About Ailish

Ailish Sinclair

Ailish Sinclair Bio

Ailish Sinclair trained as a dancer and taught dance for many years, before working in schools to help children with special needs. A short stint as a housekeeper in a castle fired her already keen interest in untold stories of the past and she sat down to research and write.

She now lives beside a loch with her husband and two children where she writes and dances (yes still, chronic medical conditions allowing, pah!) and eats rather too much chocolate.

Newsletter and Free Story

You will receive a free short story in e-book form when you sign up for my occasional, more-intimate-than-the-blog newsletter (the story can be read in a browser too). The Performance: sometimes going home is just one huge performance…

The Performance, a short story by Ailish Sinclair. Get it free for newsletter sign-up.

For more frequent pictures and chat

Writing

I write both contemporary fiction and historical fiction and have two contemporary series, the spicy Dancer’s Journey and the coming-of-age Castle Dancers.

Castle Dancers Series

Contemporary fiction from Ailish Sinclair: the Castle Dancers Series

From book 1, Ariel: Dancing on TV

The night before Ariel, a sixteen-year-old girl with a deformed hand, starts at the most prestigious dance school in Scotland, her mother tries to kill her.

Torn from a life where she never fitted in, Ariel quickly becomes the focus of a reality TV show. In the castle school, she forms deep friendships and meets Alexander, the best looking boy she’s ever seen. Together, they unravel the mysteries of the castle’s shadows and confront the demons of Ariel’s past.

Can she rise above a lifetime of pain and embrace the possibilities of fame and love that beckon to her?

‘Ariel: Dancing on TV’ is a mesmerising tale of resilience and the pursuit of a brighter future against all odds.

Castle Dancers Series on Amazon UK

Castle Dancers Series on Amazon Worldwide

A Dancer’s Journey Series

Contemporary Fiction: A Dancer's Journey series by Ailish Sinclair

From book 1, TENDU: Dancing in the Castle

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 new 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, sexy and fun, Tendu is a seductive story of love, dance and obsession. 

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

Historical Fiction

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

The historical novels of Ailish Sinclair

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

On the Stones…

Scottish author Ailish Sinclair at Berrybrae Stone Circle

Writer’s Tip Jar

feet in pointe shoes

Elsewhere on the web

Books by Ailish Sinclair

333 Replies to “About Ailish”

    1. Thanks for following me on twitter. I love visiting Scotland. For years, I visited a friend who lived in Edinburgh. Can’t wait to get back. Your pictures are really great.

  1. I have just enjoyed all your photographs. What an interesting personality you have; to love dancing, photography and writing (besides eating cake) and going for walks in that lovely countryside sounds a good way to live your life! Good luck with your writing.

    l

  2. Great photos! I recognise some of the buildings from calendars. Been trying to figure out which loch you live near. I’ll keep checking your photos and see it if I can figure it out. Love the views.

  3. Absolutely beautiful – there is something about nature that nourishes the soul! Thank you for sharing..btw would like to follow your blog but can’t seem to find the ‘follow’ button!

  4. There should be a follow button at the top if you are logged in to wordpress. Otherwise there is a follow by email form on the right (or bottom of page if on mobile site). Glad you like the blog 🙂

  5. I’m an American living in Cornwall and when I saw a few of your photos on Twitter I thought at first that they were of Cornwall. Both beautiful, haunting parts of the world.

  6. I am so glad to have found you, and I love your presence on Pinterest! My family’s origins hail from Ayrshire and are related to the Stewarts. I’ve spent significant time in Ireland, but have yet to go to Scotland, but know I will!

  7. The pictures are breathtaking, the humaness that shines through your words is touching. I’m reminded to enjoy nature. I hope to visit Scotland soon. After honeymooning in Ireland last summer, I fell in love even more – with the ease of Celtic culture.

  8. Thank you for finding and following me today on Twitter — on my very first Tweet! (I still have much to learn about Twitter!) I love your photographs of Scotland — the land of my ancestors. I look forward to following your journey as a writer, as I am also on the journey.

  9. Ailish, you have the self same lovely name as my younger girl. I can’t find a follow to follow you back blogwise but I have subscribed to your blog by email and you can bet I’d follow you anyway. xxx

  10. Thanks so much for following my blog! 🙂 yours is lovely and I’m delighted to see you’re from Scotland; I have some Scots ancestry and I’m convinced I’m Celtic on the inside!

  11. Dance, photo, books and cake??? Can we be friends? I also have two kids haha! But I don’t live by a loch – nah, I am in Brussels, Belgium, which is nice and charming as well, believe it or not!
    Thanks for visiting my blog, I’m looking forward to discovering yours, and good luck for the novel!! Exciting project!

  12. Oh, my! I just scrolled through some of your jaw-droppingly gorgeous photographs–how fortunate you are to live in such a fairyland of a place! I’d love to visit Scotland, home of at least some of my ancestors. The closest I’ve ever gotten and, I suspect, will get, was to Nova Scotia. At least, I live in the northwest mountain of North Carolina, where many Scots immigrants settled because of the craggy mountain peaks that reminded them of home, so I’m told.

  13. Wow! Some Stunning photo’s and stories – you do indeed live in a wonderful part of the world. Thanks for the follow – I’m touched that you spend some time looking at my lackluster efforts.
    Looking forward to reading more.

  14. Am I bad cause I have the word cake now edge in my brain? Lol Also a cup a tea..but I guess that on is on me.

    A lovely piece of words… and with insight as I now picture a Scottish dancer. Looking forward to the reads also.

    Tommy D..

  15. Thank you, Ailish, for reading my blog ‘Witch Hunt’ and for following. I know Aberdeen a bit (I was involved with the oil companies for a few years plus I have a good friend who was born there and is always waxing strong about the city.) I had no idea about the extent of the “witch” craze there. I also note you are publishing a novel -congratulations!

  16. Congrats on your book being published! This is not a small feat. As a new aspiring writer I have a ton of respect for fellow writers. It’s fun, grueling, difficult, and wonderful all at the same time.

  17. Congratulations on your future publishing date! And I’m enchanted by your dancing feet and how you could possibly intertwine that with your writing. Thanks for stopping by Life in the Slow Lane and choosing to following along. I’ll be adding my name to your mailing list.

  18. Hi AIlish, thanks for interacting my website and like you I am starting out on a writing and publishing career with one ready to be read by end Sept and another being drafted, perhaps for next year?

  19. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and follow me and Pearl the Storyhound. At one time I was thinking of writing a story based on the witch trials, but I became so upset and angry while researching the subject I had to shelve it. You’re braver than I am!

  20. Awesome. Scotland is one of my homes and the place I met my husband. Lovely to get a glimpse into its magic! Thanks!

  21. Thank you for following The Write Edge and The Write Edge Bookshelf. I hope you find the posts interesting and informative. All the best to you on your writing journey!

    1. It was a great piece; I’ve always been fascinated by Mary Shelley and the fact that she wrote such a famous book on a weekend away with Byron! And thank you 🙂

  22. Dear Ailish, thank you for the “like” to my Musings of a Gen Joneser blog! It led my discovering your “The Mermaid and The Bear,” which I promptly ordered from Barnes & Noble. I look forward to adding it to my reading list! Take good care, David Yamada

  23. Well, hello.
    Thank you for taking the time to read some of my writing and thank you also for choosing to hang around my site.
    I only started blogging in December and it’s opening up a world of writers I didn’t know existed.
    Right then, once I finish painting the window sill and make dinner then walk the dogs then take the washing in then get everyone ready for bed…
    … I’ll make time to go through your blog too.
    Promise.
    All the best,
    John Ormsby

  24. Thanks for following my blog. Nice to see another Scottish writer on wordpress. i never heard the story about the Aberdeen children who were captured and made to work in the colonies. It sounds a bit like the story of Long nan Daoine, a boat (sponsored by the corrupt landowner) which captured people from Skye and Harris with the aim of selling them as slaves in the colonies. They managed to escape while the boat made a stop in northern Ireland but many of them never made it back.

    1. How amazing that they managed to escape! There was a shortage of labour in the colonies so this sort of thing was rife, with much money to be made.

    2. How amazing that they managed to escape! There was a shortage of labour in the colonies so this sort of thing was rife unfortunately. In Aberdeen the magistrates of the town were involved.

  25. Your novel looks intriguing. I will check it out and want to thank you for choosing to follow my blog. I hope it encourages you in your walk with the Lord. And may He bless your writing as you point others to him.

  26. It’s nice to meet you, Ailish Sinclair! It sounds like you have had a very interesting and fulfilling career as an author and dancer. It’s great that you have been able to combine your love of dance and history in your writing, and that you have been able to find inspiration in the beautiful location where you live beside a loch. It’s always inspiring to see people pursue their passions despite any challenges they may face.

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