writing Archives - Page 2 of 11

November 30, 2025January 12, 2026

A Frozen Loch

frozen loch with a sturdy pink and cream cloud above — Frozen loch

I’m up early to light the fire so that the room warms up a bit before writing.

I’m still cold. And still moaning about the temperature (-9 yesterday, -3 today, so slightly better).

But beauty cannot be ignored.

A Fictional Frozen Loch

In SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, Morragh uses the pink of a frozen pool to calm herself.

Excerpt

“I stop now to properly observe and feel the gentle pink shade of the water. I try to breathe it in, to let it take me. All calm. All calm. But pink is not what I sense in the dwelling beyond the water. There’s no calm to be found there at all.”

About SISTERS

Having explored 16^th century witch trials in THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR and 18^th century child kidnappings in FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE, author Ailish Sinclair has now travelled far back in time to the Iron Age and the Roman invasion of Scotland.

From the provocative opening scene to the later dramatic and devastating events of the story, SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD is a book that will continually surprise, delight, and sometimes shock the reader. The novel features the beautiful hill of Bennachie, and the stone circles of Aberdeenshire, along with the cliffs and caves of Cullykhan Bay.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

“Ethereal and spellbinding…” Historical Novel Society Review

The Latest Books

A Dancer's Journey series by Ailish Sinclair

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.

She’s soon dealing with her boyfriend’s obsessive ex, the strange research taking place at the castle school and her own ever-evolving relationship issues.

Amalphia works hard to be the best dancer she can be, but as tension builds within the old walls of the castle, she begins to wonder if she will ever escape the dank dark of the dungeon…

Dark, witty, sexy and fun, Tendu is a compelling and seductive story of love, dance and obsession.

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

Series on Goodreads

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November 21, 2025November 21, 2025

Lunching on the the Cumberland Stone by Culloden Moor

Cumberland Stone, by Culloden in the Scottish Highlands

Lunching on the Stone

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 fight from there.

Steps

There are steps hammered into the side of the rock, so we can all climb up on it. For fun. Not for battle-watching. And it’s probably not the comfiest place to sit and eat lunch either!

I can attest to it being quite fun.

Metal rung on the Cumberland Stone near Culloden Moor

Ice Age

The stone is a remnant of the ice age, having been carried by the great ice sheet that covered most of Scotland, and then deposited when the ice melted 16,000 years ago.

The nearby memorial bench, inscription in Gaelic and English:

Memorial bench beside the Cumberland Stone at Culloden.

Research

When researching for Fireflies and Chocolate, it interested me that the kidnappers’ ship, The Planter, sailed just three years before the battle of Culloden. Some local people must have been impacted by both events, surely? So, I gave the main character, Elizabeth, a Jacobite for a father, and she is deeply invested in the rebellion as is shown in this quote from the book:

“I’m buying special treats at the market for us to have at Christmas when I hear it being said and exclaimed about by two wifies: The Jacobites have marched South. I rush to Mr Franklin’s shop, and not just to get chocolate this time. Surely he will know more details. He does, but not many. The Young Pretender, as they’re calling Bonnie Prince Charlie, landed in Scotland in the summer. The Jacobite army has taken Edinburgh and defeated the British troops in a battle at Prestonpans.

They’re winning! They’re actually winning! We could have a new king next year.”

We all know what happened in the end, on that moor. I posted more about it here: Culloden and Clava

Beautiful and Historic Glasses

But let’s finish with a happier image. Some beautiful Jacobean glassware from the visitor centre at Culloden. The white rose was one of their secret symbols.

Jacobite wine glasses at Culloden visitor centre

FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE

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!

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

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!

See the publisher’s Press Release here

Review from the Historical Novel Society

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

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

See the press release here

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

THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR

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

Newsletter and Free Story

You will receive a free short story in e-book form when you sign up for my occasional, more-intimate-than-the-blog newsletter (the story can be read in a browser too).

The Performance: sometimes going home for Christmas is just one huge performance…

Author Page and Signed Copies

If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page. Signed copies are available from my kofi shop.

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November 18, 2025November 18, 2025

Crying While Writing: anyone else do this?

Crying while writing: Star of Bethlehem flowers — Star of Bethlehem in the meadow

Crying while writing. Crying while editing. And even crying while thinking about writing, as the scenes, both happy and sad, play out in my mind. It’s no wonder I’m sometimes dehydrated!

So, am I the only one?

Tell me I’m not.

I can’t be.

Emotive writing is, just that. Springing from emotion. Causing of emotions. If the writer isn’t fully immersed, how can the reader ever be?

crying while writing: Rhododendron flowers on the pink bench — Rhododendron flowers on the pink bench

So. I sob on.

The latest line, from SISTERS, to set me off was: In the midst of great loss, the newness of a baby helps.

Floods.

Breathlessness.

I’m welling up just looking at the line now, overcome by all that it references.

Editing

This emotional aspect of writing is one of the many reasons good, thorough, even brutal, editing is so important. We, or at least I, need someone less attached, someone who did not write the words and scenes, to look at the work objectively and say: this could be better; this is not clear; were you under the influence of one of your stronger prescription drugs when you wrote this? Because in our, or my, invested blubbering state, we might not see it. We might not know.

The book is on its way back for edit three soon (GWL did spoil me with their three editing process, and I won’t do less now), so all is well there.

It is possible that illness is making me worse, crying-wise. I feel a bit pathetic and vulnerable. But that will pass. I will get stronger again. And you’ll get nice sensible and scenic posts about castles and standing stones 🙂

But for now, I recover – from both medical conditions and writing – in the garden. Among the flowers. With a candle.

This post was originally published in 2022. The book mentioned above is out now, detailed below.

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…

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

“Ethereal and spellbinding…” Historical Novel Society

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

Newsletter and Free Story

You will receive a free short story in e-book form when you sign up for my occasional, more-intimate-than-the-blog newsletter (the story can be read in a browser too).

The Performance: sometimes going home for Christmas is just one huge performance…

Author Page and Signed Copies

If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page. Signed copies are available from my kofi shop.

About Page

See my About Page here

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November 18, 2025February 4, 2026

A wee description of a castle rooftop…

A castle rooftop from the series, A Dancer’s Journey:

“The gable of the great hall rose high to the front, a huge chimney boasted diminutive battlements, and other lower layers of pink castle sprawled out haphazardly in front of me. There were three small turrets, upended cones that had been meticulously finished round and round with ever smaller and smaller lichen dotted tiles. Tiny mismatched windows blinked in the sun: circles, squares and one narrow bent rectangle. Sections of roof ended randomly, some with mossy little steps to nowhere; one jutting brick triangle had been shaped to fit the side of a sloping turret.”
Excerpt from TENDU by Ailish Sinclair

And that really is all today. Because: busy editing. Been sucked in to a manuscript and am finding it hard to leave.

New Books and Special Offers

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November 17, 2025November 17, 2025

Auldearn Stone Row in the Scottish Highlands

I visited Auldearn Stone Row recently during a research trip for the next book. It’s beautiful, tucked away among trees by the side of a driveway. Stone rows are ancient, like stone circles, and we don’t really know much about them.

The six stones at Auldearn lead away from – or to? – a cairn, the mound you can see below.

The mound was excavated in 1903 and found to contain a cist – a stone coffin – but no bodies. You can see some of the kerb stones below.

Like many sites with standing stones, it felt peaceful. Rain fell softly on me as I stood, trying to absorb the atmosphere of the place. The trees offered shelter, but if they, and the houses of the village, had not been there, there would have been views over to the sea.

Maybe there were once. When it was new. Maybe the people who built Auldearn Stone Row looked north and saw the ocean.

The Mermaid and the Bear

Isobell needs to escape. She has to. Her life depends on it.

Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, 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.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

“A delight from end to end…” Undiscovered Scotland

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

Newsletter and Free Story

You will receive a free short story in e-book form when you sign up for my occasional, more-intimate-than-the-blog newsletter (the story can be read in a browser too).

The Performance: sometimes going home for Christmas is just one huge performance…

Author Page and Signed Copies

If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page. Signed copies are available from my kofi shop.

About Page

See my About Page here

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November 13, 2025November 13, 2025

Dance Research in the Dungeon

Tendu: Dancing in the Castle by Ailish Sinclair

In TENDU (out now) some rather strange dance research takes place in the dungeon studio of the castle. Much has changed in the story that I first conceived thirteen years ago, but that part has stayed more or less the same.

Childhood Memories

My late father was a research scientist, and I grew up hearing about how scientific studies can be heavily influenced by those that finance them and how they can be geared to lead to desired results. They can sometimes be unscientific. And unethical. It was all very interesting, and it stuck with me.

I should note that Amalphia’s parents are not based on my parents. Lynn and James Treadwell (very minor characters) are an example of the narcissist/enabler dysfunction as described in the book Toxic Parents.

dancer: some dance research — Photo: David Hofmann on Unsplash – Simone (an antagonist in TENDU) vibes here…

Dance Research and Therapy

I do four grand pliés in fourth and fifth position every morning while I wait for the kettle to boil for tea. It feels like a strong way to start the day. I find it calming and grounding. And I need that just now, with a book release so close. For several years, due to illness, my legs were too weak to manage this exercise, so it’s joyous as well as beneficial.

The benefits of dance for conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease are becoming quite well known, of course, and it’s dancers’ brains that get studied in my books. They have been studied quite a bit in the real world too. Examples below:

The fictional research I created is a bit different from these very serious studies. It had to have some instant and dramatic effects to be interesting as part of a novel. Different characters will believe different things about those effects over the series, and I hope it’s entertaining to read!

Tendu: Dancing in the Castle - some dance research in the dungeon

About the books

Scotland’s all misty lochs and magical forests and perfect boyfriends, right?

When dance student Amalphia Treadwell embarks on a secret relationship with her rich, handsome teacher, she has no idea of the danger that lurks in his new school in Scotland.

My dance background and love of history and spicy stories are what inspired this heady 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.

A Dancer’s Journey is available in paperback and Kindle and on Kindle Unlimited.

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

Page with blurbs and quotes

Dance and Despair: Writing What You Know on Women Writers, Women[‘s] Books.

Newsletter and Free Story

You will receive a free short story in e-book form when you sign up for my occasional, more-intimate-than-the-blog newsletter (the story can be read in a browser too).

The Performance: sometimes going home for Christmas is just one huge performance…

Author Page and Signed Copies

If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page. Signed copies are available from my kofi shop.

About Page

See my About Page here

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October 27, 2025October 27, 2025

A Map of Scottish Witches and some Autumn Gold

Map of Accused Scottish Witches

The Map of Accused Scottish Witches is a wonderful resource from the University of Edinburgh, utilising the extensive data collected in their Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database. See it here.

It’s a clickable map of over 3000 people accused of witchcraft in Scotland. It’s 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.

The map and database were extremely useful to me when researching and writing about this subject.

An Article on the Accused Witches of Aberdeen

Should we really have fun at Halloween when the north-east led the great execution of witches?

Excellent piece from @NeilDrysdale. I cite the case of Bessie Thom in the article, a woman who features in THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, as an example of what happened to one of the more than 3,000 victims of the witch trials.

“Bessie, quite possibly, went into the North Sea before being committed to the flames during a very public execution.”

The Beauty of Autumn

After peering into the dark, I need to look at beauty, so here’s some golden autumnal goodness:

Blue and gold after the map of accused Scottish witches

The gold of the harvest.

Pink shimmering rockpools at New Aberdour beach.

New Aberdour Beach and a map of accused Scottish witches

A dark cave, blue reflected within.

a dark cave and a map of accused Scottish witches

And the path up to St Drostan’s well, shining in the golden 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. If you would like to hear about new books and offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.

Contemporary Fiction

Scotland’s all misty lochs and magical forests and perfect boyfriends, right?

When dance student Amalphia Treadwell embarks on a secret relationship with her rich, handsome teacher, she has no idea of the danger that lurks in his school in Scotland…

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

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

Historical Fiction

These novels combine little-known dark events with love stories and a hint of magic.

SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD: ancient battle, neurodiversity and forbidden romance.
THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR: witchcraft, a stone circle, a castle and six chapters of medieval Christmas.
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE: kidnapping, romance, friendship and chocolate.

“Ethereal and spellbinding….” Historical Novel Society

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Writer’s Tip Jar

October 27, 2025February 4, 2026

The 18th Century Letter Seals of Lord Pitsligo

Those are the beautiful letter seals of Lord Pitsligo, a man I have written about before:

when I visited his castle
when I searched for his cave
and then on The Witch, The Weird and the Wonderful blog, where I wrote more fully about his life.

His forward thinking ways inspired aspects of the Laird in THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, and a similar set of letter seals feature in FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE.

Letter Seals Quote from FIREFLIES:

Excerpt from FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE featuring letter seals.

Research

The seals were shown to me by a direct descendant of Lord Pitsligo while I was researching FIREFLIES. I got to hold them and turn them on their hinges, which was wonderfully informative and exciting. It was great to connect to the time of the book like that too.

The Book

Fireflies and Chocolate by Ailish Sinclair, out 2021

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

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

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

Keep up with all my news by signing up to the mailing list. It’s occasional and always contains some exclusive photos.

Writer’s Tip Jar

October 27, 2025October 27, 2025

Witchcraft, Kidnapping, and the Cobbles of Aberdeen

I do seem to have a habit of running up and down the medieval cobbles, or ‘cassies’, of Aberdeen in the name of research.

Correction Wynd

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.

It’s time to move on from that now.

On from THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR.

Researching and writing those times have led me to another.

Over the cobbles of Aberdeen towards The Green, in Aberdeen

Over the cobbles I go, glancing up at the modern city above.

Archway in Correction Wynd, Aberdeen. Cobbles of Aberdeen.

Over the Cobbles to the Green

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.

These events inspired my novel Fireflies and Chocolate, and the Green is specifically mentioned:

“Another barn,” 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. “I was kept in a barn in Aberdeen,” he tells me. “Down at the Green.”

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 Tolbooth

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 isn’t someone to be argued with. She knows her own mind, and isn’t afraid to speak it. Through her experiences, the reader sees her grow from a girl, into a woman with a powerful voice… a woman of her time, but very much of ours too.

The cobbles of Correction Wynd in Aberdeen, dark Kirk behind.

Those dark cobbles of Aberdeen do take me places!

The Book

Torn out of her 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 Ben 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.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

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

About Page

See my About Page

Newsletter and Free Story

You will receive a free short story in e-book form when you sign up for my occasional, more-intimate-than-the-blog newsletter (the story can be read in a browser too).

The Performance: sometimes going home for Christmas is just one huge performance…

Author Page and Signed Copies

If you would like to hear about new books and special offers, you can follow my Amazon author page. Signed copies are available from my kofi shop.

Writer’s Tip Jar

October 20, 2025December 2, 2025

The First Sprinkling of Snow

The first sprinkling of snow. And everything feels different. Light and colours are wintry now.

Early mornings are dark and lit by the moon.

Ice makes walking perilous. But the sun still shines. And the world feels sparkly and bright.

Snowy Memories

The weather is strongly reminding me of when I was first writing the Dancer’s Journey series. It was a particularly snowy winter. The road to our house was blocked for two weeks, and I just lost myself in the world of the books. The ancient castle… Danger in the dungeon… Angsty romance… And snow, lots and lots of snow. I can feel the atmosphere of it quite acutely now. And it’s good.

Scotland’s all misty lochs and magical forests and perfect boyfriends, right?

When dance student Amalphia Treadwell embarks on a secret relationship with her rich, handsome teacher, she has no idea of the danger that lurks in his new school in Scotland…

Series on Amazon UK

Series on Amazon worldwide

From Deanne here: “Very atmospheric, I could feel what the characters were feeling, feel their pain; it broke my heart and then healed it and made it sing.”

The Mermaid and the Bear

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.

Paperback and kindle on Amazon

View full book detail page here

“A delight from end to end…” Undiscovered Scotland

My About Page

Ailish Sinclair dances in a stone circle. — Ailish

See the 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 like to hear about new books and offers, you can follow my Amazon author page.