Just a small post, and a short wintry walk, written amid the nerve wracking experience of proofreading (originally from February 2021).
It’s been snowing.
Quite a lot.
Above are fox tracks in the woods. Below, an oak leaf.
Scary Proofreading
I’ve been proofreading Fireflies and Chocolate (out now: Amazon), desperately seeking any errors, making tiny tweaks.
Last chance to change anything. Last chance to get it right before it goes back to the publisher. It’s a little bit scary, this final stage of writing a novel.
In the woods
So, I trudge. Through the snow. Through the trees.
I breathe in the fresh cold air. It feels good.
Calming. Natural. Real.
Emerging from the woods, I hold my face up to the sun, follow the fox tracks and hope all will be well.
The Mermaid and the Bear
“Once Upon a Time, in the Days of Auld Lang Syne…”
THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR is a Scottish tale that includes a castle, a handsome Laird, witchcraft accusations, a stone circle and lots of love…
At first it doesn’t feel quite real… where is the white rabbit leading? To a book cover? That seems odd…
This Alice in Wonderland style post dates from the build up to the release of THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR in 2019.
The rabbit leads us down or, as is more accurate, through, a giant rabbit hole!
Things get stranger yet as we pass between a huge fork and knife…
We come to a place of unicorns.
We want to stay here with the unicorns, but we have to move on, to see…
A miniature castle! We go inside, and peer out like giants.
We hear sweet music, percussion. Everything feels dreamy and lovely.
And then, finally, this is where the rabbit has been taking us… to the book cover!
Set in a castle in Aberdeenshire, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features a fictional account of three real women who were accused of witchcraft in 1597. It’s also a love story. And the cover makes it all very real now to Ailish (the Gaelic form of Alice)…
She needs to have a nice lie down like the huge white rabbit (6.5 metres long) in the Playful Garden at Brodie Castle, featured in this post.
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The Mermaid and the Bear is out now in both paperback and Kindle.
I’ve been lucky to catch a few beautiful ones lately. And to manage a few short walks upon the sand. I’m back to my usual routine of first thing in the morning writing sessions. It’s good. The writing gets the best of my brain then, I think.
Thinking
I’ve been doing lots of that. Between the beach sunrises.
I’ve been very happy being published by a traditional small press. But this next book I’m working on is a bit strange. And short. It does not conform. And I don’t want to change it to make it do so. I like it the way it is. It’s how the story needs to be. So I’m wondering about self publishing.
Maybe.
I think.
I’m indecisive.
I need the process to be as stress-free as possible. My health issues are exacerbated by stress. So, I’m thinking just to Kindle first. For ease. And learning.
Maybe.
I think…
Feel free to share your advice and insights!
Though really, before any of that, I need to focus on the writing and the refining and the rewriting and the relationships in the story and trying not to write run on sentences… and just tap tap tap away at that keyboard.
Update: I published it in both paperback and kindle
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.
Review 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.“
“Ailish Sinclair spins this Scottish tale filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society
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Set in 1st century Scotland, my latest historical 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!
Keep up with all my news by signing up to the newsletter. It’s a more intimate space than the blog, only occasional, and always contains some exclusive photos.
I get easily distracted by the places and things that I write about here and forget to mention other writerly bits and pieces of note in some posts. So here goes!
Interview
I recently did an interview with the lovely Tonya Ulynn Brown on her blog The Rose and the Thistle here. Tonya’s review of THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR came out while I was in hospital last year and it really cheered me up. I tweeted about it from my bed very early in the morning, having finally worked out how to use the WiFi. I remember the scene so clearly: the dimmed light in the ward, the wall clock with its strange night and day depiction, the quiet padding about of nurses, and the prick of the blood sugar checking device. At least I had performed some worthwhile task from my bed. I was almost working! A man instantly tweeted back to me that I was being too ‘self congratulatory’ in mentioning the review. And that only encouraged me…
In the interview I ask such questions as: Is it really good enough? Is it, in fact, bilge? Or nonsense? Or the worst thing that has ever been written in the whole history of the world?
And dispense advice like: Don’t let other people tear you down and tell you you’re doing it wrong. People have strange agendas when it comes to the writing of others. Do your own thing. Go your own way.
And then over on Goodreads, this one from Alex came in yesterday. “I was moved and shocked by what I read but also took solace from the portrayal of genuine historic figures in the book such as the vile Alexander Young and the decent Benjamin Lay, Peter Williamson and Benjamin Franklin whose kindness and determination make a difference to those reduced to the status of chattels.”
And the last writerly mention: the group
I’ve started a wee Facebook Group to promote Scottish books. Your own or those you’ve read, fiction or non-fiction, about or set in Scotland or written by a Scottish author. If you’re interested feel free to join here.
All my novels are on Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s lending service, and that has a 30 day free trial, though some people are being offered 3 months for free just now. See all the books here. Also in paperback.
We’ve moved North and round the corner from the golden sands of Fraserburgh beach, and arrived at the rocky shores of Broadsea and a beautiful rock pool, the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in the background.
But the book is out! Released! That’s all that’s really on my mind today… though I can be momentarily distracted by shells:
It’s a strange feeling this, like opening a window and letting something precious and secret fly away to where it can now be seen by anyone who wants to see it!
That’s my favourite little house at Broadsea, right beside the rugged rocky coastline.
So… deep breath…
Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR blends an often overlooked period of history, the Scottish witchcraft accusations, in particular the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, with a love story.
I came across this rather lovely little scene in the woods on a rainy day last week. It made me think of fairies…
Yesterday Paragraph Planet revealed the opening of The Mermaid and the Bear on their site. It’s gone now, but I took a screenshot, below. It was while walking in the same woods pictured above that the first line of the book came to me.
Three little woodpeckers. Fighting in a tree. That’s what I encountered on my daily walk today. Turn up the sound and you can hear them, along with a distant pheasant.
#AWindowOnScotland is a nice little tag on Twitter at the moment. Lots of lovely views from Scottish windows. Mine:
Talking of Twitter, and good things, I’m collaborating in a great initiative to help small businesses, especially ones that have fallen through the gaps of governmental help. I’ll be retweeting lots of wonderful products and services between 9-10pm GMT tomorrow, Friday 17th April on the tag #CelebsForSmallBiz (yes, that is Mrs Fitz from Outlander!)
It feels like the world has changed dramatically since I last blogged at the end of February. I very much hope you are all safe and well. My pneumonia experience last year has left me with a damaged lung, so I am social distancing. Being at home. Writing. Editing. Actually getting round to cleaning the cooker!
On the way home from a hospital visit in 2020, I stopped at Balmedie beach.
Balmedie Beach
I crossed the boardwalk slowly, being careful not to catch my slippers in the gaps between wood. My foot is a lot better, though I still can’t wear proper shoes or put my heel right down on the ground, but I was determined to walk on the beach.