermaid and the Bear Christmas

2019 got off to an exciting start for me when I signed a contract with GWL Publishing for my witchy debut novel, The Mermaid and the Bear.

It’s out in both paperback and Kindle NOW!

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Waterstones

Aspects of the book:

  • It’s mainly set in a castle in Aberdeenshire.
  • It incorporates the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic.
  • There’s a stone circle.
  • There’s 16th century Christmas.
  • And there’s a love story.

Cover:

Cover of Ailish Sinclair's witchy debut novel THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR
A witchy debut novel: THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR

Blurb:

Isobell needs to escape. She has to. Her life depends on it.

She has a plan and it’s a well thought-out, well observed plan, to flee her privileged life in London and the cruel man who would marry her, and ruin her, and make a fresh start in Scotland.

She dreams of faery castles, surrounded by ancient woodlands and misty lochs… and maybe even romance, in the dark and haunted eyes of a mysterious Laird.

Despite the superstitious nature of the time and place, her dreams seem to be coming true, as she finds friendship and warmth, love and safety. And the chance for a new beginning…

Until the past catches up with her.

Set in the late sixteenth century, at the height of the Scottish witchcraft accusations, The Mermaid and the Bear is a story of triumph over evil, hope through adversity, faith in humankind and – above all – love.

The Mermaid and the Bear by Ailish Sinclair. A witchy debut novel.

 Further insight:

A Witchy Halloween Article

spooky article on witch burnings

Should we really have fun at Halloween when the north-east led the great execution of witches?

This is an excellent piece from @NeilDrysdale in which I cite the case of Bessie Thom, a real woman who features in THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR: Bessie, quite possibly, went into the North Sea before being committed to the flames during a very public execution.

Aesthetic

I made a wee aesthetic for the book, because: oh the fun!

Aesthetic for The Mermaid and the Bear, Ailish Sinclair's witchy debut novel

About Page

ballet feet of Ailish Sinclair

See my About Page

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Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a bit more intimate than the blog. If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

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Loanhead of Daviot Stone Circle

Loanhead of Daviot Stone Circle in Aberdeenshire

I love Loanhead of Daviot Stone Circle. Really love it. I know I’ve talked about how Aikey Brae is my favourite, and that is true. But this one comes in a close second. It’s another circle that I’ve been visiting for decades, often starting a day out with a quick walk round the stones.

A Wee Castle in the Woods

The approach is through woodland, and I like the wee castle that has appeared in recent years.

play castle in Daviot woods

The path then leads up the hill and out to the stones.

Loanhead of Daviot Stone Circle

Loanhead of Daviot Stone Circle

It’s a happy feeling circle, this one. They all have their own distinct atmosphere. Of course, maybe it’s just my own response to these places that I’m feeling. But then, isn’t everything that? A bit, at least. I once felt so happy at Daviot that I danced around in my bare feet and broke a toe on a hidden stone in the grass.

Loanhead of Daviot Stone Circle

It always seems to be sunny there when I visit.

autumn oak leaf

I picked up a fallen oak leaf from the adjacent ring of small stones that was used as a cremation cemetery in the distant past. The leaf is on my desk now as I write.

Daviot Stone Circle

Daviot has been quite well excavated, with many cremation burials found (see the Historic Environment Scotland site). And there is, or was, a second circle across the valley. Only the large recumbent and flankers remain now. You can just make them out below, by the densest part of the tree line. You should be able to click the image to see a larger version.

View from Daviot Stone Circle

As is my way (see the older post Things I Stole from Castles), I took these two circles and put them in SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD.

Quote from the book

We hold hands as we walk down and then up the short grassy valley that lies between the two circles. The stones we arrive at are overgrown with all manner of plant life. There are healing herbs that I recognise, wee flowers too, and spiny stems that look rather forbidding. Keep out, they say. Stay away. Leave the stones in peace.

Daviot

Reviews

Reviews are coming in for Sisters.

“Ethereal and spellbinding…” Historical Novel Society

And from Terry Tyler: “It’s a fabulous story, a real page-turner and so well written. It made me think about the passage and circle of time, of the constancy of the land on which we live and the transient nature of human life. Loved it.”

Sisters at the Edge of the World

Set in 1st century Scotland, SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD includes the battle of Mons Graupius between the Romans and the Caledonian tribes. The book features a neurodivergent main character and some rather complicated romance…

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Read the article Aberdeenshire in Roman times takes centre stage in author’s latest book from AberdeenLive.

An Autistic Dancer, a Byronic Hero and an Obsessive Scientist

Read my series A Dancer’s Journey. There’s ballet. There’s lots of naughtiness. And there’s peril!

Tendu by Ailish Sinclair

Enjoy a kiss on the London tube in the first book, TENDU. Romp up and down the castle stairs. Dance in a stone circle. Attend a Ceilidh in the great hall. Have your brain studied in the dungeon. All fun, I assure you. Well, not quite all…

Series on Amazon

From emmalolly13 on TikTok: “This series has a special place in my heart… I feel so blessed to continue reading Amalphia’s story… Her journey with love has been rough… this is such a soul-touching series.

Diabolical reading

About Page

ballet feet of Ailish Sinclair

See my About Page

Newsletter, Updates and ARCs

Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a bit more intimate than the blog. If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

Writer’s Tip Jar

A Celebratory Dance in a Stone Circle

a celebratory dance

Did I take a pair of old pointe shoes and perform a celebratory dance in a stone circle? Yes. Yes, I did. (This is a post from last year that’s making me want to get out there and dance again!)

The reason for the celebration? Well, there’s more than one. Firstly, I’m well enough to dance around a bit. I am enduring one or two monstrous autoimmunity symptoms, but they don’t stop me dancing. And secondly, all three books of A Dancer’s Journey are now ready to dance out into the world!

Book covers of A Dancer's Journey series by Ailish Sinclair: celebratory dance.
Look at the pretty covers! And the less bashed pointe shoes…

Update: the whole series is out now!

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

Page with blurbs and quotes

Dance and Despair: Writing What You Know on Women Writers, Women[‘s] Books.

ballet feet in a celebratory dance
Dancing on the stones worsened the frayed situation somewhat.

There’s a page with full blurbs and some quotes, but here’sTendu’s description:

Scotland’s all misty lochs and magical forests and perfect boyfriends, right?

When dance student Amalphia Treadwell embarks on a secret relationship with her rich, handsome teacher, she has no idea of the danger that lurks in his school in Scotland.

She’s soon dealing with her boyfriend’s beautiful and obsessive ex, the sinister research taking place at the castle school and her own ever-evolving relationship issues.

Amalphia works hard to be the best dancer she can be, but as tension builds within the old walls of the castle, she begins to wonder if she will ever escape the deep dark of the dungeon…

Dark, witty, steamy and fun, Tendu is a compelling and seductive story of love, dance and obsession. 

The books do include a little dancing in a stone circle. It’s fun, and I highly recommend it. I hope you can all enjoy a celebratory dance too.

Featured circle: Aikey Brae.

Diabolical reading

Newsletter and Updates

Sign up to the mailing list for news about my life and writing, and some exclusive photos. If you would like to hear about new books and offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

My About Page

Ailish's feet

Read all about little old me here!

Writer’s Tip Jar

Gentle Autumn Days

autumn days - trees

I love these warm and gentle autumn days. The sun is hot, the trees are turning colourful and the sky is bright blue.

fungi - autumn days

Mushrooms and toadstools appear.

autumn days - oak leaf

Paths are crunchy as the trees shed their leaves.

tree with berries

The rodgersia is red, red, red…

rodgersia

And the beach feels especially golden. More beach to come in the next newsletter

beach - autumns days

From the misty hills of ancient Scotland…

SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD with a misty mountain view

From the misty hills of ancient Scotland emerges a tale of love, betrayal, and the fight for freedom. Join Morragh in SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD for an unforgettable journey.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

The setting is ethereal and spellbinding as our main characters walk a fine line between what has been and what is to come. A beautiful tale of ancient wonders and kindred souls.” Historical Novel Society

About Page

feet

See the About Page here

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Go here to sign up for my occasional emails that always include some exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. If you would like to hear about new books and offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

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