Love, Dance, Obsession, and Chocolate

Posted on May 16, 2019 by ailish

An aesthetic for TENDU, a novel by Ailish Sinclair

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 🙂

The desk of Scottish author Ailish Sinclair

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Castles in the Snow

Posted on February 5, 2019 by ailish

Through the gates we go… to Fyvie Castle where it’s more icy than snowy and we’re getting down and frosty with it!

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A Bookish Post

Posted on January 9, 2019 by ailish

2019 got off to an exciting start for me with the news that my historical novel, The Mermaid and the Bear, will be published by GWL Publishing this Autumn.

An editing journey lies ahead, but I can tell you these things about 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.

Also see Walking the Witchy Ways of Aberdeen, for more background and insight into the book.

I made a wee aesthetic for it, because: oh the fun!

Findlater Castle

Posted on May 10, 2018 by ailish

For years I passed by the road signs for Findlater Castle on my way to other places, joking that ‘I must find that later’. I’m so glad I finally did! I’ve been a few times now and it’s always stunning.

On this day it was exceptionally warm and still for Northern Scotland which emboldened me to go a bit further down onto the ramparts than I’ve been before.

Off I went, past the gorse which was warmed by the sun and smelled all coconutty…

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Over the Sea to the Fairies

Posted on June 29, 2017 by ailish

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.

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A Walk Round Broadsea in Aberdeenshire

Posted on April 28, 2017 by ailish

Broadsea is the older part of Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire, having been the site of a Pictish settlement and later a fishing community. It still feels distinctly different from the surrounding town, more like a small village, and is a great place for a walk!

From Fraserburgh, we’re heading down Broadsea Road, past all the wee hoosies, right to the end.

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Here we go a-castle-ing!

Posted on June 17, 2016 by ailish

Yes, it’s another post about castles! I do seem to find it difficult to write anything without one, or three, as in this case. The first, above, is Delgatie Castle, near Turriff in Aberdeenshire. I met one of the quines there last week and we walked the woods and gardens and encountered these little Shetland ponies looking as if they were waiting for the tearoom to open. From there, we went on to the Auld Kirk-yard in Turriff to see the grave of the late owner of the castle, Captain John Hay:

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Gight Castle and the Hagberry Pot

Posted on April 23, 2016 by ailish

Gight Castle may be one of the lesser known castles of Aberdeenshire but it has a rich, if somewhat bleak, history with many of its owners dying prematurely. Built in the 15th century by the Gordon family, it was the ancestral home of Lord Byron. A ghostly piper is said to haunt the ruins. The nearby Hagberry Pot in the River Ythan is said to be bottomless and full of treasure!

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Walking with the Quines

Posted on January 22, 2016 by ailish

Quine is the Doric word for girl. The Quines (or Super Quines as we have become recently) are a group of women that met on Twitter. I can’t recall the exact ways in which we all first started chatting, though these has been much hilarity from the start. I follow many local people as well as those who share various interests, and there’s a mix of that among The Quines. Last year some of us met up in person, out in the wider world, and we hope to meet our more distant living Quine one day too.

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