Contemporary Romance and Historical Fiction

Scottish Fiction from Ailish Sinclair. Quote from contemporary romance novel TENDU.

I write contemporary romance and historical fiction, often set in the area of Scotland where I live, Aberdeenshire. My historical novels combine little-known dark events with love stories. There are witches, bears, kidnappers and Romans to be found in them, detailed below. My contemporary romance is a lot naughtier, though still dark, and coming soon.

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

Here on the blog, I write about castles, history, stone circles, dance, living with chronic illness, and writing. See my about page here.

Sisters at the Edge of the World

Sisters at the Edge of the World by Ailish Sinclair

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 chosen sisters, fierce warriors, a neurodivergent main character and some rather complicated romance.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

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

The Mermaid and the Bear

The Mermaid and the Bear by Ailish Sinclair

Taking place mainly in a fictional castle, 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. There’s also six chapters of medieval-style Christmas.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

From the Press and Journal: New book by Fraserburgh author highlights horrific extent of witch trials in Scotland 

Fireflies and Chocolate

Fireflies and Chocolate by Ailish Sinclair

FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the kidnapped children and young people of Aberdeen. The story follows the adventures of Elizabeth Manteith from the castle, and her determined efforts to get back home. There’s love. There’s derring-dos on the high seas… And there’s chocolate!

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

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

Coming Soon: a Dark and Sexy Contemporary Romance Series

Coming soon from Ailish Sinclair: A Dancer's Journey, a contemporary romance series.

These books are so naughty that I’m worried nobody will be able to look me in the face again after reading them. But not that worried. A Dancer’s Journey is going to be released anyway, and I’m having immense fun working on it just now!

Scotland's all  misty lochs, and magical forests
and perfect boyfriends, right?
The dark of the dungeon soon proves otherwise.
Short blurb for TENDU, the first book in the series.

Full blurbs and covers will be revealed in due course along with release dates which will be a month apart. No long waits between books, and no cliffhanger endings either. Each book completes a story, but then there is more. So much more.

Meanwhile, I’ve been writing bits and pieces about these stories, and the background from which they sprang, on the blog. See the posts:

Quote from the contemporary romance, TENDU by Ailish Sinclair

Further Insight into my life and work

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A Dancer's Journey: dark and sexy contemporary romance

Chosen Sisters: Friendship and Dance

Chosen sisters in front of Windsor Castle. Ailish Sinclair and friends.
Windsor Castle

Chosen Sisters

Two weeks after my sixteenth birthday, I travelled from Scotland to London to start dance college. I’d worked very hard to get there. It was daunting. It was difficult. But it was made easier by friendship. In particular, my friendship with Suzette, my chosen sister in the pink above. I’m in the stripes there, looking a bit hyper. We were on a day trip to Windsor Castle, and I may have been experiencing some early castle-love!

The two of us met at the youth hostel where we lived and quickly became friends. This woman was my emotional support that first year of college. I recall her standing between me and an aggressive man who kept asking me out, and giving him a thorough telling off for his belligerent behaviour. He left me alone after that. And Suzette was unusual for a non-dancer, in that she fully recognised the gruelling nature of the course I was on. My days started at 8 AM with morning ballet and went on till 6 PM. They were filled with high-impact dance classes of various types. There was one hour a week of ‘history of ballet’ and another hour of ‘anatomy’, but those were the only sitting-down style lessons.

Name-dropping Louie Spence

This video shows the sort of leaping about I was doing all day (it should start in at about 25 minutes, the audition). Louie (of TV’s Pineapple Dance, Dancing on Ice, and Benidorm) was in the year above me. I knew him a little bit, because the school was relatively small and everyone knew everyone a little bit. I can’t claim to have been actual friends with him, but I can attest to the personality you see on television being the real thing. That’s Louie. No fake TV persona for him.

So Suzette encouraged me to eat, and to rest, and to generally look after myself. Despite the fact that I advocate self-care to others in this article, I have never found it easy to do for myself.

And Suzette and I are still friends to this day. We even speak on the phone (well, Facebook Messenger call) sometimes, and I am not a person who is fond of the phone. I don’t use it much. It rings and summons me and then delivers news about deranged blood, and while that is actually just really responsible healthcare, and I’m so lucky in that, it doesn’t feel good at the time.

So, we two friends talk about the past, and Suzette recently commented that we were like sisters back then. It’s true. We were there for each other when things got hard. And we still are. We talk about our lives. I send her videos of snow in Scotland. She sends me pictures of her having lunch on the beach in a bikini. Suzette is from Mauritius. And, in honour of her, I have made a favourite character from the Dancer’s Journey series Mauritian, or half-Mauritian, as suits the story. He’s the main character’s best friend, Justin, and certainly provides her with plentiful emotional support (she really needs it, given all that I put her through). Though, he is not like Suzette in any other way. His character is not based on her at all.

A Dancer’s Journey Writing Update

As the latest flare-up of illness recedes, work on the series picks up. The first book, TENDU, is actually complete now. Book two, CABRIOLE, is about to start its third edit, and FOUETTÉ is into its second. It’s all very intense. I get up excited to work on it all each day, loving finessing the darker plot threads that run through all three books. There’s a lot of crying going on. And laughter too. The whole series will be out later this year, with no long waits between titles.

I’m really going to miss working on these when they’re finished. I so enjoy being in that world. The energy of it is immersive and possibly somewhat addictive. It’s just as well there’s another three-book series set there too. It’s waiting quietly in the wings for now…

Photo by Kyle Head on Unsplash

Earth and stone and air and water…

SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, a novel about chosen sisters, of course, continues to sell well and attract thoughtful and expressive reviews. Elizabeth Felt, a lecturer in English at the University of Wisconsin, had this to say about it recently: “The tone of this book is amazing. At the beginning, the narrator is mute, and the book feels so quiet, so in touch with the earth and stone and air and water… Amazing writing. Excellent story. Highly recommend.”

See the whole review here.

Newsletter

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

SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

Sisters at the Edge of the World by Ailish Sinclair. "Ethereal and spellbinding..." says The Historical Novel Society

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

See the press release here

Read the article New Novel Highlights Roman History in North East from Grampian Online.

THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR

The Mermaid and the Bear by Ailish Sinclair

Taking place mainly in a fictional castle, 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. There’s 6 chapters of medieval Christmas too.

See the press release here

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

From the Press and Journal: New book by Fraserburgh author highlights horrific extent of witch trials in Scotland 

FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE

Fireflies and Chocolate by Ailish Sinclair

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. The story follows the adventures of Elizabeth Manteith from the castle and her determined efforts to get back home. There’s love. There’s proper derring-dos on the high seas… and there’s chocolate!

See the publisher’s Press Release here

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

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

Writer’s Tip Jar

Macbeth’s Hillock and the Three Witches

ancient battle on the Sueno's Stone
Macbeth's Hillock

Macbeth’s Hillock

A couple of miles from the town of Forres in Moray is a mound known as Macbeth’s Hillock. Local folklore tells us that this is where Macbeth met with the three witches from the play.

‘By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.’

So pronounces the second witch in Macbeth, Act 4, scene 1.

The Three Witches

The theme of the three witches is echoed in more folklore from the surrounding area. There are two stones in Forres that are both associated with them.

The Sueno’s Stone

Sueno's Stone in Forres, possible site of Macbeth's Hillock
In its glass case

This is a 9th-10th century Picto-Scottish stone depicting an ancient battle (I like to think it’s Mons Graupius as featured in SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, but this is very unlikely given how long ago that battle took place). The stone is 6.5 metres tall and also lays claim, in local legend, to be situated where Macbeth met the witches. They are said to have been captured inside the stone, and should it ever be broken, they will be released.

Battle side of the Sueno's Stone in Forres, possible site of Macbeth's Hillock
Battle side
Cross side of the Sueno's Stone in Forres, possible site of Macbeth's Hillock
Celtic Cross side

The Witches Stone

witches stone

A rather more gruesome stone, and story, sits outside the police station on the main road in Forres. It has become a small shrine.

Gruesome tale of witch execution

There were originally meant to be have been three stones marking the final resting places of three women who were executed for witchcraft. The one remaining stone is held together with a piece of metal.

The Witches Stone in Forres.

More Witch Stones

The Witch Stone near Fraserburgh

The Hanging Stone on Gallows Hill by Rosehearty

Three Witches in The Mermaid and the Bear

There’s just something about ‘three witches’. I chose to write about three real women who were accused of witchcraft in 1597 in my debut novel, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR. I spent a year researching all the various aspects of the history. You can read about the general, and sometimes obsessive and bizarre, research in my article Researching Historical Fiction: Immersing Oneself in the Past on the Women Writers site. There’s some witchy research here, some stolen castle bits here and the search for a villain in this monstrous post.

The Mermaid and the Bear is a story of triumph over evil, hope through adversity, faith in humankind and – above all – love.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

From the Press and Journal: New book by Fraserburgh author highlights horrific extent of witch trials in Scotland 

THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR by Ailish Sinclair

Newsletter

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

My About Page

ballet novel, TENDU, by Ailish Sinclair

Read my bio and see all the social links and articles here.

Writer’s Tip Jar

Diabolical and Deranged: Writing and Blood

Diabolical

Diabolical and deranged. These are words that have been said about me, or aspects of me, in the last few days. I like diabolical the best. My editor said it about the plot twists in CABRIOLE (book 2 of A Dancer’s Journey series). And she’s right. They are diabolical. And now they’re making other people cry too, not just me. It feels a little wrong to be delighted about such a thing, but it shows that the book is ticking the proper emotional boxes. So, I’m pleased. And diabolical.

Note: the Dancer’s Journey series will release later this year. I don’t want there to be big gaps between release dates, so I’m waiting until all three books are ready. Health issues are preventing me from setting an actual publication date as yet. I will be writing lots more about the series, and the inspiration behind it, here on the blog over the coming months.

And Deranged?

It’s not my mind that’s deranged, but my blood. So I was told by a specialist nurse this week. And that’s not so much fun. There are to be more tests. And treatment. And, hopefully, my blood will arrange itself in a more pleasing manner soon.

Some Diabolical and Deranged Street Art

diabolical street art in Fraserburgh

I rather like the side of this wee cottage in Fraserburgh. Great movement and verve there from the artist.

Sisters at the Edge of the World

Ethereal and spellbinding... says the Historical Novel Society of 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 Roman Aberdeenshire features in author’s new book from Grampian Online.

Newsletter

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

My About Page

Read my bio and see all the social links and articles here.

Writer’s Tip Jar

Just Some Spring Flowers

spring flowers - crocus in the garden
In the garden

It’s good to see the spring flowers. And the sunshine. As illness recedes a little along with the winter.

SISTERS

Ethereal and spellbinding

Romans + Celts = some rather complicated romance!

Set in 1st century Scotland, the novel features a neurodivergent main character, chosen sisters, fierce warriors and the battle of Mons Graupius between the Romans and the Caledonian tribes.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

    Newsletter

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

    My About Page

    castle roof

    Read my bio and see all the social links and articles here.

    Writer’s Tip Jar

    Spoonie Days, a Pink Sunrise and Snowy Spring

    sunrise on a spoonie day

    That was a beautiful pink sunrise a few weeks ago over a local doocot. Before I got ill. And spoonie time started. Again. Sigh.

    Having revelled my way through the beauty of winter, celebrating the fact I was staying so well, I have been struck down once more. But I’ve been a lot worse. And I’m not in hospital, so that’s good. And, as my appearance here today shows, the medication is starting to kick in.

    Spoonie Days

    I have managed to keep up my writing schedule. My first spoon of the day goes on that. There’s quite a good explanation of the term spoonie here. Basically, spoons represent the energy you have for tasks and activities each day. And with chronic illness, the spoons can be very limited.

    A Dancer’s Journey Series

    Quote from TENDU by Ailish Sinclair

    These books are long, and involved. They’re rather a Magnum Opus at over 100,000 words each. They’re all at different stages of the editing/proofing process. I’m so enjoying working with all the editing feedback and bringing them together into something strange, intense and, hopefully, beautiful. So they will still be out this year. I will not stop till they’re done.

    But that’s my blogging spoon spent. For today. I’ll leave you with the scene that greets me most mornings at the moment… I’m not sure what happened to spring!

    My Books

    Historical Fiction from Ailish Sinclair. Witches, kidnapping, Romans and romance.
    • SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD opens on a snowy winter solstice in 1st century Scotland. The main character is neurodivergent, and has been non-verbal until that first scene of the book.
    • 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.
    • FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the kidnapped children of 18th century Aberdeen, and is set in both Scotland and Colonial Pennsylvania.

    They’re all available in paperback, kindle and on kindle unlimited.

    Amazon UK

    Amazon Worldwide

    Newsletter and Updates

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

    Writer’s Tip Jar

    A Small Blue Ball of Pain

    sisters
    oorange tulip behind barbed wire
    Tulip behind barbed wire

    Originally posted May 2022 in the midst of an autoimmune flare-up.

    Small Blue Ball

    I am a small blue ball of pain.

    Curled up.

    Can’t eat. Can’t sleep. Can’t write.

    Life on hold.

    Wondering what went wrong. Why I am here again.

    bluebells, small blue ball

    A pause by the bluebell woods on the way back from hospital. A biopsy may provide answers to the mystery of me and my strange body, who knows?

    The flowers smell sweet. I breathe them in.

    lilac. small blue ball.

    Pink

    An easing comes. A moving on from the small blue ball. A sort of ‘pinkening’. Lilac flowers are taken in from the garden, and I sit in a delicately scented cloud of beauty.

    Then, a few steps, and I am outside.

    Camelia. Small blue ball.

    It is glorious. Painful still, but better. I can envision being well again.

    The sunshine. The breeze. I love it all.

    pink bench and blossom
    Blossom caught in the pink bench.

    Writing

    Thoughts of writing come. I left my poor characters in the middle of the battle of Mons Graupius between the Romans and the Caledonian tribes. War. A situation far worse than my own. I must release them from it soon.

    Cover Reveal

    Before all this, before I became ill again, a cover was designed. My own photos of stones from Aikey Brae Stone Circle were used.

    SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD cover

    The main character in the book is neurodivergent.

    As am I.

    Illness makes me open, bared and true. Pain peels back layers of politeness and hesitancy and doubt. I just say things. And, I just am.

    I still hope for a summer release, a later one obviously, maybe early autumn. My body will have its say in the matter. But it will come…

    Update: Sisters at the Edge of the World came out in September 2022

    Ethereal and spellbinding... says the Historical Novel Society of SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

    When Morragh speaks to another person for the very first time, she has no idea that he is an invader in her land…

    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/Barnes & Noble

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

    Newsletter and Updates

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

    My About Page

    Ailish's feet

    Read about little old me here!

    Writer’s Tip Jar

    Timeless Woodland Pictures from the Time of Lockdown

    Misty woods during lockdown in Scotland.

    Originally posted 2020.

    I am lost in writing. I am in the Iron Age. Second draft. (2022 edit: coming soon now!) Rough edges. Rough middle. Super rough ending. Full of raw emotion. Ragged with it, as am I.

    Continue reading “Timeless Woodland Pictures from the Time of Lockdown”

    Witches’ Brooms in the Trees

    Looking for witches' brooms in the woods

    The witches’ brooms of this post are actually deformities in trees, often caused by a fungus. I rather like them, both their appearance and their name, probably because of interests like this. However, none are to be found on the gnarly, wizened hazel trees by the loch.

    We have to venture deeper into the wood, and gaze up at the high branches of the birches, for that.

    Witches’ Brooms

    There they are!

    witches' brooms on birch trees

    They are often mistaken for nests.

    Witches’ Knickers

    No witches’ knickers today. And that’s good, as those are just plastic bags caught in trees or on fences, and not photogenic at all.

    Historical Novel Society Review

    Sisters at the Edge of the World cover

    SISTERS has been reviewed for the Historical Novel Society here.

    “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.”

    Most highlighted bit of the book:

    quote from SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Ailish Sinclair

    Amazon UK

    Amazon Worldwide

    Newsletter and Updates

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

    Writer’s Tip Jar

    If Candlemas Day is clear and bright…

    quote from SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Ailish Sinclair

    This Candlemas (2nd of February) post was originally published in 2014.

    Hot at Candlemas

    I just sat in the hot place. It was good. It was sunny and bright, though it offered only a vague warmth today.

    The ‘hot place’ is a point on our property that is sheltered from both north and east winds by walls, and situated next to large windows that reflect the sunlight and bestow a sort of ‘double sunning’. It is rather like a portal to another country, a warmer clime or different season. In summer it can reach unbearable temperatures. In the deepest months of winter the sun doesn’t touch it at all. This was the first time it lit up this year, fitting then that it’s Groundhog Day (wiki), Candlemas (wiki) and Imbolc (wiki).

    Feeling the sun on my face, without the usual buffeting wind, was a good reminder that the Earth is turning and spring is on its way. More good reminders: brave little snowdrops.

    snowdrops on Candlemas

    Cold at Candlemas

    It’s been an odd winter, very dark but with none of the usual bright and dramatic snow of Scotland. The continual rain, mud and roof leakages have made the season seem long and arduous. Grey. Dull. No enchanted snowy moonlit walks where surprised owls fly low overhead, no snow angels or sledging. I almost miss having to dig my way into the woodshed (almost, not really; it was fairly tortuous, and nasty when ice dripped down your neck too). Solstice 2010:

    wood shed in the snow

    The wind has been notably fierce, bringing an ancient beech tree crashing to the ground one night. I heard it from my bed half a mile away. Three loud cracks sounded as its branches broke. How disorienting to stand among high boughs and look through to what was the ground, upended like the tree:

    a tree fallen on Candlemas

    The world on its side. An oliphaunt fallen.

    So winter: snow properly, or let spring through. The sun is nice today; I’d like more of that, please, I’m ready to laze in the hot place with a book. And if this saying is true, there’s hope for that.

    If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, winter will have another bite.
    If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, winter is gone and won’t come again.

    snowdrops on Candlemas

    Newsletter

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    Chosen Sisters, Romans and Romance

    The part of SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD that has been most highlighted by kindle readers.
    The part of the book that has been most highlighted by kindle readers
    Sisters at the Edge of the World cover

    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.

    See the press release here

    Amazon UK

    Amazon Worldwide

    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.

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

    Writer’s Tip Jar

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