Stories and photos from Scotland
I took a little stroll along Rosehearty beach. No exaggeration. It was a stroll. Recovery from pneumonia is a slow process, so the walk was slow too. It was a meander along the sands, if you will!
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It’s actually an improvement. I think I was level 25 last week. But then I’m not the best when it comes to self assessment. In my last post I stated that I was ‘recovering from flu.’ Three days later I was admitted to hospital with pneumonia and a collapsed lung. And there I stayed for three weeks, receiving the most incredible care. Wow, NHS. Wow, nurses.
The picture is an old one, but it is my first post-pneumonia ambition. I will walk onto a beach sometime soon.
So, normal service will be resumed as the Peely Wally levels reduce. I hope you all had a good holiday time, if you celebrate, and that 2020 is a wonderful year!
Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, Ailish Sinclair’s debut novel, 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.
That is my favourite bit of path in the woods by my house. It’s also the most productive. When I get stuck with a storyline or a finicky little plot detail that just won’t iron out, that’s where I go, and solutions become clear. Big epiphanies about characters and back stories happen there too. Maybe it’s because it’s a timeless landscape. Or maybe I just feel relaxed and at peace there.
Just now though, I am recovering from flu and can’t walk in the woods. Soon, I tell myself. Soon. I can sit up and write so I may really need to go there soon!
I’ve been deeply touched by how much thought people have been putting into their reviews of THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR.
Local Quine Kate the Quiet Knitter’s review “This wonderful magical tale then takes a deviation towards the darkness and from here Sinclair’s research and writing really shines. Her portrayal of 16th century Scotland is entrancing, and the details of the witch-hunts taking place in that time are fascinating.”
On the Mum, Write NOW blog “Overall the characters are lovable, I found it interesting that their lives intertwined slightly with Shakespeare and also touched on LGBT culture and attitudes at that time. It really felt that there was a depth of historical knowledge informing the narrative which I always enjoy.”
And the Wee Writing Lassie wrote about the book and asked me 7 impertinent questions! “Another inclusive detail in Ailish’s novel is the fact that her heroine – Isobell – is a plus sized woman, and this is never treated like a problem, or something about her that needs to be fixed, by the narrative. All body type inclusion, yeah!”
The same path, though the other end and other direction, in the woods, in summer:
That’s the earthen floor of the medieval great hall at Drum Castle.
I love it.
So I took it!
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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.
And it has a castle.
And a stone circle.
And medieval Christmas.
Out in paperback and Kindle NOW!
Universal links:
Aden Country Park in Aberdeenshire is a wonderful place to visit, though I have to admit that when I lived near it I took it a bit for granted. In fact I became a little disenchanted by some aspects of the place.
But it’s beautiful. From the ruined mansion house…
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The Map of Witches is a brand new resource from the University of Edinburgh, utilising the extensive data collected in their Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database. See it here. It’s a visual and clickable map of over 3000 people accused of witchcraft in Scotland, and is 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.
After peering back into the dark like that, I need to look at beauty, so here’s some from recent days:
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Tyrebagger Recumbent Stone Circle is near Aberdeen, situated on the hill behind the airport and overlooking the Kirkhill Industrial Estate. So, when my family and I went seeking this circle we thought it would be easy to find. Yes. Well. Google maps took us close. Very close in fact. But there’s nowhere to stop a car and get out on the dual carriageway, so no possibility of taking the app’s advice to ‘walk the rest of the way to your destination’.
We turned to directions found on the internet which took us up the side of the industrial estate and into the woods. But the last instruction, to turn right along the line of trees… there was no right there. We ended up lost and peering over gates and up tracks and across fields. But then, Google maps pinpointed the exact location of the stones and we retraced our steps.
‘”It’s somewhere in that direction…”
“Just the other side of those trees…”
“But how can we get through there?”
Until:
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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.
Women Writers, Women[‘s] Books have published my article Researching Historical Fiction: Immersing Oneself in the Past in which you can read about me setting off smoke alarms and eating primroses (yes, really) in the name of research.
