Stories and photos from Scotland
On the way home from a hospital visit in 2020, I stopped at 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.
Continue reading “Walking on Balmedie Beach in my Slippers”
Winter deepens. The sky and loch are pink.
Walking is crunchy through the frozen mud.
I want the Solstice to come. I need more light. My body doesn’t like the extreme cold. It threatens to turn monstrous. And it’s -7 here today.
But it’s beautiful. And the beach is pink too.
My historical novels all involve little-known dark historical events, romance and a little magic…
They’re all available in paperback, kindle and on kindle unlimited.
Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a more intimate space than the blog.
It’s raining here in Scotland this winter, but I’m thinking about snow. I’m still a bit monstrous, but I’m thinking about pretty things, sparkly things, Christmas baubles and frost and ice.
That’s the loch in Strichen Community Park above, and below.
And then stones. I think about them a lot. Witchy ones in the half light of approaching snow:
Bronze Age ones. The Memsie Burial Cairn:
And circles. Of course, those.
My thoughts go to the woods of Delgatie Castle…
I would like to be marching along those paths.
Just look at the fluffy trees!
Closer to home, there’s the field.
Track newly cleared by the farmer:
And then there’s a fox!
And deer bottoms…
I mustn’t forget frost at the beach. I love the crunch of the sand.
The low winter sun shines through.
Here’s hoping we get some snow soon 🙂
Sally Cronin features a selection of books (including SISTERS), from personally recommended authors, that she believes will make wonderful gifts for friends, family and you. See her wonderful Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair here.
Interesting review of The Mermaid and the Bear, assessing it on the first five sentences alone, here from Jennifer Starks.
My historical novels all involve dark events, romance and a little magic and snow…
They’re all available in paperback, kindle and on kindle unlimited.
Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a more intimate space than the blog.
I took a little stroll along Rosehearty beach. No exaggeration. It was a stroll. Recovery from pneumonia (posted 2020) is a slow process, so the walk was slow too. It was a meander along the sands, if you will.
Continue reading “The Silvery Sands of Rosehearty Beach”
We know extremes of light and dark in Scotland. At the height of summer, it never gets properly dark. Around the time of the winter solstice, it barely gets light. But just now, the low sun illuminates spaces and objects from an angle that highlights both shadows and light. Oh, the photo-taking opportunities!
A river runs into the sea at St. Combs beach in Aberdeenshire.
White frothy waves crash against grey rocks.
Glorious rocks and sand and sky.
The break in the clouds is brief. The sand darkens under a blue and white patchwork sky.
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.
“Ethereal and spellbinding….” Historical Novel Society
See the press release here
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.
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.
See the press release here
Review from Tonya Ulynn Brown: “Before I go any further, I just have to say, this is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read…“
From the Press and Journal: New book by Fraserburgh author highlights horrific extent of witch trials in Scotland
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!
See the publisher’s Press Release here
“Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society Editor’s Pick
Go here to sign up for my occasional emails that include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a more intimate space than the blog.
Let’s begin by walking barefoot along the sands between St Combs and Scotstown. There do be many shipwrecks to see there. Aye, aye, me hearties! Prepare yersels for the photos.
I don’t know the name or date of this first wreck. It’s wooden and relatively small and sometimes entirely covered by the shifting sands that it, no doubt, fell victim to. It’s well bedecked with seaweed.
Close by is a large metallic boat. It’s usually more submerged than this. I *think* it’s the HMS Erne. She ran aground in 1915 and broke her back.
We get to go right up to it.
And touch the barnacles.
And wonder if that’s a treasure chest…
A bit further on, between Rattray Head and Scotstown, lies a much more well documented ship: the Excelsior of Laurwig, a Norwegian barque that was wrecked in 1881. It’s rather impressive.
There is another, somewhat different, wreck on this bit of coastline, sometimes to be seen wedged into the sand:
Now, let’s head to Cruden Bay and see if we can find any more shipwrecks.
Trip, trap, trip. trap, across the bridge. To find…
Is it a shipwreck? I’m not sure. It may be part of a defense from WW2. Not very boat shaped!
But it’s a great beach on which to finish our walk.
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
“Ethereal and spellbinding….” Historical Novel Society
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.
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.
See the press release here
Review from Tonya Ulynn Brown: “Before I go any further, I just have to say, this is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read…“
From the Press and Journal: New book by Fraserburgh author highlights horrific extent of witch trials in Scotland
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!
See the publisher’s Press Release here
“Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society Editor’s Pick
Go here to sign up for occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. They’re a more intimate space than the blog.
I took a little walk on St Combs beach. It was beautiful and blustery and entirely free from ballet terms. I needed to get away from them for a bit. There’s too many in TENDU, and in the current edit I am removing, changing or explaining them, so as not to confuse the reader. It’s not the most fun. It feels a little like dumbing down, though I know it’s not really. I just have to be less technically specific, and more generally descriptive. I’d much rather be working on all the relationship nuances, but of course, I am doing that too.
It was great to just stand and stare across the ocean and breathe in all that fresh sea air.
I made a little TikTok of the sea too, if you would like to hear the waves and see the movement.
So goodbye port de bras and grand jeté. Arabesque penchée, I have tried to save (describe) you:
We worked on arabesque penchée. Standing on one leg, the other high behind, fingertips almost touching the floor, the world seemed to stand still around me in a perfect moment of balance and extension.
But back to the beach. Away from the ballet terms. And breathe.
Back in the world of books, 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.
A mellow walk on the beach. A moment to catch our breath.
We start high up on the dunes and push our way through the long grasses, side-stepping to avoid the many large snails that live there, and then we walk out on to the sand.
There we stare out over the wonderful, wonderful sea, that is showing green today. We stand and breathe the sweet sea air, and feel the gentle breeze on our faces.
It doesn’t stay bright and gentle for long. As is so often the way in Scotland, the weather is subject to swift change. By the time we leave the beach, the wind, a breeze no more, is swirling dark clouds over Tiger Hill, the largest dune on the skyline.
The star of today’s little blog has been: Fraserburgh beach!
I needed that breath of sea air today.
Let’s end on an, albeit metaphorical, oceanic quote from 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!
“Ethereal and spellbinding….” Historical Novel Society
See the press release here
Read the article Roman Aberdeenshire features in author’s new book from Grampian Online.
Taking place mainly in a 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.
See the press release here
From the Press and Journal: New book by Fraserburgh author highlights horrific extent of witch trials in Scotland
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!
See the publisher’s Press Release here
“Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society Editor’s Pick
See my About Page here
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.
The Map of Witches is a 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 golden blue autumnal goodness:
The wonderful gold of the harvest.
Pink shimmering rockpools at New Aberdour beach.
A dark cave, blue reflected within.
And the path up to St Drostan’s well, shining in the sunlight:
Keep up to date with all my news, witchy and otherwise, by signing up to the mailing list. It’s a more intimate space than the blog and always contains some exclusive photos.
Set in 1st century Scotland, my latest 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!
“Ethereal and spellbinding….” Historical Novel Society
See the press release here
Read the article Roman Aberdeenshire features in author’s new book from Grampian Online.
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.
See the press release here
From the Press and Journal: New book by Fraserburgh author highlights horrific extent of witch trials in Scotland
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!
See the publisher’s Press Release here
Review from the Historical Novel Society
Wandering barefoot. Along the sand. At St Combs Beach.
Tiptoeing between the sandworm castings.
Feeling the smoothness and solidity of the rocks.
Bending down to look at some wee sea snails.
Leaping over the seaweed.
A sand storm blows up on the way back.
But the skies stay dramatic.
For more beaches and skies, sign up to my mailing list here
Set in 1st century Scotland, my latest 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!
“Ethereal and spellbinding….” Historical Novel Society
See the article Roman Aberdeenshire features in author’s new book from Grampian Online.
There’s a great review of The Mermaid and the Bear over on The Inquisitive Inkpot: “This is where I connected with Isobell: I connected with her when the fragility of her world suddenly mirrored the fragility of mine. So to speak, I met her in the details.”
And another here on Instagram: “The author has written such a triumphant tale of love, bravery, and true magic for these women and all women.”
Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, Ailish Sinclair’s debut novel, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, features an often overlooked event in history, the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, and a love story.