Early morning in the forest. Will it rain? Or will the sun shine? The answer to both these questions in Scotland is usually: yes. There may also be hail, thunder, mist and gales. All in the same day.
Substack
I’m over there now if you want to join me. My newsletter will be coming from there now rather than costing the arms and legs demanded by my old provider. I’m still learning about the platform, finding it to be a mix of social media (notes and followers) and blogging (articles and subscribers) with a friendlier algorithm than many other places at the moment.
I’ve been working my way through the newsletter archives to put all those posts up on Substack, with some added retrospective edits, soon; it’s a bit of a journey! I’ll also be transferring some of the more personal posts from this blog, that are currently set to private, and putting them there after a bit of a rewrite.
So, in brief: there’s not a great deal there yet, but it’s on the way.
From the misty hills of ancient Scotland emerges a tale of love, betrayal, and the fight for freedom. Join Morragh in SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD for an unforgettable journey.
Set in the 1st century, the story includes the battle of Mons Graupius between the Romans and the Caledonian tribes. There’s a neurodivergent main character and some rather complicated romance!
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2019 continues to be an exciting year for me on the bookish front! My contemporary novel, TENDU, is to be published by (redacted – ooh, like a name in an Epstein file… but not really; the crime of slowness in publishing is actually quite easy to understand, and also forgivable).
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 🙂
Tendu Update
The series came out in the end!
When dance student Amalphia Treadwell embarks on a secret relationship with her rich, handsome new teacher, she has no idea of the danger that lurks in his school in Scotland…
“POV: You thought it was just another ballet book… then it emotionally body-slammed you in pointe shoes. Slow burn, enemies to lovers, fate, and a Scottish setting that delivered.”See this TikTok review here
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This post about Byronic heroes was written back in 2022 when I was very ill but still editing Tendu, a book that some people have since found to be just as shocking as the antics of the dancer Sergei Polunin, mentioned below. All three books in that ‘diabolical’ series are out now. They are not pink-and-fluffy ballet books, and the blurbs have always refuted that idea 😀
Original Byronic Heroes Post
I’m still deep in the TENDU manuscript, though the end of this edit approaches, and I’ll soon be returning to SISTERS (later note – Sisters at the Edge of the World is also out now).
Between chapters, I’m watching things like this:
Bad Boys
Sergei Polunin, known as the bad boy of ballet, was born in Ukraine, as was my own ballet bad boy from TENDU. There ends the similarity, though. The fictional character of Aleks is not based on Polunin, or anyone else.
Byronic Heroes
Unlike the mainly perfect men from MERMAID and FIREFLIES, Aleks is a Byronic hero. What’s that, you ask?
A Byronic hero is a type of fictional character who is a moody, brooding rebel, often one haunted by a dark secret from his past. The term describes the type of main character found in many fictional works by Lord Byron, who is said to have had this type of personality.
I love Byronic heroes. I love reading them. And I love writing them. He is very naughty, though, and I will have to punish him for the rest of his life. Oh, the FUN!
I was recently featured over on Instagram in a Fast Facts type interview. Read about my obsessions, fears and atrociously bad singing here.
A Dancer’s Journey Series
Scotland’s all misty lochs and magical forests and perfect boyfriends, right?
When dance student Amalphia Treadwell embarks on a secret relationship with her charismatic new teacher, she has no idea of the danger that lurks in his school in Scotland…
My dance background and love of history and spicy stories are what inspired this wild mix of contemporary romance and ballet set in a castle. Readers of my historical fiction will recognise the castle and stone circle that feature in these books.
There are no cliffhanger endings in this series; each book completes a story, but then there is more. So much more. Read all the blurbs here
There’s also this strange little post about what the characters of A Dancer’s Journey get up to when I’m away from the keyboard.
Historicals
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. There’s a neurodivergent main character and some rather complicated romance.
Set in a castle, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features the Scottish witchcraft accusations and a love story.
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 18th century kidnapped children of Aberdeen and is set in both Scotland and Colonial Pennsylvania.
Go here to sign up for my occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life. If you would like to hear about new books and offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.
Small update, July 2026: a year on, and my Isobel Gowdie novel is in its third draft… It’s strange and dark, and I’m loving it. And the mural has had a colourful wee glow-up (above), as seen on my last visit to Auldearn.
Original post from June 2025
I shall go into a hare, With sorrow and syt and meickle care; And I shall go in the Devil’s name, Ay while I come home again.
The quote is part of the extraordinary witchcraft confessions of Isobel Gowdie from 1662. She confessed to shape-shifting, flying, and various activities involving the devil, and it’s said that she offered this information without torture.
There’s no record of torture, just as there’s no record of Isobel’s execution, but, of course, this doesn’t mean these events didn’t happen.
Mural of Isobel Gowdie
It was wonderful to meet artist Helen Wright when my research took me to Auldearn. She has created a beautiful mural depicting the life of Isobel. In the panel above, it is theorised that Isobel may have earned money telling stories to children, an occupation that was available to local women at the time. The tone and narrative of the confessions do suggest she was a gifted storyteller.
The Battle of Auldearn
The battle of Auldearn between the Covenanters and Royalists took place in 1645. There were still troops at Auldearn in 1647, the year when Isobel claimed she had carnal relations with the devil. This part of the confession is lurid and detailed, and, to me, it seems to be some sort of trauma response.
It was great to meet the artist today. From Isobel’s confession (apparently obtained without the usual t0rt*re): I shall go into a hare, With sorrow and sych and meickle care; And I shall go in the D€vil’s name, Ay while I come home again. #history#art#mural#witchcraft#womensart#authorlife#research
You’d think the old kirk where Isobel set some of the meetings with the devil and others would feel creepy and dark. It was atmospheric, yes, but it seemed welcoming somehow. I wanted to stay inside it as if someone had ushered me in and offered me tea.
Interior of the kirk:
So that’s where my writing research has led me… and there’s LOTS of reading to do.
My debut novel involved such research too, and another Isobell…
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.
Published by GWL Publishing, the book is out in paperback and Kindle now.
The Performance: sometimes going home for Christmas is just one huge performance…
When Ariel returns home from dance college, her mother expects her to perform the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in a pink, sequined tutu in front of many, many party guests. Ariel adjusts the costume and choreography to expose dark truths about her life, but, as it turns out, this is not the biggest performance of the night…
New Books and Special Offers
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Migvie Kirk, near Tarland in Aberdeenshire, is misleadingly unimposing when you first see it. The present structure, now deconsecrated, dates from 1777, though there was an older medieval church there from at least the 12th century.
That was as much as I knew about the Kirk when I visited the kirkyard to see the Pictish stone, so what transpired was all rather delightful.
The Migvie Stone
This is a class II Pictish stone thought to date from the 8th century. This class of stone has a cruxifix on one side and traditional Pictish symbols on the other, unlike earlier stones which just display the older Pictish designs. Another good example is the Maiden Stone near Inverurie.
The cross is clearly visible on the Migvie Stone, but the other side is very worn and lichen covered, so I struggled to make out the images.
But all was about to be made clear…
Migvie Kirk
I’m nosy about old buildings. I push doors to see if they’re open, and this one was. It showed pitch-black darkness inside though, and having just encountered the same at the Culsh Earth House, I reached for my torch.
I stepped inside, and then there was light.
Motion sensors had activated lights and revealed a wonderful space which is now used for quiet contemplation and also as an arts venue. The interior of the door is carved with the symbols from the stone outside. The cross has loops as if it’s hanging on a necklace. Most unusual!
The landowner, along with local craftsmen and artists, renovated the derelict Kirk, after a battle with the council who had lost the original plans, and the work completed in 2001.
There’s a second Pictish stone inside:
Fragments are embedded in the walls too. I liked these Pictish feet:
The artwork and inscriptions are made up of a mixture of Christian writings, Pictish symbology and biblical passages written in both English and Ogham.
At one point, when all was still, the lights blinked off and everything went pitch black again.
Moving about soon summoned the light.
I intend a return to Migvie. I missed a cup-marked stone in the kirkyard and also an inscription of words from William Penn.
Fireflies and Chocolate is set in both Aberdeenshire and Pennsylvania
Torn out of an isolated life in a Scottish castle, Elizabeth embarks on a determined quest to return home. Exhilarating adventures unfold on the high seas, love blossoms, and the chocolate, purchased in Benjamin Franklin’s printing shop, is delicious!
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 derring-dos on the high seas… and there’s chocolate!
Post from 2022. 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
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. Update: Amazon!
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
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.
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.
Well, WordPress prompt, when I was fifteen, I took over my ballet teacher’s school for a few months before going to college.
Despite being far too young for such a responsibility, I loved it, and it paid for all the dancewear and equipment I needed for my studies.
In my second year of dance school, I got a job in a shop in Covent Garden. It was a very nice shop. I had more money. No more choosing between food and decent pointe shoes.
But here is where things go a bit darker than the WordPress prompt probably intended. I knew really, that working both Saturday and Sunday, after a hard week of dance training, was a bit foolhardy. My sensible friend, Suzette, who would have counselled against this, had returned to Mauritius. More about Suzette and dance training here
So, I became exhausted. There was dance injury after dance injury. I developed a chest infection that lasted five months.
The shop sacked me for being ill. This left me even more vulnerable than I had already been, at seventeen, alone in London.
There was a violent predator.
There was an incident from which I was lucky to escape with my life.
Fast forward to the present, skipping several other jobs…
And my writing is influenced by my past. This is most evident in my contemporary work. There is a dark event in TENDU, the first book of A Dancer’s Journey, that I knew how to write because of my own experience. Not that it’s exactly the same, of course. In fact, it’s quite different. Fiction has to be more dramatic than reality, and more interesting. Far more interesting…
And have an infinitely more exciting setting…
These books have dark moments, but they are actually quite fun, overall, I think. And naughty. Like life, if you’re lucky!
The Performance: sometimes going home for Christmas is just one huge performance…
When Ariel returns home from dance college, her mother expects her to perform the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in a pink, sequined tutu in front of many, many party guests. Ariel adjusts the costume and choreography to expose dark truths about her life, but, as it turns out, this is not the biggest performance of the night…
New Books and Special Offers
If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.
The Battle of Auldearn took place on the 9th of May, 1645 as part of the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It was fought between a Scottish Covenanter army who were aligned with the English Parliament, and the Royalist forces of Charles the 1st. The Royalists won the battle despite being hugely outnumbered 4000 to 1500.
It was a long and bloody day, and the fighting took place over quite a large area around and actually in the village of Auldearn right between the houses.
A view of Garlic Hill, one of the battle sites, from under my umbrella:
I’ve been researching the battle as part of my wider research about Isobel Gowdie; it took place 17 years before her famous confessions. What a horrific and traumatic event it must have been for the people of Auldearn, and not one that anyone who lived through it would ever forget.
Liking to immerse myself in the history, places and times that I write about, I stayed in the friendly and relaxed 1645 Inn in Auldearn. It’s situated right on the edge of the battle field, and I had strange and disturbed dreams about the battle at night. Will this make the novel more strange and disturbed? Quite possibly.
The Boath Doocot
The 17th century Boath Doocot (dovecot) is a good place to overlook the battle field. The doocot itself would not have been there at the time of the battle, but the old motte that it stands on certainly was. It dates from the 12th century and was the site of a medieval castle called the Old Castle of Eren, the source of the name Auldearn.
Pigeons coming in to land:
Dead Man’s Wood
I wanted to find Dead Man’s wood. Sometimes just referred to as the ‘Dead Wood’, this is a tiny woodland that is said to be the burial site of the slain Covenanters from the Battle of Auldearn. Several map apps on the go, I travelled the roads round Auldearn looking for it. And there, in the middle of a ploughed field (so I did not cross) I found it.
There were poppies growing nearby. Storms have had their way with the wood, and most of the older trees have blown down. Elderflowers bloom on the site.
It’s said that people who were executed on Gallows Hill were sometimes buried in Dead Man’s Wood too, so it is possible that this might be the final resting place of Isobel Gowdie herself. There are no actual trial records for Isobel and her accomplice Janet Breadheid, and though one was granted, it had caveats, so the fate of the two women is unknown.
An iris grows beside the battlefield today… and on with draft two I go.
The Mermaid and the Bear (a novel about a different Isobell)
Lost in ancient woodlands and caught up in whispers of witchcraft, Isobell must navigate danger to reclaim her life. Can she find her happily ever after?
From the misty hills of ancient Scotland emerges a tale of love, betrayal, and the fight for freedom. Join Morragh in SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD for an unforgettable journey.
Set in 1st century Scotland, the novel includes the battle of Mons Graupius between the Romans and the Caledonian tribes. There’s a neurodivergent main character and some rather complicated romance.
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.
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.
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.
It is glorious. Painful still, but better. I can envision being well again.
The sunshine. The breeze. I love it all.
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.
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
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!
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.
