At first it doesn’t feel quite real… where is the white rabbit leading?
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Category Archives: art
Love, Dance, Obsession, and Chocolate
2019 continues to be an exciting year for me on the bookish front! My contemporary novel, TENDU, is coming out in 2020 with Black Opal Books.
Some aspects of the story:
- It’s a tale of unconventional love, dance and obsession.
- Much of the book is set in Scotland.
- There’s a stone circle and a castle.
- The central relationship is deeply tempestuous.
- Ballet!
- Dark and terrible happenings!
- Hot chocolate and cake. Depending on era, you can’t always include chocolate in historical writing and, given all that I put them through, my characters both need and deserve it. So there’s lots of chocolate in this contemporary title. LOTS.
And there’ll obviously have to be lots at my desk too 🙂
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The Land Girls Gate
The Women’s Land Army was formed in 1917, and then again in 1939 when WWII broke out. Women as young as 17 signed up for the duration of the war and took on all forms of farming and food production. The Army was eventually disbanded in 1950. There’s lots more information about the Land Girls here.
The memorial at Clochan in Moray is a joyous piece of art, paying tribute to the women who served in the Land Army throughout Scotland. Stones from various farms across the country have been incorporated into the ground around the gate. The fact that the memorial is surrounded by working farmland feels perfectly fitting too.
If you visit on a Sunday morning, as I did, there’s a small car boot sale going on just down the road in Clochan, with pancakes and tea being served in the village hall. It’s rather lovely and feels a bit like stepping back into a simpler time.
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Walking the Witchy Ways of Aberdeen
I ran through St Nicholas Kirkyard, and down and round Correction Wynd, an old medieval lane in Aberdeen, to see this recent street art. I was due to meet people for breakfast, but determined to see the ‘Quine Shrine’ first. The reason being? That first part, on the left, honours those who were persecuted for witchcraft in Aberdeen, and one tile names a few of them, including the three women I chose to write about in The Mermaid and the Bear.
The spellings are different, because spellings weren’t set back then, not like they are today. I chose to go with the way the names are recorded in the Survey Of Scottish Witchcraft from Edinburgh University. It was there that I learned, contrary to popular belief, that only a tiny proportion of those accused were midwives or folk healers; a mere 9 of the 3837 ‘witches’ in Scotland were midwives, and only 141 had some mention of healing in their cases (see the background page of the database).
In my fictional account of these women’s lives, one of them is a midwife and healer, but this is not the reason for the accusations brought against the three quines.
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Scottish Historical Fiction
I write Scottish historical fiction, mainly set in the area of Scotland where I live, Aberdeenshire.
2019 got off to an exciting start for me when I signed a contract with GWL Publishing for my novel, The Mermaid and the Bear. It’s out in both paperback and Kindle NOW!
Aspects of the book:
- It’s mainly set in a fictional 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:
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.
 Further insight:
- My post Walking the Witchy Ways of Aberdeen
- My article Researching Historical Fiction: Immersing Oneself in the Past
- The Fraserburgh Herald’s piece Fraserburgh Author Ailish to Publish New Novel
- The Press and Journal’s feature on the book and author
- Review on GoodReads
- Review on Terry Tyler Book Reviews
I made a wee aesthetic for it, because: oh the fun!
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Over the Sea to the Fairies (and Skye)
The Isle of Skye. That’s the Old Man of Storr in the hills above, a beautiful rock formation visible for miles around. The island is a place of fairies: there’s a castle and a glen and a bridge… but first, back to another rock formation, specifically the one spied from the bedroom window of our holiday house.
‘That’s an interesting rocky outcrop,’ said I to husband.
‘Aye, we should walk up to it,’ he replied.
So we did.
Dancing round rainy Aberdeen
I skirted round the edges of rainy Aberdeen in search of bright spots and green corners. Above is The Chanonry, a cobbled street in Old Aberdeen. Cobbles are called ‘cassies’ up here, a word I had long forgotten until I was reminded of it on Twitter.
memorial: witchcraft in Aberdeen
Aberdeen’s Cowdray Hall doubles as a war memorial and a venue for classical concerts. I visited it recently during a ‘Let’s do all the free museums!’ day; the marble hall is accessible via The Art Gallery.
serendipity and stones and a little dance
The first serendipitous happening of the day was the haar (Scottish word for mist that rolls in off the sea) and its silvery filtering of the sunlight. Then there was the seagull that flew by as I took the photo.
Inland we travelled, to bright sunshine and summer colours and the stones of Castle Fraser. I’ve made the picture below clickable to a larger version; to the left are two standing stones and to the right, in the distance by the trees, is Balgorkar stone circle.
Dolphins and Leopards, art in Aberdeen
There’s a public art project going on in Aberdeen for the next ten weeks: Wild Dolphins