GWL Publishing have accepted my next historical novel, FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE, for publication Spring 2021. I am lucky to have a publisher who is so understanding about my current health issues; all the deadlines for various edits are flexible.
The book was inspired by the 600 children who were kidnapped in Aberdeen during the 1740s and sold into indentured servitude in the American colonies. You will meet the Manteith family again, and see the castle and the stone circle, though the story doesn’t stay there long.
There’s some real historical figures again. There’s a love story again, though it’s quite different from the one in THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR. And, this time, there’s chocolate, in the form of hot chocolate š
I hope you’re all staying safe and well during these strange times of lockdown and isolation. I’m posting photos of #goodthings from my phone archives on Twitter and Instagram each day at the moment.
I do seem to have a habit of running up and down the medieval cobbles of Aberdeen in the name of research. Here I am again, travelling down Correction Wynd, site of the 17th century House of Correction. But it’s not the old poorhouse/jail that I’m investigating. Not today anyway…
I pass St Nicholas Kirk, where people accused of witchcraft were held in the 16th century.
Researching and writing those times have led me to another.
Over the cobbles I go, glancing up at the modern city above.
Through the beam of light and into the, also rather modern seeming, Green.
The kidnapped children of Aberdeen were held here in the 1740s. In a barn.
Passers by sometimes heard music coming from the place, as the kidnappers tried to keep the children entertained.
The Green is mentioned in Fireflies and Chocolate (out today!):
āAnother barn,ā notes Peter, when we are ushered into a large ramshackle wooden building. Again we find a space to sit together, among the others. Again, we are on the floor, this time an earthen one. No chairs are provided for the likes of us anywhere now it seems. āI was kept in a barn in Aberdeen,ā he tells me. āDown at The Green.ā
I ken The Green. I used to think it was a nice place to walk through, a space between buildings, like a city version of a forest glade.
The children were also kept in the Tolbooth at times. There are tales of desperate parents trying to break down the door to get to them. Peter Williamson, who appears in the above quote, would be held there again in later life as punishment for his book, in which he accused the town magistrates of involvement in the kidnappings. You can read a large print version in the Tolbooth museum today beside a life size cut out of Peter!
He’s not the main character in Fireflies and Chocolate though. That’s Elizabeth Manteith, who is entirely fictional. But I love her. In their press release about the book the publisher describes her like this:
Fiery and forthright, Elizabeth isnāt someone to be argued with. She knows her own mind, and isnāt afraid to speak it. Through her experiences, the reader sees her grow from a girl, into a woman with a powerful voiceā¦ a woman of her time, but very much of ours too.
Those dark cobbles do take me places!
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE, 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, is out now. The story follows the adventures of Elizabeth Manteith from the castle and her determined efforts to get back home. Thereās love. Thereās proper derring-dos on the high seasā¦ And thereās chocolate!
The huge Cumberland Stone sits in woodland very close to Culloden Moor. It is said that the Duke of Cumberland (the king’s son and leader of the government troops) ate his lunch, or in some accounts his breakfast, sitting atop the stone on the day of battle in 1746. It’s also said that he watched the battle from there.
The seals were shown to me by a direct descendant of Lord Pitsligo. I got to hold them and turn them on their hinges, which was wonderfully informative (and exciting!).
Elizabeth craves adventureā¦ excitementā¦ loveā¦
For now though, she has to settle for a trip from her familyās castle, to the port in Aberdeen, where her father has promised sheāll be permitted to buy a horseā¦ all of her own.
Little does she suspect this simple journey will change her life, forever. And as she dreams of riding her new mount through the forests and glens of the Manteith estate, she can have no idea that she might never see them again.
For what lies ahead is danger, unimaginedā¦ and the fearful realities of kidnap and slavery.
But even when everything seems lost, most especially the chance of ever getting home again, Elizabeth finds friendship, comfortā¦ and that much prized love, just where she least expected it.
Set in the mid eighteenth century, Fireflies and Chocolate is a story of strength, courage and tolerance, in a time filled with far too many prejudices.
It’s all getting a bit too exciting for me again… I need a nice calming walk in the woods below the witch’s brooms (growth abnormalities caused by a fungus in the trees)!
Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, Ailish Sinclairās debut novel, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, features an often overlooked event in history, the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, and a love story.
Elizabeth, the main character, uses a slightly simpler method, back in the 18th century, in this quote from the book:
“I shave slivers of chocolate from the block and stir them into hot water over the fire. I add sugar and mix until it is all well blended. Then I pour it all into the pot with the warm milk and whisk and whisk until itās frothy and perfect.”
Whatever century you’re in… yum!
The first 75 words of the novel are up on Paragraph Planet today. They’ll be gone at midnight so I took a wee screen shot:
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE, inspired by the kidnapped children of Aberdeen, is out now, just in time for Easter weekend, in paperback and on kindle.
Just a small post. It’s been snowing. Quite a lot. Above are fox tracks in the woods. Below, an oak leaf.
I’ve been proofreading Fireflies and Chocolate (out April 1st 2021! Amazon – and Waterstones), 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.
So, I hold my face up to the sun, follow the fox tracks and hope all will be well.
Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, Ailish Sinclairās debut novel, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, features an often overlooked event in history, the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, and a love story.
Last time I had a cover reveal we journeyed down a rabbit hole to find it… but I haven’t been anywhere exciting like that lately, so we’ll have to stick closer to home, starting on the snowy track into the woods.
Reaching the end of the track, we nip up this narrow path:
Here we are on the loch-side walk now, sunshine to our left.
Wait! What’s that? Something’s moving in the woods, running and leaping through the trees…
No, that’s not it. That’s the first book (out now!) and some foot prints left by a deer. We need to retrace our steps, I think…
And yes – finally we come to it – the cover reveal for FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE, out April 1st 2021!
The cup featured on the cover is an actual chocolate cup from the 1740s when the book is set. Inspired by the 600 children and young people who were kidnapped from Aberdeen and sold into indentured servitude in the American Colonies, the story follows the adventures of Elizabeth Manteith and her determined efforts to get back home. There’s love. There’s proper derring-dos on the high seas (as opposed to my previous metaphorical ones)! And there’s chocolate…
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