tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61667081457840863242024-03-15T23:59:33.815+00:00Carol McKayCarol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-56783663407124534412024-03-08T10:39:00.000+00:002024-03-08T10:39:57.752+00:00Julie Kennedy - Ma Mum and William Wordsworth<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; padding: 0cm;">Today,
I’m delighted to welcome Julie Kennedy to my blog, to talk about her
novel <i>Ma Mum and William Wordsworth</i>.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Julie has
an impressive writing track record, with poetry and fiction published widely
e.g. in <i>New Writing Scotland, Causeway/Cabhsair, Southword</i>, and
the <i>Poetry Society Newsletter</i>, and she was highly commended in the
Ledbury 2022 Poetry Competition. <i>Ma Mum and William Wordsworth</i> was
longlisted in Mslexia’s 2013 First Novel Competition and in 2022 she was
awarded a Scots Language Publication Grant to publish it as an
ebook. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><b>Review</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">By turns
amusing and tragic, this is the story of 15-year-old Erin, growing up in an
industrial town in late 1970s Lanarkshire. The oldest of eight children, Erin
is good at school, keen on literature and full of potential, but her life is
rocked by the announcement that her mother is ill.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Erin’s dad is emotionally overwhelmed and out
of his depth when he has to step into the role of chief care-giver. He has
Erin’s help, but Erin is young, and in many ways an innocent. Alone and adrift
in the streets of central Glasgow at night, she naively follows those who
approach her with offers of assistance, completely unaware of the danger she’s
putting herself in. Author Julie Kennedy is superb at this. Erin doesn’t
realise she’s in jeopardy, but the reader does! I thought this was one of the
best aspects of this story. We feel huge empathy for Erin. Empathy and
affection. We want her to thrive.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Ma Mum and William Wordsworth </i>is beautifully
and vibrantly written – Erin’s voice and engaging personality immediately take
up residence in your head. I also loved the vivid way the author captures the
everyday details of family life in the late seventies. Ranging in mood from
anguished to heart-warming, this novel is a deeply satisfying read with echoes
of Anne Donovan, Elissa Soave, Des Dillon and Paul McVeigh. I’m sure it will
appeal to people Erin’s age and to adults.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mum-William-Wordsworth-Julie-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B0CSKKTG5Z/ref=rvi_d_sccl_5/260-6487501-5338329?pd_rd_w=G1ypu&content-id=amzn1.sym.d56e60fb-87bc-405a-a95d-c5e322a9b3d9&pf_rd_p=d56e60fb-87bc-405a-a95d-c5e322a9b3d9&pf_rd_r=N9KH7NK6CN3PQETJ4DH2&pd_rd_wg=Efgxr&pd_rd_r=d1903d24-f08b-4017-80e9-b627b15fafa6&pd_rd_i=B0CSKKTG5Z&psc=1"><span style="color: blue;">Ma Mum and William Wordsworth</span><o:p></o:p></a></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt;">And here's a short extract to set the mood -</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><i>Ma Da’s
aunt is a nun in a convent in England. She comes an stays wi us fir a week. She
brings plastic rosary beads fir the hail family. We spend ages untanglin them.
She does a fart durin the rosary an evirybudy his the giggles. Ma mammy his the
giggles as well. Ma da runs oot the room and says he left a pot oan. The nun
smiles like we’re in heaven. Nuns don’t hiv bad smells in their farts that must
be cos they’re The Brides Of Christ. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><i>This week
we’re doin haiku in class wi Mrs Kelly. We’ve got a plaque oan the waw in the
kitchen. It says May the road rise to meet you. Ah tell Anna that it isnae a
poem, it’s a proverb. But she says so, who cares? Mum wis readin when she wis
in bed. Ah went tae sit wi her tae keep her company an we laughed aboot the
nun’s farts. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><i>‘Whit yi
readin?’ <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><i>She turns
over the cover. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Prayers
For the Dying</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><i>‘Do you
want to read it?’ <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><i>‘Ah’ll read
it later,’ ah say.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://julieskennedy.blogspot.com/">Author Julie Kennedy</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;"><b><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Q&A</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">CMcK: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Welcome,
Julie! <i>Ma Mum and William Wordsworth</i> is such a poignant novel,
and yet it also had me laughing out loud in places. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
But let's start at the beginning. How did you first get into writing?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">JK:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> Thanks for inviting me to your great blog, Carol
and thanks for the interesting questions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">When I was
12 my mum bought me a Petite typewriter for Christmas (remember those?) I went
straight up the stairs on Christmas Day and wrote my life story ( all of three
paragraphs at that time!) Around the same time, I had a primary school teacher,
Mr Dougan, who introduced me to creative writing in class. I always loved words
and language and was never out of Craigneuk library when I was wee. My mum
wrote letters to her family in Ireland all the time so maybe that is where the
sitting down and writing partly comes from. I think your imagination
as a child growing up is so rich and I was the classic ‘head in the
clouds.’ Now, it might be called creative but then it was a bit
shameful that you lived a lot in your head. It could be a mixture of all those
things or nothing to do with them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I did not
know any writers or how a person becomes a writer so I did other jobs and would
write the odd poem when I could. The life changing moment came when I found the
M. Litt in Creative Writing course, at the time, jointly run by Glasgow and
Strathclyde Universities. I have heard you saying that as well. I went part-
time from my job; making that commitment, well it’s like a gift to yourself and
your creativity. My fellow students were, of course, yourself, and the likes of
Louise Welsh, Zoe Strachan, Anne Donovan, Rachel Seiffert and Dave Manderson,
along with many other gifted writers. My tutors were Margaret Elphinstone and
Zoe Wickham (Strathclyde University) along with Willy Maley and Adam Piette
(Glasgow University). It was there I developed my confidence and met and learnt
from poets such as Kathleen Jamie and Robert Alan Jamieson. It can
sound a cliché when people talk about voice but it was during that time that I
felt I started to find my voice as a writer. But I’ve always needed to write to
know what I think. There is hopefully an element of mystery or magic to the
whole thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; padding: 0cm;">CMcK:
</span></b><i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; padding: 0cm;">Ma Mum and William Wordsworth</span></i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; padding: 0cm;"> deals
with the two huge issues of grief and homelessness. What prompted you to write
it?</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">JK:
</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">My own mum died when I was a
teenager and it was not something people talked about in the seventies. There
was not the same openness about death and grief as there is now. I wanted to
write a book that the young me could go to the local library and pick up and
that she could identify with. I wanted to make a space in the book where a
young person’s point of view would be centre stage. As well as that, I think
there was always an impulse to do something creative with a difficult
experience; maybe, a lot of making art is like that. I mean, transformative for
the writer, and hopefully, for a reader too. I guess I wanted to
write about so called ordinary people with all the messiness but the unsung
heroics, as well; that is, how the characters adapt and survive and, hopefully,
move on with their lives. What I’m trying to say is that I took something that
happened to me and then fictionalised it. I’d tried writing other
things and they felt wooden and never cost me anything but as soon as I started
writing this book I was engrossed in the voices of the characters and it all
just took off from there. I enjoyed my imagination going to work and being on
that journey that writing a novel takes you on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Thanks for
the question about one of the themes being homelessness in the book. It is very
deliberate. But more generally, that loss of security of home has always been
important to me throughout my life. I worked in law centres for a while
specialising in defending eviction and repossession actions. I was always drawn
to that idea of everyone having a right to a roof over their head and security
wherever they are.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; padding: 0cm;">In the
novel, I wanted to shine a light on how precarious life can be for someone
young when family relationships are rocked by a traumatic event; I guess Erin
walks a thin line in that sense. Yes, I wanted to show how thin the line is for
some people, particularly vulnerable young people. There are points in Erin’s
journey, almost of no return, if she makes the wrong move or her luck goes a
certain way. I try to leave some space for the reader to work a lot out there,
without being too obvious.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">CMcK:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">
Did you aim this book at teenagers or adults?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">JK:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> I had both teenagers and adults in mind when I was
writing the book. I was trying to keep the story in the point of view of Erin
though there are a couple of times the point of view changes to that of her
dad, and also, her brothers and sisters. By including Joe, Erin’s dad’s point
of view, I wanted to try and look at the experience of loss from different
angles. But as I said before, my aim was to write something that felt based on
real experience of illness and bereavement from the point of view of a teenager
because I felt there wasn’t enough out there. So, I’m hoping young people will
enjoy the book and that they will be able to identify with it. This edition of
the book is written as an ebook partly to make it easier for young people to
access.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">CMcK: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">How
important was it for you to capture Erin's voice through her local dialect and
did this decision cause you any problems with the publishing industry?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">JK:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> When I was trying to write the story in standard
English it felt very constrained. And there’s a resistance to the status quo
that comes when you write in Scots so I felt I was tapping into a tradition
there that was both exciting and more authentic to my story. What I’m saying
is, yes, it was very important for me to write Erin’s voice in her own dialect.
I don’t think I set out to do any of it deliberately, at first. But in the
early drafts that’s the way Erin and Joe’s voices came to me and it felt like that
was the direction the book should go; as well as that, the story is about a
large working-class family and the dialect as a spoken language is very
rich. I really enjoyed working with the language and tried to give
the book an air of spoken voices more than anything.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I always
accepted that my book might not be attractive to mainstream publishers because
of the dialect. And not just the characters speaking in dialect but the whole
novel being written that way. But, saying that, I think there is more of an
appetite now for books that are not in Standard English; there are lots of good
examples of Scottish writers who’ve been successful on that front. But for me
the main motivation was always to get the book written in the voices that
wanted to tell the story. I was never going to compromise on that. Being an
indie publisher, as well, I’ve had opportunities to learn a lot of new skills,
and it really tests your belief in what you are doing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">CMcK: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">What
are you writing now?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">JK: </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I
did a lot of editing for this book so it’s nice to get a change and write some
poetry. I’m working on a pamphlet and trying to bring together poems I’ve
written in the last couple of years. I’m also working on another novel, nothing
to do with this one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; padding: 0cm;">CMcK:
</span></b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; padding: 0cm;">Fab. And very interesting! It’s great to
learn all this about yo</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">u and your
writing, and about <i>Ma Mum and William Wordsworth</i> in
particular. Thanks so much for guesting on my blog. I wish you well with your
future plans. But let's finish with some links. Where can readers go to learn
more about you and your books?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">JK:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Okay, h<span style="background: white;">ere are
links to my blog and my page on Amazon. And as I love doing author visits, I'll
also share the link to my page in the Scottish Book Trust Live Literature
directory. </span>Thank you, Carol. I've really enjoyed our chat. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mum-William-Wordsworth-Julie-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B0CSKKTG5Z/ref=rvi_d_sccl_5/260-6487501-5338329?pd_rd_w=G1ypu&content-id=amzn1.sym.d56e60fb-87bc-405a-a95d-c5e322a9b3d9&pf_rd_p=d56e60fb-87bc-405a-a95d-c5e322a9b3d9&pf_rd_r=N9KH7NK6CN3PQETJ4DH2&pd_rd_wg=Efgxr&pd_rd_r=d1903d24-f08b-4017-80e9-b627b15fafa6&pd_rd_i=B0CSKKTG5Z&psc=1">Ma Mum & William Wordsworth eBook : Kennedy, Julie:
Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://julieskennedy.blogspot.com/">Julie S Kennedy</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #5514b4; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors/julie-kennedy">https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors/julie-kennedy</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRw7d9YarTZdTM8TfWarczpgCQ5bywl_tgVGx4Kmrt1gOCJ59fYGjzBf8TlhuAy6f9FInjOeO6IwnqAEMwfZMbO0n0NnNZge08_RR4nw69DTyyIK9Kf1B_NI4PfcQcEWSWx6yc5RVfvHCaYHcJPQk77My0cU13IWWGWJAjdVL7R7qCnjmMxiF8QUMjt0/s320/Ma%20Mum%20BT1%20Poster%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="320" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRw7d9YarTZdTM8TfWarczpgCQ5bywl_tgVGx4Kmrt1gOCJ59fYGjzBf8TlhuAy6f9FInjOeO6IwnqAEMwfZMbO0n0NnNZge08_RR4nw69DTyyIK9Kf1B_NI4PfcQcEWSWx6yc5RVfvHCaYHcJPQk77My0cU13IWWGWJAjdVL7R7qCnjmMxiF8QUMjt0/s1600/Ma%20Mum%20BT1%20Poster%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-61836202617597724402024-02-07T17:18:00.076+00:002024-02-27T10:12:40.734+00:00Silver Writing Anniversary<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Well, well. I've just realised it's twenty-five years since my first short story was accepted for publication.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">It was early 1999 and I was four months into a two-year part-time MLitt, run in partnership between the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. The MLitt was a fabulous experience for me. At the time, I was 43, the mum to a 15 year old, a 9 year old and two 6 year olds. I'd been a professional librarian till I was 35 then explored freelance journalism for a few years before spotting the MLitt opportunity. My tutors were Margaret Elphinstone and Zoe Wickham at Strathclyde, Adam Piette and Willy Maley at Glasgow. What a talented team they were! So generous in sharing their experience with us learners. It was life-changing for me. And look at my fellow students! Anne Donovan, Jim Ferguson, Julie Kennedy, David Manderson, Rachel Seiffert, Zoe Strachan, Louise Welsh, and many others. And that was just during the two years I was there. Both universities have fostered many other gifted writers on their Masters programmes before and since.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Back to my first short story publication. The piece was called 'Marion'. It was the result of an exercise set by my tutor in which I was to visualise the main character and setting that would be central to a collection of linked short stories. I tapped into my experience as a librarian in Motherwell but fictionalised it, of course. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The magazine that accepted it was Edinburgh-based Cencrastus, edited by Raymond Ross. I was overjoyed to have my story in it, published alongside some weel-kennt names. See the details in the photographs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0cCqJZ-NZdR339BAzHjFLdZ0gH6nLi33OWUgNFcJ84_bojFkuatkQJcsSnDxkoH059QenfCnWjpXvaon97rmpk1ItuYsqYSyjvb4o_9uFL_LsLdEUdZjyH1vOD9V-5paJKO-VE75npUrlX6DIqAvik7ZHu1Y5f7cJ6uFOOHpd8b0FZWCBNB8fp6RdYw/s3517/20240227_094035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3517" data-original-width="2487" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0cCqJZ-NZdR339BAzHjFLdZ0gH6nLi33OWUgNFcJ84_bojFkuatkQJcsSnDxkoH059QenfCnWjpXvaon97rmpk1ItuYsqYSyjvb4o_9uFL_LsLdEUdZjyH1vOD9V-5paJKO-VE75npUrlX6DIqAvik7ZHu1Y5f7cJ6uFOOHpd8b0FZWCBNB8fp6RdYw/s320/20240227_094035.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnZmi8RgCxdLxoH1TpRNCu1L_PjfrHpavvNW-i5GEdLeHvTGh3bjcVfFqUoEutG17AYWp3HPPAOlNjxaDyDu_5cEwqrb8GM1LWmEknT-br-ilt1Y5WsGuAqdJU0qcoRrshVLL2RVAdnmNpJm7mnH6m1klSIzhAXRlIWtcrbjWqx9HqJ_HQjPVH3A_SMo/s3471/20240227_094052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3471" data-original-width="2473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnZmi8RgCxdLxoH1TpRNCu1L_PjfrHpavvNW-i5GEdLeHvTGh3bjcVfFqUoEutG17AYWp3HPPAOlNjxaDyDu_5cEwqrb8GM1LWmEknT-br-ilt1Y5WsGuAqdJU0qcoRrshVLL2RVAdnmNpJm7mnH6m1klSIzhAXRlIWtcrbjWqx9HqJ_HQjPVH3A_SMo/s320/20240227_094052.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQlxLW3vjuhqhnA9PQ5vw0qkCq80zXQsO4iT5jnJhXOKtKdekSCFgLAvTH-LpIoRgINkcjvDTKOkwkzfSIXTW5oU35A-3B0It0qcxkF04RHzfYUzWkLEdUmuJl0PzjR8iQknOoW5WxA5tBcvi4Vn7bK9flux09b1qktQfIb26hwYU7U0bmF3FpI1-EtM/s3397/20240227_094122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3397" data-original-width="2403" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQlxLW3vjuhqhnA9PQ5vw0qkCq80zXQsO4iT5jnJhXOKtKdekSCFgLAvTH-LpIoRgINkcjvDTKOkwkzfSIXTW5oU35A-3B0It0qcxkF04RHzfYUzWkLEdUmuJl0PzjR8iQknOoW5WxA5tBcvi4Vn7bK9flux09b1qktQfIb26hwYU7U0bmF3FpI1-EtM/s320/20240227_094122.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6czGSP8Cu9uQX8IA3ARlDHCG3cSWnMoCFfNll7K4rf_HF2QOAy-ONZFe4YbZnBLZmO5TZEBHB47pDrjvGFOOda8iY350ev6CtG9Nurckmr_hTuLqqH7cRpbLgc4DP25wFdACDhld9UHOE61zAPhl0uzszTBcL4akxF5c0ITeVK6MCcAUDeL7v5beONZo/s3473/20240227_094127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3473" data-original-width="2329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6czGSP8Cu9uQX8IA3ARlDHCG3cSWnMoCFfNll7K4rf_HF2QOAy-ONZFe4YbZnBLZmO5TZEBHB47pDrjvGFOOda8iY350ev6CtG9Nurckmr_hTuLqqH7cRpbLgc4DP25wFdACDhld9UHOE61zAPhl0uzszTBcL4akxF5c0ITeVK6MCcAUDeL7v5beONZo/s320/20240227_094127.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGb7QqZH_7w1HMC7L4IFAp7tdb1dlT6sCYB2nyA3T0bvD7JPu_HHhvj31-h2j-4ky4JZZQFxNQ1bKnv2RS1OpJ2see4IsAVUxa-Vvdf_zyyD0ktDmQm_LMh_9nYZCnwUGLmmgg3Nx80Ci_VADy2DDocSuLY1in9gk83NBBnVafgcdqaNk0Opu3RaSzm2A/s4104/20240227_094200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4104" data-original-width="2604" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGb7QqZH_7w1HMC7L4IFAp7tdb1dlT6sCYB2nyA3T0bvD7JPu_HHhvj31-h2j-4ky4JZZQFxNQ1bKnv2RS1OpJ2see4IsAVUxa-Vvdf_zyyD0ktDmQm_LMh_9nYZCnwUGLmmgg3Nx80Ci_VADy2DDocSuLY1in9gk83NBBnVafgcdqaNk0Opu3RaSzm2A/s320/20240227_094200.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsS_8Ph0vjFdqGLz1PQF3OeuwKcedb0TmGnT8g_uuAmlF519tsOxCzxI5MubmEX8LC0DY3-94F9wtPJvmCojlo4Eky8lDZNJ0Pfgm373Om0Y8oJyctKq6PYhRkVAJVaNsjUiZ8l67Zdjh7Wp7ArdglvNuJjfShY_5KAY78r0DOJWgKbBC-5JlHyLXxhfQ/s3576/20240227_094223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3576" data-original-width="2530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsS_8Ph0vjFdqGLz1PQF3OeuwKcedb0TmGnT8g_uuAmlF519tsOxCzxI5MubmEX8LC0DY3-94F9wtPJvmCojlo4Eky8lDZNJ0Pfgm373Om0Y8oJyctKq6PYhRkVAJVaNsjUiZ8l67Zdjh7Wp7ArdglvNuJjfShY_5KAY78r0DOJWgKbBC-5JlHyLXxhfQ/s320/20240227_094223.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">It's been a pretty full twenty-five years. For more details, <a href="https://carolmckay.co.uk/about-2/">have a look at my website</a>. For the remainder of this post, I'll share some recent developments. </span></div><p style="text-align: justify;">In the tail-end of 2023, I had some happy, happy poetry news. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">First, my poem 'Walking on Sand' won the <a href="https://www.scottishassociationofwriters.com/">Scottish Association of Writers' </a>James Muir Poetry Competition in October. Adjudicator Alison Chisholm was incredibly generous in her critique of it, and I treasure what she said. Here's an extract of her critique.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>'Sometimes a poem leaps from the page and embeds itself in the reader's mind, flatly refusing to go away. This was my reaction to Walking on Sand, a poem of power and intensity, and yet with the sensitivity to evoke an unsentimental but emotional response. The situation is familiar and the theme has been addressed many times before; but here the treatment is so compelling that it transcends familiarity. The narrative describes the finding of a pair of hiking boots, triggering the response of "the realisation you'll never walk in them again".... One of the qualities of an excellent poem is its ability to remain fixed in the mind when the reader has walked away from it. ... Congratulations on an exceptional poem.'</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Thank you, Alison, and thank you, too, to the Scottish Association of Writers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Secondly, I was utterly astonished - and also buoyant - to learn that my poem 'Ceilidh' was included in the <a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/best-scottish-poems/best-scottish-poems-2022/">Scottish Poetry Library's list of the twenty Best Scottish Poems in English in 2022. </a>Selection was made by esteemed Welsh poet Ifor ap Glyn and the announcement was made in early December 2023. You can read the poems via that link, and also hear recordings of them, too. <a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/ceilidh/">Here's a link directly to my poem,</a> the commentary about it, and the recording of me reading it.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">'Ceilidh' is from my pamphlet <a href="https://www.hedgehogpress.co.uk/product/reading-the-landscape-carol-mckay-print-edition/"><i>Reading the Landscape</i>, published by Hedgehog Poetry Press </a>in February 2022. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Incidentally, <i>Reading the Landscape </i>was <a href="https://www.northwordsnow.co.uk/issue44/Objects-for-Private-Devotion">reviewed in issue 44 of Northwords Now by Mandy Haggith,</a> and two reviews of it appeared in issue 4 of <a href="https://hybriddreich.co.uk/product/dreich-broad-review/">Dreich Broad Review</a>, published by Jack Caradoc. </p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-26829227226653920452023-10-31T15:24:00.013+00:002023-11-01T10:17:22.695+00:00Making Time Count <p> 'Who wants to live to be a hundred?' the old joke goes. The answer? 'A ninety-nine year old.'</p><p>We all know we're not going to live forever, but somehow we manage to kick that knowledge of certain death into the long grass. We don't think about it. Nah. Not happening. Death's not for us.</p><p>We've been grappling with recognition of our mortality quite a lot, here in the McKay household, this last year or so. Keith has been gradually losing motor power in his legs, starting at the feet. Tripping has led to him badly breaking his shoulder then his wrist, and he's had several 'lucky' falls where all he suffered was cuts and bruising. And shock. </p><p>He's now been diagnosed with motor neuron disease and is virtually housebound. This calls for a process of adjustment, as you can imagine. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjED_zAM1D-hEK7KYNxmMktOARmcOLd2LykplSsdrlM9YAXh15kOscW3yk6aYiOlpoQxZdCY4Ef8C8cTPbBaoy34dXCAPnySWXNAInX_dZlDbYtnxrNiqJDW6D7IsEuqhlloIDwFS3tSOlNA3CsDtcR46RD9pX3S-5ah1IExlcaxlpqKgO2KmleSt9zAhY" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="528" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjED_zAM1D-hEK7KYNxmMktOARmcOLd2LykplSsdrlM9YAXh15kOscW3yk6aYiOlpoQxZdCY4Ef8C8cTPbBaoy34dXCAPnySWXNAInX_dZlDbYtnxrNiqJDW6D7IsEuqhlloIDwFS3tSOlNA3CsDtcR46RD9pX3S-5ah1IExlcaxlpqKgO2KmleSt9zAhY=w176-h320" width="176" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carol and Keith circa 1978</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Now his diagnosis is official, the help he's had - we've had - has been incredible. He's been assigned a specialist nurse who has visited us at home twice, now, and must surely have a magic wand up her sleeve, since she's instigated and coordinated all sorts of support services, putting us in touch with patient and carer support groups, occupational health and orthotics services to help with physical aids in the home and to support Keith's mobility. She's even told us about things like <a href="https://mndscotland.org.uk/">MND Scotland</a>'s advocacy services, and their voice recording facility in case the future sees him losing his voice. Keith's signed up to take part in lots of ongoing research projects, too. And last week, only nine days after the specialist nurse's second visit, two lovely men from <a href="https://mobilityscotlandltd.co.uk/">Mobility Scotland </a>delivered and set up a riser-recliner chair which is making Keith feel like a king on his throne! All this free of charge. The commitment of our National Health Service workers and the generosity of people make me want to cry with gratitude.</p><p><a href="https://mndscotland.org.uk/">MND Scotland</a> is a super charity. So when our daughter Liane chose to fundraise for them by running the 10K in the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow on 1 October 2023, we were delighted. We were then astounded by how kind and giving people were, supporting her efforts with their donations and encouraging words. Thank you to all those people! And thank you Liane - and Stew, who ran alongside her. She raised over £1,300! Phenomenal. And her hair is still dyed in those MND Scotland colours.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqq0cVNLy-6rRyl3CvZparRB4JFWQHQZSFj6r4k9u5tDAk6buQ82SxEPu4srk9sFGf5jCufaIwK6PIrKH9bO8_kxuD1_dyHWXIsYbCor2qi9dObYFPbXjCNnAhkAGGbcER_LVtsMeEQdG-r7COhu-thAUJvLUaHT-I0Kv1HuI2CYtj8Gr1GVzNs6U9Uw4/s1600/IMG-20231028-WA0005.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1354" data-original-width="1600" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqq0cVNLy-6rRyl3CvZparRB4JFWQHQZSFj6r4k9u5tDAk6buQ82SxEPu4srk9sFGf5jCufaIwK6PIrKH9bO8_kxuD1_dyHWXIsYbCor2qi9dObYFPbXjCNnAhkAGGbcER_LVtsMeEQdG-r7COhu-thAUJvLUaHT-I0Kv1HuI2CYtj8Gr1GVzNs6U9Uw4/s320/IMG-20231028-WA0005.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liane after running 10k to raise funds for <a href="https://mndscotland.org.uk/">MND Scotland</a> on 1 October 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><p>All the members of our family have rallied round. It's wonderful to be bolstered by their love and practical support.</p><p>As for Keith and I - we've been strangely inspired creatively by this physical and emotional challenge. Keith, for example, has had one of his artworks selected for an exhibition called <a href="https://www.imersaolatina.com/?p=3232">'Graphos: International Exhibition of Asemic Writing' </a>in Buenos Aires - yes, Buenos Aires! - from 1 - 18 November 2023, which is a phenomenal achievement.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.imersaolatina.com/?p=3232" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1408" data-original-width="997" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_C2EIJ8hjIb4S_Uew_jJ8sIFUk4B6ZfnIY-n3PCRspmct1W_EG1FKi7CzQIyHtqgQxBdCOKLZ7-pyTfGGVEWUMJfhj5jKSPD-whscBR5cnD0u-hl5k9M7ayspxFfuvhYjIo02WRUqY_qvwA815gsB_z-jglVXHGPPtZJUdcNbtrLwAuFVLRB1aR9BHbk=w227-h320" width="227" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.imersaolatina.com/?p=3232">Graphos exhibition featuring art by Keith McKay</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span></span></div><p></p><p>And I've been writing poems - I can't help it - as I wrestle with the surging emotional response to seeing the man I love so physically challenged. I'm trying to compile a themed poetry pamphlet on the subject. One of these poems appeared this week in Poetry Scotland #106.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://poetryscotland.com/"><img border="0" data-original-height="2604" data-original-width="4624" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2qLDWdvSvZN0tDjwRd0LDKWLYFzxHtpKb1cz23HgxCt9JO98Rb8XqOETBTtZkGMm0KSCYoFOUlova2myAweHFY_nI_FpvXJcLt2JEQpm4UQRdxAzhfFGV2FYQ4pLqsFXOOx6BJrCbnMkqawfWTLQqDu5NXGdX8NhJ1QCzqhwo5FOG6qRsXWt5VfygSls/s320/20231029_164056.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://poetryscotland.com/">My poem 'Ventimiglia Blanket' in Poetry Scotland #106</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />And my poem 'Walking on Sand', which is also about coming to terms with Keith's condition, was awarded first prize in the <a href="https://www.scottishassociationofwriters.com/">Scottish Association of Writers' </a>James Muir Poetry Competition in October 2023, judged by Alison Chisholm. <p></p><p>Life can be brutally hard, but it goes on, and there are always blessings. <a href="https://mndscotland.org.uk/">As MND Scotland say, 'Make Time Count'</a>.<br /> </p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-49982692878643413972023-08-31T14:19:00.020+01:002023-08-31T14:37:53.621+01:00The Robert Louis Stevenston Club<p style="text-align: justify;">Earlier this year, I was invited to present a talk to the prestigious - and very welcoming - Robert Louis Stevenson Club in Edinburgh as a result of a conversation I had with member and fellow author Gillean Somerville Arjat. My thanks go to Gillean, to Chair Jon Cossar, and to the committee for giving me this opportunity. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It was a joy to spend the afternoon at the Club, sharing memories with everyone about the man himself and the picturesque writers' and artists' retreat at Grez-sur-Loing where RLS lived for some months in the 1870s, and which members of the Club have visited. I think my slide show and reflections on my month spent there during my Fellowship in 2010 brought back many happy memories for us all! </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It was a further delight to receive the Club's summer newsletter through the post, and to see a write-up of my visit. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsZh-niThhVX5gpfw5T9RsN9Cj_QqEHecpXFHiqy0koLNLfoY76aJnwkPFdY4u6_Z2B1wqhb3PLaNLAGDtwvsgn_HpBP9OMPg9yrs_-QFoXJ4B0Rg2MFs1WO42pNBIOfNp-FnJujt0f2Wew5y2sCMWdwHv_K-wUd1KkecfuzrkYboVRS9cK1Ji_DJCy8/s7014/ASEMIC0011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="7014" data-original-width="4960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsZh-niThhVX5gpfw5T9RsN9Cj_QqEHecpXFHiqy0koLNLfoY76aJnwkPFdY4u6_Z2B1wqhb3PLaNLAGDtwvsgn_HpBP9OMPg9yrs_-QFoXJ4B0Rg2MFs1WO42pNBIOfNp-FnJujt0f2Wew5y2sCMWdwHv_K-wUd1KkecfuzrkYboVRS9cK1Ji_DJCy8/w452-h640/ASEMIC0011.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">You can find out more about Edinburgh's </span><a href="https://robert-louis-stevenson.org/?page_id=20269" style="text-align: left;">Robert Louis Stevenson Club</a><span style="text-align: left;"> and their programme of events by contacting the Chair </span><a href="mailto:joncossar@gmail.com" style="text-align: left;">joncossar@gmail.com</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div><p style="text-align: justify;">To read my posts from Grez-sur-Loing while I was on the residency in 2010, and see some photos, follow these links:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/06/lucky.html">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/06/lucky.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/07/at-grez-sur-loing.html">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/07/at-grez-sur-loing.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/07/14-juillet-at-grez-sur-loing.html">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/07/14-juillet-at-grez-sur-loing.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/07/towards-ending.html">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/07/towards-ending.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-82981646138589046052023-06-30T21:39:00.005+01:002023-06-30T22:51:38.127+01:00Before the Swallows Come Back<p style="text-align: justify;">I've just finished reading an absolutely heart-filling and lyrical novel by Fiona Curnow, called <i>Before the Swallows Come Back</i>. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://mybook.to/4Uuc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="584" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2EPelK-qYbJgoQFVGvmF1pyD_s1GWlJxbWlmUdrurR7rLICN2EUlgk7S8ub7SQIqu_UrQV9-5QQz0OucFh5HXlJV0-lw7n89YAXy6vkS4xlad6_KStyEXNesF_80sbm2YFxTHlFDtH0gU7LMrmGK_AOd0malJITC7mDfDYMt_oteM3mV3pI3QwFQD3I/s320/Before%20the%20swallows%20blue%20mountain%20front.png" width="215" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://mybook.to/4Uuc">Reading <i>Before the Swallows Come Back</i> by Fiona Curnow</a> feels
like forest bathing on a stiflingly hot day, or being borne up in the gloss and
buoyancy of a river running clean and clear. This is total immersion in the
natural world. All this as background to a storyline that’s epic in scale and
characters rendered so intensely that hours go by before you realise you really
should pull yourself out of their world and back into your own. What a
mesmerising treat!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The two central figures are Tommy and Charlotte. At the
start of the story, they are on the cusp of puberty, two innocents from very
different worlds whose chance encounter on a riverbank far from town becomes
life-changing. For now, their lives are stable. Not perfect, but physically and
emotionally secure. Tommy, the son of a travelling family and someone for whom
outsiders are frightening, introduces Charlotte to the freedoms of living a
more nature-led life, teaching her about river-pearls and how to negotiate the dangers
of a body of water, what plants she can forage, how to weave twigs into art and
basketry and larger branches into practical structures to support canvas for
sleeping outdoors. For her part, Charlotte – who lives alone in a cottage with
her seriously ill father – shows Tommy that not all those who live conventional
lives distrust, fear and decry travellers. They pass the days of an idyllic
summer together before everything changes. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Fiona
Curnow has crafted an immense story, and an incredibly rich one. The plot is
straightforward: these two young people are separately afflicted by crises –
catastrophes – that rock the foundations of their lives. Over the course of a
few years, they must learn to negotiate change. Serious change. They must learn
self-reliance. Separated by hundreds of miles, each holds on to the memories of
that summer spent together at the river before the swallows came back as a
salve while they dream of being reunited. Along the way, they encounter more
than their share of cruelty, but this is a story where good far outweighs bad.
Good men like Dougie, the estate manager, a practical man who abhors the wilful
destruction of habitat on the estate across the river, and who has big ambitions
about rewilding. Waifs and strays like young Em, who on the face of it is
chipper and feisty, brash enough to steal a woman’s purse while she’s
distracted, but who clings to Charlotte in the sleeping bag at night. Tommy,
Charlotte, Em and others may live a different life – an unconventional one –
but this novel shows they are not ‘other’: they have the same needs and yearnings and good heart as those who live in the system. This book is peopled with three-dimensional
characters, with their flaws and faults, but also their earnestness and deep
longings for happiness, their intense sorrows and fears.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it wholeheartedly for
the way it deals with social issues and also for that delicious immersion in
the natural world. I’d say it’s a book for adults and for young people from the
age of about fourteen. If you enjoyed Mick Kitson’s <i>Sal</i>, you’ll love <a href="https://mybook.to/4Uuc">Fiona
Curnow’s <i>Before the Swallows Come Back</i>.</a> Click on the links or image of the book cover to go to the sales page. Thank you so much, Fiona, for writing this story.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://mybook.to/4Uuc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJbE5Mm9t88vLrYzktKdzEsFuUsM1lFsQkpi3J9K1x9RztJ8mALbmRLTbYE78IvZhWMfHgPX-fXK-4ElB91SlZfb18xQnIv0P-Gvtqb8xqy7b9z-K5L547I_OXjs6rIFCf3nFDm9VJv5-iv5eNkly0C6k0GEbWACBbR7XcJJrwDlBrHyZt_Otiktr17I/s320/before%20the%20swallows%20kindle%20silver.png" width="320" /></a></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Before the Swallows Come Back - Excerpt from Chapter 32<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><i><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>As the storm raged outside and night fell, Sandy told
story after story of his life on the road. The people he had met. ‘You’ll ken
them, aye?’ The places he had been to. ‘Och, you must have been there an aw.’
Thankfully, it seemed that no answer was necessary. He played some tunes, sang
some songs. There was barely a tune left in his gravely old voice but that
didn’t matter. The meaning was there, and Tommy could imagine well enough what
the voice would have been like when it held. When it was younger.</i></div><o:p></o:p></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Tommy just sat and listened, hummed along to a tune,
laughed at some silly adventure. Gasped at near misses. It was like being home.
Like belonging. Stories were like that. They held you. Wrapped you up in them.
Took you with them. Kept you alive.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>When he awoke in the morning all was quiet. The storm had
passed on by. The forest around sighing. Dappled sunlight playing with the
window, flickering against the wall, dancing on the floor. But he was alone. No
old man. No candles. Nothing but him and his animals.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><i><o:p></o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQUme2pBC0DYiyN8HkKhz8pkjlPBJd9FZw7rpQ1pKKrrmvRbeh9v9jiuhGLfnDZlOZS1utVHvfLhb41rH6VR5q3CdH85tRhTvxuYSyy5awbShsOZzg-a2EqOAfdB9DGRScvEoVj9KR49__Sf9zAh7VSLnQgQ6x-0_y_AUMsaePWi1bf7JsEnSYanpQSe0/s2786/Author%20profile%20pic%20b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2786" data-original-width="2385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQUme2pBC0DYiyN8HkKhz8pkjlPBJd9FZw7rpQ1pKKrrmvRbeh9v9jiuhGLfnDZlOZS1utVHvfLhb41rH6VR5q3CdH85tRhTvxuYSyy5awbShsOZzg-a2EqOAfdB9DGRScvEoVj9KR49__Sf9zAh7VSLnQgQ6x-0_y_AUMsaePWi1bf7JsEnSYanpQSe0/s320/Author%20profile%20pic%20b.jpg" width="274" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Fiona Curnow</td></tr></tbody></table></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Author Fiona Curnow</b></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: #00FF;">Fiona is a Scottish writer who spent fifteen years
teaching in international schools, before becoming ill and having to return
home. Not one to remain idle, she turned to the Open University where she
studied creative writing, completing both courses with distinction, and
discovering a new passion. She has since written five books and finds it
difficult to be content without a work in progress. That escape into a world of
her own making is something very special! <i>Before
the Swallows Come Back </i>was sparked by a meeting she had with a Tinker
family many years ago, in rural Perthshire. They invited her to sit by their
fire, outside their bender, and listen to stories. It was fascinating,
inspirational and never left her.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4oxap6hMS3iE0au22QWyR145qd1dL_TFp539NvyrFxXhcx4NS657-d2jiOjumpPVefvNz2fzaBr8L1I0pTWHfW26vcMHeRDw5cakQ9ZIDNHX95Meu2DFZJPm80eu86Ui65Cr3WkyBiqE70a182PlmPk3sXEr9PfX_afrrJeeeyg8I_IJi5-aP9H1iI0/s1600/Before%20the%20Swallows%20-%20tour%20banner%20twitter.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4oxap6hMS3iE0au22QWyR145qd1dL_TFp539NvyrFxXhcx4NS657-d2jiOjumpPVefvNz2fzaBr8L1I0pTWHfW26vcMHeRDw5cakQ9ZIDNHX95Meu2DFZJPm80eu86Ui65Cr3WkyBiqE70a182PlmPk3sXEr9PfX_afrrJeeeyg8I_IJi5-aP9H1iI0/w400-h225/Before%20the%20Swallows%20-%20tour%20banner%20twitter.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">You can keep up with the reception for Fiona's novel via her blog tour, or by following her on Twitter and Instagram.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Fiona has also published under the name FJ Curlew. You can read my previous blog post about her writing <a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/01/f-j-curlew-unravelling-of-maria.html">here</a>. </p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-68749833670521158432023-06-13T17:14:00.023+01:002023-06-13T19:09:23.984+01:00Five Glasgow Stories<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.redsquirrelpress.com/product-page/five-glasgow-stories-mclaughlin-appleyard-mckay-gracie-coen" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1PU5aQwl15QZpvwXy8skqljDuwOXiOGqshk4Gwa8w2ia6dMCZeIRlT7a1MW3ag-kh5W1LOMYFGfxbGz4kCjBfQ2tg4tSO7dmvD9O_qjhEkFvE5SHObysdElPI_uHqvXn8sD7DXZ_Np4WVr1EXILjeGnTAeJKBqs4_-vjH7Sd7rjTBUmwof-ouNlg/s320/Five%20Glasgow%20Stories.webp" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.redsquirrelpress.com/product-page/five-glasgow-stories-mclaughlin-appleyard-mckay-gracie-coen">Five Glasgow Stories<br />published by Red Squirrel Press / Postbox Press</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was born and brought up in Glasgow, so when I read that the prestigious independent publisher Red Squirrel Press planned to publish a collection of short stories set in or inspired by the city, of course I aspired to be in it. What to write, though? <a href="https://www.redsquirrelpress.com/">Red Squirrel, and their literary fiction imprint Postbox Press</a>, have meticulously high standards. I did have a story draft which I hoped might fit, but doubts crept in. This opportunity was important to me. How could I make the story the best fit possible?</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">One of my first successes with short fiction was way back in November 2002, when my story Unrestricted reached the final six of the Macallan/Scotland on Sunday Short Story Competition. While it didn't go on to win this highly-regarded award with its generous £6,000 prize, it did win me some kudos, and a cheque for £500 presented during attendance at a glamorous awards night in The Tun in Edinburgh. In his introduction to the volume Shorts 5, published that same year by Polygon, editor and very fine writer Suhayl Saadi described Unrestricted as 'A story told at its very best'. It was a story written in an urban Scots dialect - a Glasgow dialect. Should I do the same now?</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQbwQlrO5nynMMga84WKe34VVjrKbOQbUE4OaAKJKiWiLKJKxitMMqXot8X8hKUwqQMY_9SMFsbd90i-Chpk-3exkF0jmQRfeAPRpKE7yAessJk8GEquZagDY5-Y0WBqS8DLM_6nIWNSAynFROrmnCXqutryW_6UEZVSTFz4bo-2_N7awRYN3XQGk/s4928/Hamilton.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="4928" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQbwQlrO5nynMMga84WKe34VVjrKbOQbUE4OaAKJKiWiLKJKxitMMqXot8X8hKUwqQMY_9SMFsbd90i-Chpk-3exkF0jmQRfeAPRpKE7yAessJk8GEquZagDY5-Y0WBqS8DLM_6nIWNSAynFROrmnCXqutryW_6UEZVSTFz4bo-2_N7awRYN3XQGk/s320/Hamilton.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mist rising from the River Clyde</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Hours from the deadline, I set off walking round my local area, considering this and any other edits I could do to make my short story a real contender. I reached the decision. Yes, I would switch it from standard English entirely into Glasgow dialect. By 'entirely' I mean there would be no confining the dialect to characters' speech in inverted commas, as if held up by some narrator who speaks 'proper' English. Thank you, James Kelman, for opening my eyes to this class division - and to the woman I had a heated discussion with on a translation forum many years ago, who insisted dialect is slang and has no place in literature. I disagreed profoundly. Dialect is someone's mother tongue, and no mother tongue is any better than any other when it comes to expressing what it is to be human. My favourite quote of all time is 'a shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot'. Attributed to Max Weinreich, this translates roughly as 'A language is (just) a dialect that has an army and a navy'.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And so, in a bit of a rush before the 5pm deadline, I translated my story Look Up into my own dialect and pressed 'send'. I was delighted to receive the news that it was accepted for publication along with four superb short stories by authors Christine Appleyard, Colette Coen, Charlie Gracie and Donal McLaughlin. Each brings their own unique perspective on the city, and each story is filled with heart like the city itself. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.redsquirrelpress.com/product-page/five-glasgow-stories-mclaughlin-appleyard-mckay-gracie-coen"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="625" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkX83xg1Ubi4lO_uHdFaK1jljeSAAHoADXKF5zWesxKsBfw3ER_tCT2GWkSXN9JKxep9KxeGJYcDh5fWtKtLYFMnYKGaUc9ze9RPYUmpE-kvZKaYGRuNy24BjRomruWI-1Jn_iUme8En5ZgKE_SXWO3hRFoN769yGVIN3ZZta8C5M-FfMwUt_6D-H9/w133-h200/Five%20Glasgow%20Stories.webp" width="133" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Five Glasgow Stories was launched in Spring 2023 at a venue in the heart of the old city, along with issue 8 of Postbox Magazine, and both are available to buy direct from the publisher. Events and life in general have overtaken me in the last few months but I'm pleased to finally be able to celebrate publication through this blog post, and to express my thanks to <a href="https://www.redsquirrelpress.com/">Red Squirrel Press publisher Sheila Wakefield and to Colin Will, editor of Postbox Press.</a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com087 New Laithe Hill, Huddersfield HD4 6RF, UK53.6294447 -1.773675126.584965432983168 -36.9299251 80.673923967016833 33.3825749tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-70199091250605044822023-05-16T10:42:00.007+01:002023-05-16T11:14:22.023+01:00Scriever for the Federation of Writers (Scotland)<p>In early spring 2023, I was flabbergasted to be invited by the <a href="https://www.federationofwriters.scot/">Federation of Writers (Scotland) </a>to accept their role of Scriever for the year. Of course, I accepted this huge honour! It's a role designed to promote prose writing and complements the Makar, who is there to promote the writing of poetry. Previous Scrievers include Moira McPartlin, Leela Soma and Charlie Gracie. FWS Chair Marcas Mac an Tuairneir presented me with a fine shield at the Love Words event in Perth. The very fine poet <a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/morag-anderson/">Morag Anderson</a> was awarded the role of this year's Makar.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipREgi-y7g2qWf-0mjVxmoq7LNhMRO7fiS_DP2ORl96maFteEuOwKeAc5XELu9WFUpi9A1ZE1kPLmLt1w75O7TmLz6I0Zf4aqIw310kkFaQnelsUjNLR8Md4xckVYxtOb-8hWPMGgCYYE52_5eHm1dGD4V8hNDqwxvk_Dr97DEY8nW1PQ-D0JpoZ91/s808/FB_IMG_1677356890477%202023-Feb-25%20Fed%20Writers%20Scotland-Love%20Words%20event,%20Perth.%20Carol%20made%20Scriever.%20Marcas%20mac%20an%20Tuairneir,%20Chair.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="553" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipREgi-y7g2qWf-0mjVxmoq7LNhMRO7fiS_DP2ORl96maFteEuOwKeAc5XELu9WFUpi9A1ZE1kPLmLt1w75O7TmLz6I0Zf4aqIw310kkFaQnelsUjNLR8Md4xckVYxtOb-8hWPMGgCYYE52_5eHm1dGD4V8hNDqwxvk_Dr97DEY8nW1PQ-D0JpoZ91/s320/FB_IMG_1677356890477%202023-Feb-25%20Fed%20Writers%20Scotland-Love%20Words%20event,%20Perth.%20Carol%20made%20Scriever.%20Marcas%20mac%20an%20Tuairneir,%20Chair.jpg" width="219" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chair of FWS, Marcas mac an Tuairneir, presents Carol McKay with the Scriever's shield, 25 February 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>So far this year, I've run a creative writing workshop in Hamilton Town House Library and played a small part in <a href="https://fb.watch/kz1tw9KJmR/">Eadar-Theanga / Between Tongues</a> a zoom event celebrating Gaelic writing which was livestreamed on the FWS Facebook page. You can watch the recording via that link. I'm also running a mini-mentoring project in which I give feedback on a sample of individuals' writing. </p>Most recently, I took part in a livestreamed discussion featuring a conversation between Morag Anderson, who is this year's Makar, Marcas mac an Tuairneir and myself. You can watch the livestream via this link <a href="https://fb.watch/kz1nEJyKKU/">Makar and Scriever In Conversation 14 May 2023</a> <div><br /></div><div>The broadcast lasts just over an hour. To complement it, I thought I'd share the full answers I'd prepared in advance of the event. It's definitely worthwhile watching the livestream to see and hear the full discussion between all three of us. I learned so much from listening to Morag and Marcas's responses.<br />
<p><o:p>Anyway, here we go. It's quite a long post!</o:p></p><p><o:p>Carol's answers </o:p></p>
<p>What attracted you to writing poetry / short stories etc? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l7 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->When
I was wee, we didn’t have many books in the house, but we did have weekly
comics and we got annuals for Christmas. Sometimes we visited the library, too.
I used to craft my own books, folding up paper and sewing them in the seam. I’d
draw, and create my own storylines, too, stimulated by whatever I was reading.
As for poetry… although I’m not religious, I did love singing in school. Our
regular songs were the old hymns from Victorian days, and the quality of
language and love in those hooked me. That’s when I became aware of the power
of thoughtfully placed vowel sounds and meter, e.g. ‘By cool Siloam’s shady
rill/how sweet the lily grows. How sweet the breath beneath the hill / of
Sharon’s dewy rose.’ (Reginald Heber, died 1826.) And what about ‘Oh little
town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless
sleep the silent stars go by…’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean,
I’m probably an atheist now, but how could anyone fail to be wowed by those
lyrics?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt;">Also song lyrics from family party sing-songs.
See my blogpost <a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2013/06/it-was-third-of-june-memory-nostalgia.html">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2013/06/it-was-third-of-june-memory-nostalgia.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt;">I got into writing poetry because of those
influences, at primary school. Lyrical prose writing came later, at secondary.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>What are your favourite writers and poems / short stories / novels? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I
think he’s out of fashion now, but DH Lawrence was the prime influence for me.
His <i>Sons and Lovers</i> was the first time I’d read and recognised myself in
a novel. The main character was a boy and I was a girl, but that didn’t matter.
He had a bond with his mother like an invisible umbilical cord, and so had I.
He had a dad who was dangerous through drink, and so did I. And just so many
other things about Lawrence. I loved his language, though I find it overly
flowery now.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt;">Favourite novels now include Jon McGregor. Anne
Tyler. Claire Keegan. Graeme Macrae Burnet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt;">Favourite poets are Don Paterson. Jim Carruth.
Magi Gibson. Chris Powici. Finola Scott. So many! We live in privileged times.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt;">Short story writers? Anne Donovan. Dilys Rose.
Kevin Barry. Raymond Carver. James Kelman, of course, for making me realise
that one dialect of English is a valid as any other and that to have – for
example – urban Scots contained within speech marks while the narrator speaks
‘proper English’ is wrong, wrong, wrong. One person’s mother tongue is as valid
as any other person’s mother tongue.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Which of your own poems (or short stories) are you most happy to have
written, and why?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I
was overjoyed to have a short story make it into New Writing Scotland recently.
It was a story that had been rejected 16 times but I believed in it and kept
going, trimming it and reworking bits of it. It’s ‘Her Body Was An Aviary’, and
it was in <i>Break in Case of Silence: NWS 39</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt;">I was also very pleased to have a story of mine
feature as the opening story in the first issue of Gutter magazine. ‘Frozen
Waste’ it’s called. I love and admire Gutter. I was pleased they opened their
special 20<sup>th</sup> issue with one of my stories, too.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt;">As for poetry – hmm – my usual themes in all my
writing are about social misfits and alienation and addiction and so on, so
probably ‘Holding all the ACEs’ is the one whose publication moves me most. It
was in Gutter, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt;">I should mention that one of the things that
quietly satisfies me most as a writer is actually something I self-published.
Correction, my husband published it through his PotHole Press imprint. It was an
ebook of personal accounts of what it feels like to live with the rare health
condition Addison’s Disease. It was too niche for the general publishing world
because only about three people in 10,000 have Addison’s Disease, but we saw
the possibilities offered by ebook publishing, gathered 16 accounts from people
around the English-speaking world through an appeal on social media, and
brought them together in <i>Second Chances: true stories of living with
Addison’s Disease</i>. It’s a life-threatening condition. I felt very alone
when I was diagnosed in 2010 and I wanted to produce a book that people could
turn to so they would be reassured they could live a good life even with the
condition. My husband Keith made a great job of producing it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Favourite ways to write? (e.g. special routines, places, comfort zones) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l13 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Walking
is good preparation! That and washing dishes. Mindless tasks with rhythm that
enable the mind to wander free. I love being out in the natural world and often
talk into my voice recorder on my phone to help me remember things as otherwise
they’ve gone by the time I get home. I tend to be a daytime person, too, and
I’m definitely more comfortable when there’s no one behind me and when there’s
music playing quietly in the background.<o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zG2DTIo98zu_aSNzoR9yaWk1P02GUkTRFYcEaiyhXlv_CSJqsP3U5HaptRWCYW6bDMkggAhKxibWU1YTMiwaiK5tYdf0iJbWdT5GWoh9XV3fAWmZdj1Ew0BY6mQBlJWb7BQHLk1zbHSLUWzZ_6N3f3LEYnGBGrRhHioRDin5sO8LM1qyNlaHpit-/s4624/20210519_150318.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zG2DTIo98zu_aSNzoR9yaWk1P02GUkTRFYcEaiyhXlv_CSJqsP3U5HaptRWCYW6bDMkggAhKxibWU1YTMiwaiK5tYdf0iJbWdT5GWoh9XV3fAWmZdj1Ew0BY6mQBlJWb7BQHLk1zbHSLUWzZ_6N3f3LEYnGBGrRhHioRDin5sO8LM1qyNlaHpit-/s320/20210519_150318.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking in nature boosts creativity</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l13 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p>
<p>How many times do you edit a poem? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->As
many times as I feel it needs! Some come more fully formed than others. I
definitely recommend leaving a draft aside for a while before coming back to
edit it. Editing is best when we can see a piece with fresh eyes. Reading out
loud also helps us judge how it’s working.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>How do you know when a piece of your writing is 'finished'? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Is
it ever finished? I had a short story in Glasgow dialect published this year in
<i>Five Glasgow Stories</i> by Postbox Press, the literary fiction imprint of
Red Squirrel Press. I edited that story so many times. Finally felt happy with
it. Checked two stages of proofs before I finally okayed it. Got the book in my
hand and realised I’d still managed to miss some things. Using ‘I’ instead of
‘Ah’. Wee things like that are always easy to miss and you just have to forgive
yourself! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>What advice would you give yourself starting out now? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo7; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Network
more. Don’t be shy. Get out there. But also read. Read what’s current. Go to
events in your area. Don’t be the writer in the garret.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>What magazines and websites do you recommend to writers? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l11 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Well…
Gutter! But also Extra Teeth, Southlight, Causeway, Poetry Scotland, Northwords
Now, Soor Ploom Press. From Glasgow to Saturn. But also look beyond Scotland’s
borders to Magma and Rialto, Honest Ulsterman and Stinging Fly and so on. Sign
up to Creative Scotland and Scottish Book Trust’s mailing list to keep up to
date with opportunities. The Federation of Writers itself has an amazing
resource available to us through its monthly mail-out. St Mungo’s Mirrorball,
too. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>What makes a 'good' poem? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->One
with vitality and freshness in language. But contemporary language. Not
grandiose Victoriana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagery – putting
pictures in your head. And contemporary subject matter. It’s about experiencing
the world we live in now. The human condition.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Is there a hierarchy in literature? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo10; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Yes,
there’s a hierarchy in everything, isn’t there. It’s just the way it is. Lots
of wee burns flow into a river, and that flows into the sea. Each is a thriving
community and each is important.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Are the gatekeepers of the publishing industry open minded, or does
subjectivity - personal taste - play a part? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I
think we’re all creatures of our times and subjectivity is definitely a part of
the selection process, be it for novels or for stories or poems. Fashions are
just part of how it is. Publishers might want originality, but then reject it
because it’s unfamiliar and they think it won’t sell. And they are running a
commercial business, after all. But then someone else accepts that novel and
it’s a hit and suddenly everyone wants more like that – it’s set a new fashion.
I’m thinking here of someone like Graeme Armstrong, whose novel <i>The Young
Team</i> took a long time to find someone to believe in it. (300 rejections?)
And he’s now one of Granta’s young writers to look out for.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Should you 'write what you know'? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l10 level1 lfo12; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Yes,
but no, but yes, but…<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>What excites you about the future for poetry and other writing? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l9 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->In
Scotland, at this time, we are seeing a lot of ‘New Scots’ in our schools. Far
greater diversity than when I was growing up. I think that’ll work wonders for
our creative sector. I’m really looking forward to that. They better get a move
on, though, or I’ll not be around to see it!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">What does the Federation mean to
you, and – by extension – in what ways can the Federation help writers?</p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;">A. I think the Fed does wonders. A voluntary organisation with such committed board members and <span style="text-indent: -18pt;">volunteers. It’s a great support network for writers at all
experience levels, i.e. just starting out or old hands. FWS gives publishing,
spoken word and networking opportunities aplenty. I love it!</span></p></div></blockquote><div><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l12 level1 lfo14; text-indent: -18pt;"><o:p></o:p></p></div>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-53493843990798451282023-03-03T16:24:00.015+00:002023-03-04T16:53:39.244+00:00Addison's Disease Self-Help Group / White Spirit<p>I'm sending huge thanks to the staff and volunteers at the <a href="https://www.addisonsdisease.org.uk/blog/white-spirit-book">Addison's Disease Self-Help Group</a> charity. </p><p>Not only have they given me a platform to promote <i>White Spirit</i>, but they've also done wonders in sharing the news about my novel through many outlets including their own website and newsletters, and social media. Thank you!</p><p>Thank you, too, to my early readers. I hope you enjoyed my novel - literary crime, set in the Scottish Highlands and featuring a police detective who is diagnosed with Addison's Disease mid-way through the story. Thank you to those of you who've left reviews and ratings!</p><p>Addison's is an auto-immune condition in which the body's own defences attack the outer layers of the adrenal glands. It's a slow and insidious condition, yet it can become horribly dangerous. Our adrenals tick along at only about 10% production until we need to fight off a bug, or break an arm, or face intense emotional stress. Then production surges. The trouble is, if your adrenals' outer layers have been largely destroyed by your own body, you just can't produce the increase in cortisol needed to cope with those stressors. </p><p>And that's when you have an Addisonian Crisis. It's scary. And it can kill you. </p><p><a href="https://www.addisonsdisease.org.uk/what-is-addisons-disease">Read about it on the ADSHG website.</a></p><p>People diagnosed with Addison's take medication every day for life (literally), and carrying an emergency injection kit is definitely recommended. I last used mine two years ago when I ordered a gluten-free chocolate brownie in a cafe and thoroughly enjoyed it, only to realise three hours later when I was dying on the floor that it couldn't have been gluten-free after all. The emergency injection kit I'd got from the ADSHG, coupled with the medication from the health service, saved me.</p><p>Please do consider buying the ebook or paperback of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Spirit-Carol-McKay-ebook/dp/B0BJG61B5V">White Spirit</a></i>. If you do, you'll be helping support the ADSHG as I'm giving them my royalties.</p><p>To read my previous blog posts about my diagnosis and recovery, follow these links. (You'll be able to tell that I was (ahem) slightly overdosed on steroids in my earliest post about it!) You can also read about the ebook compilation Second Chances: true stories of living with Addison's Disease, which my partner Keith published for me through his imprint The PotHole Press in 2012.</p><p>First post - Growth Cycle</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/10/growth-cycle.html">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/10/growth-cycle.html</a></u></span></p><p>Second post - The Real Story</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/10/real-story.html">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2010/10/real-story.html</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Third post - Second Chances: true stories of living with Addison’s Disease</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2012/11/second-chances.html">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2012/11/second-chances.html</a></p><p class="MsoNormal">Fourth post - Second Chances on the BBC</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2013/02/">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2013/02/</a></p><p class="MsoNormal">Fifth post - Ten Years. Two Little Pills</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2020/10/">https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2020/10/<o:p></o:p></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p><br /></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-82699120587432298092022-12-02T17:07:00.001+00:002022-12-02T17:11:32.668+00:00Now out - my crime novel White Spirit<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">Thirteen-year-old
Jamie is found dead in the Scottish Highlands and DI Allan MacIntyre is asking
questions. Who gave him his top of the range phone? Who lit the fire to dispose
of his clothes? Two teenage boys are acting suspiciously. They have phones and
games consoles hidden in their room, a connection to the mosque and a blood
connection to a paedophile.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Then
a second fire ‘ignites’ in a bin at their school. MacIntyre is beset with his
own troubles, and it’s not just juggling two women. His health is letting him
down, and, at 37, it shouldn’t be. With November fireworks exploding, one of
the boys lets slip there’s going to be ‘a big one’. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Can
Allan get a grip in time to prevent it?</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Spirit-Carol-McKay-ebook/dp/B0BJG61B5V"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="236" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLxSJQXfUk_Yi6q-u4Ag0teTtylcGcOmey_Z8AioiLRMyC3zxfhIf_CEKkwpyxtYXn8l6vX4S01T49Z88YP3kfImYcCKlHU96SpAVbx07G96ttNUN9w5Ce2bPHxEZ3v75woNH6J_9lwP8YTretLiFWxE_bnD44aPUBamc93F7k6zP-NtAImdZs5F5/s320/White%20Spirit%20cover.jpg" width="218" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Spirit-Carol-McKay-ebook/dp/B0BJG61B5V">White Spirit </a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Set in the north of Scotland, close to Inverness, my new novel</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;">White Spirit </i><span style="text-align: left;">combines a fast-paced plot with</span><i style="text-align: left;"> </i><span style="text-align: left;">empathetic characters. Early reviews are in, and they're encouraging! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>'Totally absorbing' </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>'Earthy gripping plot'</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One of my aims for this book is to raise awareness about the life-threatening condition which is Addison's Disease - an auto-immune condition which often goes undiagnosed until it reaches the dramatic end-stage. I'm giving my author royalties from sales of <i>White Spirit</i> to the Addison's Disease Self-Help Group charity which has helped me so much since my own diagnosis.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">You can read
more about </span><i style="text-indent: 36pt;">White Spirit</i><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> and the rest of my writing on my website </span><a href="http://www.carolmckay.co.uk/" style="text-indent: 36pt;">www.carolmckay.co.uk</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">You can read
an extract on Amazon at </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Spirit-Carol-McKay-ebook/dp/B0BJG61B5V" style="text-indent: 36pt;">https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Spirit-Carol-McKay-ebook/dp/B0BJG61B5V</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">The e-book
retails at £2.99 and the paperback is £10. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-83853747424051630542022-10-06T16:44:00.000+01:002022-10-06T16:44:19.341+01:00Reading the Landscape<p>I went to primary school in a vast council housing scheme in Glasgow. The school was called Stonedyke and there were forty pupils in each class. This was in the days near the end of the post-World War Two baby boom. School pupils were from the immediate neighbourhood and were from families where the mums tended to be housewives and the dads tended to work long hours in factories and industry. My dad was a slater's labourer and my mum bucked the trend and worked full-time in a shop.</p><p>It might seem like an unlikely place for poetry. And yet, this was an aspirational era, and an aspirational school, and this is where I was introduced to poetry. One of my favourites from when I was about ten years old is <a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/aince-upon-day/">Aince Upon a Day by William Soutar,</a>. It's written in Scots, and our class learned to recite it. Odd, when you think of it, since Scottish children were routinely discouraged from talking in Scots in school at that time. It was regarded as 'bad English', rather than being seen in its geographical and cultural context, i.e. as a separate strand with connections to Denmark and Germany and so on. </p><p>Anyway, here we are, over fifty years later, and I've had my very own pamphlet of poetry published! Perhaps curiously, none of it is in Scots. But I'm sure the code-switching of my childhood helped arouse my curiosity about exploring language. Here it is:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWcLdXAk0tqfef5zfyeFxsB88HDBX-qDYi0jdaAM76SjuuE1ltDdZySsre3UykV7LmZKW2DVVmfwdo5fgei9gaBMBwTP-qgD61Dc6EDECINtFPaLFVq2-ekH5dIXESYgrIZxFyfNnI7pzxJDl47Ab9BvtFC7ubLim1SBojnJf-sO-Md5NOl1vGrDjQ/s300/Reading%20the%20Landscape%20216x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="216" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWcLdXAk0tqfef5zfyeFxsB88HDBX-qDYi0jdaAM76SjuuE1ltDdZySsre3UykV7LmZKW2DVVmfwdo5fgei9gaBMBwTP-qgD61Dc6EDECINtFPaLFVq2-ekH5dIXESYgrIZxFyfNnI7pzxJDl47Ab9BvtFC7ubLim1SBojnJf-sO-Md5NOl1vGrDjQ/s1600/Reading%20the%20Landscape%20216x300.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://carolmckay.co.uk/home-2/reading-the-landscape/">Reading the Landscape</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://carolmckay.co.uk/home-2/reading-the-landscape/">Reading the Landscape </a>brings together poems previously published in literary magazines along with new work. It's published by <a href="https://www.hedgehogpress.co.uk/product-category/for-sale/books/collections/">Hedgehog Poetry Press </a>as a result of their 'White Label - Quatre' poetry pamphlet competition.</p><p>The cover shows a scene from woodland in the Eildon Hills in the Scottish Borders. Landscape is key to my writing as landscapes and the natural world fill me with hope. The pamphlet contains poems that explore and relish the natural landscape as well as exploring inner mindscapes. You can read more about it (and be given the option to buy it) via that link.</p><p>It's a big moment for me, to have that first poetry pamphlet published after years of mostly writing prose. I'm now working on material for a second. In the meantime, having long been a fan and supporter of poetry publishing from Scottish poets and beyond, it gladdens my heart to see my pamphlet take its place with these other poetry books! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxtsaFfV1S72_AiOg5HtSvkkeSQQH6TJv-EmoXFiEfvjZBFipeP9rCmpS4SrZ7LfmZBJANdSuGlJEWpdn4xFaKcq0CQgquA7v_m72UNg3BR7hMO_uTsiBR_4KFdHfxOgyEVIenB_-IM4G6uc5eaNeNeO4JKcnzm8I71_P7KtiTNIM0C_C7JjTEDUOi/s4624/20220711_164606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3468" data-original-width="4624" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxtsaFfV1S72_AiOg5HtSvkkeSQQH6TJv-EmoXFiEfvjZBFipeP9rCmpS4SrZ7LfmZBJANdSuGlJEWpdn4xFaKcq0CQgquA7v_m72UNg3BR7hMO_uTsiBR_4KFdHfxOgyEVIenB_-IM4G6uc5eaNeNeO4JKcnzm8I71_P7KtiTNIM0C_C7JjTEDUOi/s320/20220711_164606.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjrPUBgulczF_v8jgqshaECXbHZnWmKNDURaIJrZHb9Hs8w7TmwJiADiO1NiEYrj8qQmiQoFk1sWwKXqki070UjXRF5yQFMpnqa5Cutxl_zq0GZYbr2NaTFPxdfcYNPjEeaulF6-ZXGG_yclY2ol0a8M2rMpDl9QlTt6OF7ArXMXBkkIjAOxDhDwR/s4624/20220711_185250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3468" data-original-width="4624" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjrPUBgulczF_v8jgqshaECXbHZnWmKNDURaIJrZHb9Hs8w7TmwJiADiO1NiEYrj8qQmiQoFk1sWwKXqki070UjXRF5yQFMpnqa5Cutxl_zq0GZYbr2NaTFPxdfcYNPjEeaulF6-ZXGG_yclY2ol0a8M2rMpDl9QlTt6OF7ArXMXBkkIjAOxDhDwR/s320/20220711_185250.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p><p> </p><p> </p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-32216606169730529802022-02-15T12:50:00.001+00:002022-02-15T12:50:12.524+00:00Writing round-up<p>In my experience, writers suffer nightmarish levels of Imposter Syndrome. When I was a child growing up in Glasgow, in Scotland, this syndrome hadn't really been named, but was an overbearing presence in phrases like 'Who do you think you are? The Queen of Sheba?' and 'Don't get above yourself!' and even 'I kent his faither.' Working class children like me were conditioned from infancy to know their place and never aspire to anything beyond that.</p><p>A big part of being a writer is imagining other lives - lives beyond the narrow constraints we and/or wider society set ourselves. And if we want our writing to be published, we have to resist Imposter Syndrome.</p><p>With that in mind 😀I'm going to tell you that 2021 was quite a good year for my writing. Wait! No, 2021 was a good year. I didn't win prizes; I wasn't lauded around the world. But I did have a good handful of publications - individual stories and poems - in a range of quality magazines and anthologies, and that makes me feel my writing efforts are worthwhile.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTLfUBxX8LtrWYNAkhPk6O2KLne8jZwNpTATGs2uSk6s276-dYuGTZ4QUXF1uhXepUfsCxPTXQpp7diTsQ1qxTbrk_Z6B_QEvEa4v0NLPHEY_BoFP6ryRr6ymFnAj5GBKCxUzbdPmQ8qkC2lXqw-zB4PWi2jJ7Fs33zKOrP3G1zM4LkEQJVLwgHDgw=s4624" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3468" data-original-width="4624" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTLfUBxX8LtrWYNAkhPk6O2KLne8jZwNpTATGs2uSk6s276-dYuGTZ4QUXF1uhXepUfsCxPTXQpp7diTsQ1qxTbrk_Z6B_QEvEa4v0NLPHEY_BoFP6ryRr6ymFnAj5GBKCxUzbdPmQ8qkC2lXqw-zB4PWi2jJ7Fs33zKOrP3G1zM4LkEQJVLwgHDgw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 246, 246); line-height: normal; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Poetry Scotland #102, Break in Case of Silence (NWS 39), Ghosts of the Night Shift, Wee Dreich #5, Gutter 23</span></p><p>While I'm pleased with all of these publications, I'm particularly happy that - after at least a dozen attempts - I've finally had a short story accepted for the very prestigious <a href="https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/newwriting/nws39/">New Writing Scotland. Published by the Association for Scottish Literary Studies</a>, this annual volume is the pinnacle for short fiction, poetry and other forms of writing.</p><p>Not only that, but the story itself - Her Body was an Aviary - is one that I'd sought a home for sixteen times before it was accepted. It's a story I've always believed in, but it obviously needed editorial distance to fully draw out its strengths. And, given there's always a subjective element to choosing items for publication, it must have needed to find the right editors, too!</p><p>Of course, I sent out far more than five items (well, six poems and two short stories). In the year, I sent out thirty-five submissions. So that's a hit rate of one in seven, or 14%. The year before that, my hit rate was about 10%. That's a lot of 'no thank you' to bolster the Imposter Syndrome, but according to <a href="https://www.behindtheprose.com/blog/the-writer-magazine-publishes-keysha-whitaker-in-the-september-2016-issue-rate-of-rejection/">Keysha Whitaker</a>, who wrote about her study of this for US magazine The Writer in 2016, 5% acceptance is the average, with a range between 2% and 22.5%. So, hey, rejection is normal, and we should celebrate our successes without allowing ourselves to wilt under the stern gaze of Imposter Syndrome.</p><p>Incidentally, if you want to learn more about the origins of the term 'Imposter Syndrome', <a href="https://www.paulineroseclance.com/pdf/ip_high_achieving_women.pdf">this link </a>takes you to a paper written by Pauline Rose Clance & Suzanne Imes, the psychologists who coined it. </p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-9318983907730918092021-07-08T10:24:00.000+01:002021-07-08T10:24:03.845+01:00Linda Cracknell - The Other Side of Stone<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: justify;">I’m delighted to welcome to my blog
this week author Linda Cracknell, </span><span style="text-align: justify;">a prize-winning writer of intense and
beguiling prose. I’ve long been an admirer of Linda’s work and was eager to
read her latest book.</span></h3><h3 style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fA2Dol-bMjU/YOV2Zx_Kz7I/AAAAAAAAAfA/pH5w_pm7fCsHRxSS2W2XUWJPW4ez7FHrACLcBGAsYHQ/s1316/Stone%2Bwith%2BGlen%2BLyon%2BTweed.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="1119" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fA2Dol-bMjU/YOV2Zx_Kz7I/AAAAAAAAAfA/pH5w_pm7fCsHRxSS2W2XUWJPW4ez7FHrACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Stone%2Bwith%2BGlen%2BLyon%2BTweed.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Other Side of Stone</i><br />pictured with Glen Lyon Tweed</td></tr></tbody></table></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><i>The Other Side
of Stone</i>, published by Taproot Press, is a collection of linked stories centring
on an old stone-built weaving mill in rural Perthshire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the course of two centuries, the stories
follow the creation and eventual decay of the building and the industry, and
the impact this has on the people connected with it. Each story is
self-contained, but together they build into a rich and coherent whole –
layered like storeys in the building itself. This is an awesome achievement and
a thoroughly satisfying experience for the reader.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">In the opening
story, Stone Curse, an old journeyman stone-mason inscribes the foundation
stone for the radical new water-powered mill. His focus is on his work and the
immediate surroundings of his workshop. It’s about the hard rock and the
‘fleabite’ of an indentation each strike of his chisel makes on it, putting
into context our puny human concerns. The language is distilled and
concentrated, deep with meaning. Indeed, even the word ‘strike’ becomes a
recurrent motif in the collection. On the main face of the stone, he is carving
the date – 1831. On the reverse, to be hidden away, he chips out an effigy of a
woman. While the reader is drawn to the stone-mason – perhaps because of the
affectionate way he describes a tiny visiting bird – this image he’s struck
into the hard stone is his way of imprisoning the rule-breaking woman, and I
would say this social mistrust of non-compliant womanhood and this need to
restrict and restrain is central to <i>The Other Side of Stone</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">Look at
Linda’s descriptive powers, right from the opening paragraph, describing that wee bird!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><i>Some days
it’s just the wee fellow who watches me. I see him through the hazel-arch of
the workshop when I turn my head, and he’s there when I take my tools out to the
forge to be licked sharp in the flames. He perches on the top of the rubble
pile, or on a post, and observes. A smart-looker he is, with his white collar
and chestnut stomach. Out of his dark face comes a scolding cry when there’s
someone coming. He’s an unquiet bird then, with his ‘clack-clack-clack’, for
all as if he’s bashing two stones together. … And the fellow’s my friend is he
not? He’s my steady companion, watching me force the chisel upon the rock
that’s so brute-hard my scours and drafts will be there to see for centuries to
come.’</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">Linda takes us
ranging back and forward over the years from 1831 to 2019, tuning in to the
deepest concerns of workers and mill owners and others connected to the
building throughout the phases of its origin, heyday and decline. What impresses
me so much about Linda’s work – over and above the immense skills with language
and observation – is that she rapidly establishes the feel of each era, with
all its political considerations and pressures.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">One storyline
is returned to several times, weaving its way through the others. Set in 1913,
it follows a young married woman who’s committed to achieving workers’ rights
and women’s suffrage. She remembers May Day celebrations in Glasgow when her
husband was a Union man and they were full of optimism, believing in unity and
solidarity among the workers – until he accepted a promoted post in
Perthshire.<i> All like one big family, so we were … and Miss Sylvia Pankhurst
herself up there, saying that the cooperative commonwealth will only happen if
women as well as men manage it. </i>(p.58) Catharine describes how alien she feels in
this rural village, especially now he’s turned his back on their beliefs, in
the words<i> I’m like a flower grown from a seed that’s blown in from foreign
parts’ </i>(p.60) She has vision and ambition, and yearns to train as a
nurse, but this is all in question. Will her husband sign the letter giving his
permission?</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YoBU7GYo2WA/YOV2ZP_kPMI/AAAAAAAAAe0/h8tUPsjEFNIpoSQpQOlae-cMOEK0u7GIACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_0338.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YoBU7GYo2WA/YOV2ZP_kPMI/AAAAAAAAAe0/h8tUPsjEFNIpoSQpQOlae-cMOEK0u7GIACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_0338.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Linda Cracknell (Photo by Robin Dance)</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">Q&A</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK:</b> Hello
Linda, and welcome to my book blog! I have long been an admirer of your
writing. Loved your short stories, of course, and your novel <i>Call of the
Undertow</i>. Your creative non-fiction collection <i>Doubling Back: Ten paths trodden
in memory</i> is another of my favourites. Before we get on to talk about <i>The Other
Side of Stone</i>, let me ask – do you have a favourite form? How do you decide
what form to write? What’s your process?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b>LC</b>: Hi Carol,
and many thanks for having me along. My process seems to be quite chaotic and
hard to predict! <i>The Other Side of Stone</i> is my fifth book but there was no
direct route or clarity as it developed. I usually start with character and
place, and perhaps a ‘what if?’ train of thought or a particularly illuminated
moment (which is likely to end up as a short story). I started writing short
stories in the late 1980s after which I had two collections published. I love
the economy and the elliptical nature of that form, but agree with Richard Ford
when he calls it the 'high wire act of literature', because one tiny slip and
the whole thing fails. The novel form is more forgiving.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">As a new
writer, there was quite a bit of pressure to produce a novel in order to be
taken seriously, and it was setting out to write a novel in 2001 and then a few
years later abandoning it that provided the foundation stones for this most
recently published book. Although that first novel didn't ever quite work, when
my explorations of an area around Dunnet Bay in Caithness offered up a story
arising from an underlying folktale, it definitely had to be novel-length and Call
of the Undertow (2013) was the result. Since then I've written another novel,
currently looking for a publisher, set between the Scottish Highlands and the
limestone sierras of south-eastern Spain in a story of mountains and suppressed
memory. And I also write essays. <i>Doubling Back: Ten paths trodden in memory</i>
(2014), was a linked collection of these, exploring place and memory through
repeated footfall on paths. That also took its time to arrive at a final form.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">In answer to
your question I think the form probably asserts itself gradually as I write.
Somehow, 20 years after setting out to write my first novel, I've ended up with
this hybrid work of fiction which may be a novella or may be linked short
stories, but definitely isn't a novel!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kjw7KSpZYPU/YOV2ZaU1P7I/AAAAAAAAAe4/lnsFGYfN_bIHPFWjHFW6kDiR6k7LPx2RgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2850/IMG_20210402_153644.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1103" data-original-width="2850" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kjw7KSpZYPU/YOV2ZaU1P7I/AAAAAAAAAe4/lnsFGYfN_bIHPFWjHFW6kDiR6k7LPx2RgCLcBGAsYHQ/w555-h215/IMG_20210402_153644.jpg" width="555" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.lindacracknell.com/mybooks-buyhere.asp" style="text-align: justify;">https://www.lindacracknell.com/mybooks-buyhere.asp</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: So, <i>The
Other Side of Stone</i> – it’s breathtakingly beautiful prose, deeply evocative of
place and the tangible, physical world. Tell me how it came about, and
something about your themes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b>LC:</b> The
original novel I started writing in 2001 included two storylines which survived
into 'Stone' but are now given very different weights. The major story is now a
minor one and vice versa. In the act of abandoning the project I seem to have
found the liberty to do as I pleased without the crippling self-consciousness
which can come with anticipating publication. I returned over the years to the
research and imaginative work I had done on the setting of the Perthshire
woollen Mill. What was particularly compelling to me in what remained was the story
of Catharine in 1913-14, a frustrated suffragette who arrives with her new
husband, a weaver, in the small Perthshire village and finds herself
increasingly isolated by her radicalism. The original novel also focused on the
early years of this century when the building was being converted into flats by
an ambitious young architect, and was somehow being dogged by the past. Around
these two strands I gradually picked up other periods of the building’s history
which interested me and wrote occasional new stories which used that background.
I never imagined it would be published as one coherent work until last year I
pasted them all into one document and added a final, more recent story which
helped it all add up. It was a gamble that I could trust the reader to bridge
the gaps not just within the stories themselves but between them. It seems to
have paid off.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">The strongest
themes in my writing are usually place and memory, and that's certainly the
case here with layers of history even within the stone itself. I like to think
that the mill becomes a character itself through the different faces it shows
in different periods. Beyond this, the overriding theme of the book has turned
out to be the agency of women, and the struggle for this freedom as well as the
potency of the local landscape and the effect of industrialisation on rural
areas. I never set out to write to themes but let them emerge out of
preoccupations with the setting and characters I've chosen.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qlh4QsGBt5c/YOV2aBkVDpI/AAAAAAAAAfE/VRAzhtK5-zgeFfBeJ9W1RhupNeKbTBQvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1721/stone%2Bby%2BRD.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1721" data-original-width="1377" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qlh4QsGBt5c/YOV2aBkVDpI/AAAAAAAAAfE/VRAzhtK5-zgeFfBeJ9W1RhupNeKbTBQvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/stone%2Bby%2BRD.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://taprootpressuk.co.uk/our-books/" style="text-align: justify;">https://taprootpressuk.co.uk/our-books/</a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo courtesy Robin Dance</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CMcK:</b> I really
enjoyed that you’d tuned your ear to different styles of language for the
different stories. So, in the 1913 episodes, you use quite a lot of Scots words
and syntax – like a natural! And in the 2019 story, the teenager’s language is
very much of our time. Was this a conscious decision or did it come about
intuitively? Is it an essential part of creating characters?<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b>LC</b>: I'd say
probably the latter, that the language must be an aspect of character. Catharine
basically speaks monologues to the building itself, so it had to suggest the
syntax of a Paisley cotton mill lass. Although it's not my own language, I did
enjoy evoking it. And in 2019 Jade’s manner of speech, as a young carer who has
failed in her formal education, needed to reflect her great weariness as well
as background and the age in which she lives. It had to at least suggest
authentic teenager.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: As well
as being a versatile and accomplished published author, you’re an inspirational
creative writing tutor. Where can we learn more about you and your writing, and
buy copies of your books?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b>LC</b>: I love
teaching and encouraging others to write. The maxim I work by is Susan Sontag's:
'Love words, agonise over sentences, and pay attention to the world.' It works.
I also like to get people outside and moving as part of the writing process.
Over the period of the pandemic it has been quite difficult to continue with workshops,
some of which are residential, but hopefully such things will gradually come
back. I have found that as long as they're not too long, workshops on Zoom over
a period of time can work very well and can defeat geography. I'm currently
writer in residence for the Birnam Book Festival and will soon be running a
course with them. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">I have a
regular newsletter in which such workshops as well as writing tips, various
extras, and news of my own books can be found. Anyone can sign up through my
website at this link: <a href="https://www.lindacracknell.com/feedback.asp">https://www.lindacracknell.com/feedback.asp</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><i>The Other Side
of Stone</i> (after a surprise sell-out of the hardback!) is now available as a
paperback for £9.99 and can be ordered either directly from the Taproot Press
website with no postage to pay <a href="https://taprootpressuk.co.uk/our-books/">https://taprootpressuk.co.uk/our-books/</a>
, or ask your local independent bookshop to order it in for you. <i>Call of the Undertow</i>
is available from my website as a special edition hardback and each of my other
books is in print. As they've been with different publishers one of whom went
into liquidation, they are available in slightly different ways. You can learn
how here:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.lindacracknell.com/mybooks-buyhere.asp">https://www.lindacracknell.com/mybooks-buyhere.asp</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">For anyone
who’d like to hear more about <i>The Other Side of Stone</i>, here’s Birnam Book
Festival’s event in which I discuss it with Jane Archer. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=190050849708686">https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=190050849708686</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">Thank you,
Carol, for inviting me to participate in your wonderful blog. And thanks to
your readers who have got this far!<i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: My pleasure, Linda!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijRNqv15Cbs/YOV2ZsVqpPI/AAAAAAAAAe8/_LJYzwOv-dkZ3LwI7UTxqSn3WVSRI02CQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Linda%2BCracknell%2Bby%2BRobin%2BDance.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijRNqv15Cbs/YOV2ZsVqpPI/AAAAAAAAAe8/_LJYzwOv-dkZ3LwI7UTxqSn3WVSRI02CQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Linda%2BCracknell%2Bby%2BRobin%2BDance.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Linda Cracknell (Photo by Robin Dance)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><o:p> </o:p> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-34473522135886446532021-05-27T20:04:00.001+01:002021-05-27T20:04:57.164+01:00Moira McPartlin - Before Now: memoir of a toerag<p><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>This week, I'm joined by the talented and versatile author, Moira McPartlin, whose new novel is published on 31 May 2021. It's super. Go on - treat yourself! Read on for a taster and to learn how <i>Before Now</i> came about.</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LTcrUPMWtnU/YKjgktuMKLI/AAAAAAAAAdw/KEeA0JBFTBIasKIhIg3WdySR1Aa7llFWgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Reworked%2B-%2BBefore%2BNow%2B2.1%2Bweb%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1325" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LTcrUPMWtnU/YKjgktuMKLI/AAAAAAAAAdw/KEeA0JBFTBIasKIhIg3WdySR1Aa7llFWgCLcBGAsYHQ/w259-h400/Reworked%2B-%2BBefore%2BNow%2B2.1%2Bweb%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Now-Memoir-Moira-McPartlin-ebook/dp/B095SQJNWG/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=moira+mcpartlin&qid=1622130650&s=digital-text&sr=1-5">Before Now: memoir of a toerag</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><o:p>Review </o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The best kind of fiction is the
kind you lose yourself in: the kind that sweeps aside your ongoing ordinary
thoughts; the kind with a personality so absorbing you forget you’re supposed
to take the dog a walk or wash the dishes. This is the kind Moira McPartlin
writes. We’ve seen this in her novels <i>The Incomers</i>, and the Sun Song Trilogy,
and here it is again in the glowing <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Now-Memoir-Moira-McPartlin-ebook/dp/B095SQJNWG/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=moira+mcpartlin&qid=1622130650&s=digital-text&sr=1-5">Before Now: memoir of a toerag</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A novel set in a Fife village in the
1990s, <i>Before Now</i> is a story told by teenager Gavin. He’s taken a risk
that’s led to an accident, meaning he’s now immobilised in bed in his
grandmother’s house for three months while he recovers. His mother has presented
him with a notebook and told him to pass his time by writing about some of the high jinks and
scrapes he’s had over the years.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Gavin is initially reluctant. A big,
physically confident lad who’s been able to turn a van on a penny since the age
of thirteen, he’s not at all into schooling, but she persuades him this could
help him achieve his ambition of passing the theory part of the driving test. Just
write, she says. Don’t worry about spelling and grammar. And, freed from the constraints
of having to write in perfect English, Gavin finds his voice. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It’s a voice that liberates him –
and unlocks, for a literary world, a teenage toerag’s dreams and reality. It
does so through shrewd and skilful writing. The book is written in Fife
dialect, but the author has taken pains to make this ‘non-standard’ English straightforward for non-Fifers to follow. In fact, after a paragraph or two, Gavin’s Fife accent became the
soundtrack to my day. Like birds singing in the trees or the chuckling of the
local burn, the rhythm and timbre of Gavin’s voice was an ear-worm I thoroughly enjoyed. Add to this some hilarious, vivid one-liners, e.g. Janey from The Valley ‘hud a clout
like a miner’s shovel’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Through Gavin’s stories, by turn
laugh-out-loud funny and close to heart-breaking, we learn what it’s like to be
a ‘daft laddie’ growing up in a small town devastated by the collapse of the
coalmining industry. Whether he’s telling us about how they welcomed Tilly the
dug into their lives, or the many times his long-suffering mother got called to
the school about her two boys’ bad behaviour, or meeting many other characters,
we get to know the real Gavin, who loves his mum and even his brother, and
wants to move forward and live a good life. Moira's happy for me to post a couple of extracts. The first gives an idea of the trickier aspects to Gavin's life. The second is very different!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_EZ-K5r9Iw/YKjgmElP0QI/AAAAAAAAAd4/oqmn9BqBWwgOtM_n_40kht1JGm1mMQGkQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DSCF0377%2Bedit1%2Bmono.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_EZ-K5r9Iw/YKjgmElP0QI/AAAAAAAAAd4/oqmn9BqBWwgOtM_n_40kht1JGm1mMQGkQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSCF0377%2Bedit1%2Bmono.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://moiramcpartlin.com/">Moira McPartlin</a></td></tr></tbody></table><o:p> </o:p><p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Extract p. 41-2</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>The next day Chuddy an the gang
ur wantin tae gan tae the chip shop near the swimmin baths, ah walk thum
halfway doon the road then peel aff.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>‘Ah’m away tae see ma da.’ Ah
buys two cornbeef rolls fae the corner shop, wan fur him an wan fur me hopin he
might buy sum juice cos ah’m now aw oot eh cash. Ah kent where he steyed coz ah
hud swung roond there a couple eh times just tae check ah hud the right street.
… Ah chapped. Thir wis nae answer. The door hud gless an a letter box. Ah
peered through the gless but it wis too frostit tae see. Ah keeked through the
letter box. The hoose reeked eh fags an soor milk. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>‘Da, ur ye in?’ Nae answer. Ah
wondered if he wis hidin, but the hoose felt empty, ah could tell. Ah shoved
the cornbeef roll through the letter box an dragged ma erse back tae the skill.</i></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Extract (p.81-2 )</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>So
we dae. Efter huvin tae wait in a queue again fur ages we gets oan. ‘Just
relax,’ ah telt her, but when we reached the board – fuck me – dis she no faa
aff again. An this time ah keep gaun. Ah hear her shoutin.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>‘No
Gavin, it’s too misty.’<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>But
ah ignored her. An then when ah get aff at the top, thick mist mobbed me an ah
cannae remember where Tommy an Janey hud taken me that wis sae guid. So ah ski
tae the top eh a run an it wis like ah sheer cliffside. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>‘Whit’s
this?’ ah asks sum bloke that wis starin doon at it an aw.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>‘Black
run. Don’t go down that son, unless you’re really good.’<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>So
ah gan along a wee bit mair an thir wis this fence that hus ribbons oan it an a
couple eh wee guys, wee-er than me, scoot past an doon. They disappear intae the
mist. An it didnae scan too bad. So ah stertit doon an fuck me it got steeper.
Ah gans cross weys an faa ower, ah gets masel up, turned an ski cross weys
again but every time ah tried tae turn roond ah faa ower an thir wis guys
scootin past aw the time, twistin this wey an that an straight doon. How dae
they dae that? Ah just huv tae keep at it – cross, faa, turn. Cross, faa, turn
an eventually the mist cleared an ah spied the café an Maw standin ootside
watchin. Cross, faa, turn. It stertit tae flatten oot an ah hud a great run
doon tae where Maw stood.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>‘That
wis great,’ says I. An in a wey it wis.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>‘Oh
Gavin. Ah’ve been worried sick. Ah got the staff tae radio the top tae look out
for you but they couldn’t find you.’ She pointit at the slope ah’ve just come
doon. ‘That’s a competition run.’<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>‘Aye?
Think ah could dae competitions?’ <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>‘Gavin,
you were on yer bum most of the way.’<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>‘Best
wey tae learn,’ ah chirps.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>Efter
that she niver took me unless Janey wis there but it wisnae that often coz
skiin is dear.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Q&A</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Hello Moira and welcome to
my book blog! Thank you for giving me advance sighting of <i>Before Now</i>. I
adored it. My imagination bloomed with Gavin’s personality and his stories,
told in a voice that completely captivates the reader. Why did you choose to
write it in Fife dialect? And how difficult was that to maintain in this era of
autocorrect?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>MMcP</b>: Thank you, Carol, for this
fantastic review and these great questions. I love writing in dialect. It comes
easily to me and I know, from the comments I received about my first novel <i>The
Incomers</i>, that readers love to read it. I also perform early episodes of <i>Before
Now</i> at open mic nights – the audience always enjoy them and I have great
fun slipping back to the accent of my childhood.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Having said all that, the editing
of a whole novel in Fife dialect was a nightmare. When I wrote the first draft I
was not consistent with my choice of spelling and needed to revise it after the
fact. This was difficult and time consuming. Many eyes have seen this novel and
each time I look at it I still find tiny mistakes.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lYEWxfJtlSs/YKjgkBiag4I/AAAAAAAAAeA/AYth84ikkeo3NhvJ5UzQidP4kJjV68BigCPcBGAYYCw/s600/The%2BIncomers%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="391" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lYEWxfJtlSs/YKjgkBiag4I/AAAAAAAAAeA/AYth84ikkeo3NhvJ5UzQidP4kJjV68BigCPcBGAYYCw/s320/The%2BIncomers%2Bcover.jpg" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: There’s a gradual awakening
in the novel, isn’t there, when Gavin is in that bed for three months and takes
stock of his life. He says ‘Ma life’s been a bit chaotic up tae now. Sumthin
hus tae change.’ (p. 75) Where did you get the idea of writing about this
character, that location, and that time? And using what Gavin comes to see as that ‘catalyst’ of the
accident?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>MMcP</b>: I have been working on <i>Before
Now</i> for many years. It began as a couple of short stories. At that time I
was reading reams of teenage fiction and I was bored with reading about middle
class kids, whose teenage angst was very bland and their main worries were
about their exams and being popular. My two boys were never academic and had a
quite different life to the kids I was reading about, so I took a couple of
incidents from their lives and fictionalised them. Once I created the
characters of Sam and Gavin I found I could take it further because I know many
children just like them. But I still had a series of shorts stories. I had to
have some device to pull them all together and provide Gavin with a reason to
tell his stories in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was done by giving Gavin an accident and confining him in a space.
I seem to do that a lot in my books. In <i>Ways of the Doomed</i>, book one of
my Sun Song Trilogy, the main character is also confined. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jaWWBvUbA_4/YKjgkwQG3mI/AAAAAAAAAeA/hymco3d8KbE5EFU3mpNFIvuGfeN2jB11ACPcBGAYYCw/s2048/cover%2Bsun%2Bsong.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1337" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jaWWBvUbA_4/YKjgkwQG3mI/AAAAAAAAAeA/hymco3d8KbE5EFU3mpNFIvuGfeN2jB11ACPcBGAYYCw/s320/cover%2Bsun%2Bsong.jpeg" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I chose the 1990s because this is
when my kids grew up and it seemed easier to do that because I can remember the
toys and clothes they wore. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In terms of location, I am keen
to show life in semi-rural Fife. Most novels I read in this genre have urban or
West of Scotland locations. I feel Fife deserves its own stories. The location
of Ashlee is a small village just along the road from Hollyburn, my village
from <i>The Incomers</i>. Again, it was easier to fictionalise villages that
are familiar to me in my own life. This is very much a novel of ‘write what you
know.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: With the book being written
in first person, the characters are only seen through Gavin’s eyes, and through
dialogue. It amused me no end to read Gavin’s opinions of his mother – that
long-suffering, hard-working, dedicated, ambitious woman. He wasn’t pleased
when her new job took her to Denmark for a couple of months when he was
seventeen, meaning she wasn’t there to cook for him and do his washing! I loved
the way you presented the understated grief, frustration and anxiety of the
mother. She’d been through hard times! Many women writers might have sought to
tell the story from the mother’s point of view. Why did you choose not to?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>MMcP</b>: When I first started
writing <i>Before Now</i> I only wanted to write different teenage stories. I
created the character of Gavin and his voice is so strong, and he is such a
natural storyteller I had no choice but to let him tell the tales. When I
showed the first couple of stories to my critique group they picked up on the
fact that Maw’s story was also coming through. It was a bit of an ‘ah, ha’
moment. Suddenly the book became an adult novel and the tone changed. Once I
realised that I could tell more than one story through Gavin’s point of view I
worked hard to weave them in but keep it understated. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Where can we buy your books
and read more about you and your writing?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>MMcP</b>: You can buy <i>Before Now</i>,
in <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Now-Ms-Moira-McPartlin/dp/1838360700/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1622130650&sr=1-5">paperback </a>or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Now-Memoir-Moira-McPartlin-ebook/dp/B095SQJNWG/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=moira+mcpartlin&qid=1622130650&s=digital-text&sr=1-5">Ebook</a> from Amazon<b> </b>or you can buy
signed copies from my website <a href="http://www.moiramcpartlin.com/">www.moiramcpartlin.com</a> My website also has lots of
information on all my other novels and some previously published short stories
and poems.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Thank you so much for joining me on my blog to talk about <i>Before Now</i> and your other writing! </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LTcrUPMWtnU/YKjgktuMKLI/AAAAAAAAAd8/slCLvWllHrIqvnp0TmHPD9uHUJfuh9E-gCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/Reworked%2B-%2BBefore%2BNow%2B2.1%2Bweb%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1325" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LTcrUPMWtnU/YKjgktuMKLI/AAAAAAAAAd8/slCLvWllHrIqvnp0TmHPD9uHUJfuh9E-gCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Reworked%2B-%2BBefore%2BNow%2B2.1%2Bweb%2B%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Now-Ms-Moira-McPartlin/dp/1838360700/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1622130650&sr=1-5">Before Now</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-17187414644028102232021-04-03T16:08:00.228+01:002021-04-04T13:15:10.676+01:00Lockdown Book Blog finale<p></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;">Over the last three months, I’ve been
writing weekly book reviews on this blog and sharing them on social media. Now spring's here, today’s
post takes a final walk through the project.</div><o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lVTGQzicY-4/X9n0ZvFvffI/AAAAAAAAAUA/nIDZH7GXODw1ThbeSRx_plBBwB582OXVQCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/20200414_141002-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1386" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lVTGQzicY-4/X9n0ZvFvffI/AAAAAAAAAUA/nIDZH7GXODw1ThbeSRx_plBBwB582OXVQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/20200414_141002-1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></div></o:p></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Lockdown Isolation<br /></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">My experience of lockdown started
in October, when a rule change meant we were to stay local. My family is
scattered across five local authority areas, so this meant no contact apart
from through the godsend that is telecommunications. (Thank you, Skype and
Whatsapp!)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Normal routines were cancelled.
No babysitting, no gym, no Fitsteps, no Ramblers. Just empty days. I needed a
project. First, I dug out all my leftover
wool. Over the next two months I crocheted two very simple round blankets (<a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2020/12/monotonous-days-and-comfort-of-colours.html">andblogged about it</a>). But two blankets were enough!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P3scTYd82Qo/YGiCacJmL5I/AAAAAAAAAdU/0TTOmuVsjz8lo8rgOaQKd7-J327gTLTvACLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="325" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P3scTYd82Qo/YGiCacJmL5I/AAAAAAAAAdU/0TTOmuVsjz8lo8rgOaQKd7-J327gTLTvACLcBGAsYHQ/w208-h320/image.png" width="208" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0050OMJJ6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0">AILMDTS</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">What Next?</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I’ve always been involved with
books and writing. My first career was as a librarian, during which time I regularly wrote book reviews for
the local paper. Years later, after I’d left my library days behind and had
established myself as a writer and creative writing teacher, I wrote reviews
for London-based UK reading charity Booktrust and for the Inverness-based
literary magazine Northwords Now. I was part of the people’s reading panel and
jury for the first and second Guardian First Book Award competitions. The Glasgow panel met
in Borders Book Shop. We read and discussed the six short-listed books, then
had a jolly to London for the award ceremony. In 1999, the winner was Philip
Gourevitch’s We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families,
about the conflict in Rwanda. In 2000, Zadie Smith’s novel White Teeth won the
prize <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/07/guardian-first-book-award-all-the-winners">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/07/guardian-first-book-award-all-the-winners</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In autumn 2020, I was a volunteer
reader for the Highland Book Prize, the winner of which will be announced at
the Ullapool Book Festival in May. Here’s the shortlist <a href="http://www.highlandbookprize.org.uk/2020-shortlist/">http://www.highlandbookprize.org.uk/2020-shortlist/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">So, with my ongoing interest in
books and reviewing, what better occupation through the cold and dark of winter
than reading books and blogging about them? But what books would I review? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vcfj2FA3swg/X47drcg79NI/AAAAAAAAAS8/IG5rrhPHKqIhUteBOZq_dsXj9JptXnohQCPcBGAYYCw/s632/Incunabulum_EBOOK_COVER%2B-%2Bthumbnail.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="395" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vcfj2FA3swg/X47drcg79NI/AAAAAAAAAS8/IG5rrhPHKqIhUteBOZq_dsXj9JptXnohQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Incunabulum_EBOOK_COVER%2B-%2Bthumbnail.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B086JY8PP2/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2">Incunabulum</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;">What Books To Review?</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I’m what’s called a ‘hybrid’
author. I co-wrote Eileen Munro’s memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0050OMJJ6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0">As I Lay Me Down To Sleep</a>, which was
published in 2008 and became a Scottish bestseller. The ebook version still
sells over a thousand copies a year. <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1060956/carol-mckay.html">https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1060956/carol-mckay.html</a>
My short fiction and poetry are widely published and have won awards, but despite
this, I haven’t found publishers for my novels. This is a cause of enormous
frustration. And life is short. So I decided to self-publish my novel Incunabulum,
which is set in Scotland in the aftermath of a cataclysmic pandemic. My husband
Keith (He Who Is Tech-savvy) published it for me through his imprint PotHole
Press. It was well received and had generous reviews, including this one on
<a href="https://www.northwordsnow.co.uk/issue40/Incunabulum-Carol-McKay-The-PotHole-Press-2020">Northwords Now</a> and subsequently one by Gillean Somerville-Arjat in her column in the <a href="https://scottishreview.net/GilleanSomervilleArjat559a.html">Scottish Review</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rbztSbvpLM/UK0kRE-KsBI/AAAAAAAAAKw/f_ZguyzEzVsyMJSCGQ2J8w1oChq383VTwCPcBGAYYCw/s800/SecondChancesCover3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rbztSbvpLM/UK0kRE-KsBI/AAAAAAAAAKw/f_ZguyzEzVsyMJSCGQ2J8w1oChq383VTwCPcBGAYYCw/w240-h320/SecondChancesCover3.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Chances-stories-Addisons-disease-ebook/dp/B00A9N5YAY">Second Chances</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Self-published and indie</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There can be many reasons why people
go down the self-publishing route. It’s gruelling, approaching agent after
agent, or publisher after publisher, waiting months for a response that may never
arrive. And if an agent says no, does it mean the book is no good, or just not
to their taste? Or not what they think the market is looking for at this
moment? Professional publishers have to make a living, and so do agents, so if
they think your book won’t sell enough copies, they won’t invest their time and
money in it. Obviously. It doesn’t mean your book is badly written. Just not sufficiently
commercial. Or not transformative or ground-breaking enough to win prizes, which
of course would make the book commercially successful. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Some writers decide from the
outset to self-publish. They go into the process with their eyes open, seeing
their work as a commercial brand and cutting out the middle people. And some
just want to document their life experience and leave their writing as a legacy
for their children, thereby also making their individual contribution to human
culture.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Self-publishing – ‘privately printed’
– has a long tradition. Beatrix Potter, Ezra Pound, WH Auden all did it, and others were like Robert Burns. He couldn't afford to pay the costs, so his Kilmarnock edition of Poems Chiefly in the Scots Dialect was privately printed thanks to 18<sup>th</sup> century version of crowdfunding (‘subscription’). <a href="https://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_lives152.htm">https://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_lives152.htm</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq_3ybqsNcQ/YACmTplAlcI/AAAAAAAAAW4/9J4wmLfaIJI0gM-YqzrzfULflRofGBC1gCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/Bk1%2B-%2BEbookcover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1446" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq_3ybqsNcQ/YACmTplAlcI/AAAAAAAAAW4/9J4wmLfaIJI0gM-YqzrzfULflRofGBC1gCPcBGAYYCw/w141-h200/Bk1%2B-%2BEbookcover.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0RnSdCINKek/YBLtlwk8ZvI/AAAAAAAAAY0/xbi7upMYcF4ZCpupww0d0MBubePGsoHCgCPcBGAYYCw/w130-h200/download.jpg" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpRS2U_WdQQ/YCZQvLrOXlI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/DN4eWKHgZDsklzp3G6RtGI2Hfcs7b964ACPcBGAYYCw/w124-h200/20210211_160155-1.jpg" /></div></div></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">My Lockdown Book Blog Authors</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One problem with self-publishing
is visibility. It’s hard to bring your work to the attention of readers when
you don’t have a team behind you. So I decided to focus my lockdown book blog on
works that were self-published. I posted on Facebook and soon had a dozen authors
getting in touch. They’d give me a copy of their book and in return I would do
a blog post which we could share. With there being twelve (plus me), there
could be a snowball effect in terms of promotion. It’s said you have to see
something seven times before it pierces your consciousness enough for you to
truly notice it. The more we could bring the books to people’s attention the
better. Without irritating them! I did have another few people approach me to
review their books, but I really couldn’t fit any more in. So, we were all set!
Twelve authors – twelve weeks.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ep9Ej2XolbE/YAm1OG1rLMI/AAAAAAAAAXw/gRMnN9aJkc81mY3DqCT2D8gy0h__6JrTgCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/book%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1356" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ep9Ej2XolbE/YAm1OG1rLMI/AAAAAAAAAXw/gRMnN9aJkc81mY3DqCT2D8gy0h__6JrTgCPcBGAYYCw/w133-h200/book%2Bcover.jpg" width="133" /></a><o:p style="text-align: left;"> </o:p><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7-kKKmrugKY/YEpNLA-ARBI/AAAAAAAAAcA/mCAcoxvoyqg2i1zE8ASXEvFHtAFSyFfjQCPcBGAYYCw/w131-h200/150466232_261230968735976_6652716590739007650_n.jpeg" style="text-align: left;" /></p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie5NbYEtkWI/YC6VTBjFr_I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/nP2Pg5BEdRM5xtYgrt32a_Drmo9u6DrhgCPcBGAYYCw/w133-h200/decemberrosescover.png" /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">So How Did It Go?</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The entire project has been
really worthwhile – for me, at least! I hope so for the authors, too. Sales may
not have rocketed, but each week my blog had an average of 80 – 85 hits. That’s
people clicking through via links on social media to read the blog post. I
counted that average after removing the two big hitters – one of which reached
250. That result came about because the author played a major part of a big, new writers' group on social media, she reckoned.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/u/1/#" style="text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xB0taOV9tTE/X_bo2Fy09zI/AAAAAAAAAV8/i6MPxQk3P7Y25ER3wJ-RPDjphxTgWG3dQCPcBGAYYCw/w133-h200/Book%2BCover.png" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xlbc5bXsqlw/YEH-Zea2jVI/AAAAAAAAAbg/cIzsD9lBALg9r9ajbjjcL7R3Df1mBuy_gCPcBGAYYCw/w125-h200/LovebytheStroke%2Bjpeg.gif" style="text-align: justify;" /></div></div><div><span><span style="text-align: justify;">Seeing other authors' techniques in marketing was truly interesting. I didn't apply myself sufficiently to learn </span><a href="https://www.canva.com/en_gb/" style="text-align: justify;">Canva</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> (for promotional graphics) and I didn't master hashtags, though I recommend both. But I did investigate them (for next time?) and I did find out about the existence of a self-publishing and marketing platform called </span></span><span><a href="https://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore" style="text-align: justify;">Blurb</a><span style="text-align: justify;">. Above all, from this small sample, I discovered that sometimes it matters if you network a lot, but sometimes it doesn't matter a jot. What seems most effective is having depth of contact with individuals, rather than a froth of marketing confetti.</span></span><br /><div><h3 style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"> </div> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXJKtj0d5Bc/YDfNaWxr0OI/AAAAAAAAAa0/6FMrLLjankMu7jYdY7MyLmm1Jnu8UqZZgCPcBGAYYCw/w131-h200/cover%2Bscanned%2B%25282%2529.jpg" /></h3><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I chose to disregard some presentational
issues as self-publishers don’t have a team of editors behind them. At the
outset, I told the authors I would only review their books if I felt they merited at least three stars (out of five), and I’m happy to say they all did - and some far more! Each had something unique to say. All had plausible plots, sympathetic characterisation, and expressed something fresh and original – even those that were written to
conform to genre conventions, such as crime novels. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I reviewed picture books and one aimed
at young adults. I reviewed collections of short stories. I even – and this was
a first for me – dabbled with erotic and
gay paranormal fiction.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p>I may have spent three months in
a comfy seat, but each and every one of these books took me travelling. Whether
that was to the towns and villages of Ghana or the giddying steel and concrete
canyons of New York, whether it was Estonia’s shoreline or the one at
Portobello, I enjoyed the journey and the experience. Through these books, I’ve
been to New Orleans, the Scottish highlands and islands, the tourist streets of
Lisbon, a mysterious English garden, family houses in Cheltenham and California’s
movie capital, LA. And I couldn’t forget Glasgow’s very own downtown Saltmarket.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"> <img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ql-VI4ZGlTg/YFOG4raxisI/AAAAAAAAAco/VXpm-4DcxxAMwpXIMUfSHVa7Zt2fJiruQCPcBGAYYCw/w125-h200/Lucky%2BLarry%2B-%2BFINAL%2BARTWORK%2BeBOOK.jpg" /> </div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--plrV3bfulI/YBwpZiwZoFI/AAAAAAAAAZg/YeaL1XtLdqo2yODiSYycpjw_JWquQK5TwCPcBGAYYCw/s668/Whit%2Band%2BLater%2BTartan%2BGator.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="668" height="194" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--plrV3bfulI/YBwpZiwZoFI/AAAAAAAAAZg/YeaL1XtLdqo2yODiSYycpjw_JWquQK5TwCPcBGAYYCw/w320-h194/Whit%2Band%2BLater%2BTartan%2BGator.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">Thanks</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">So, my sincere thanks go to authors <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/01/aaron-mullins-mysteries-and.html">Aaron Mullins</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/01/jacqueline-smith-slaves-of-men-and-gods.html">Jacqueline Smith</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/01/emily-donoho-in-canyons-of-shadows-and.html">Emily Donoho,</a> <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/01/f-j-curlew-unravelling-of-maria.html">Fiona Curlew</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/02/lorraine-johnston-later-tartan-gator.html">Lorraine Johnston</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/02/gillean-somerville-arjat-uncle-george.html">GilleanSomerville-Arjat</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/02/fiona-glass-december-roses.html">Fiona Glass</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/02/brian-pendreigh-man-in-seventh-row.html">Brian Pendreigh</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/03/raven-mcallan-love-by-stroke-of-midnight.html">Raven McAllan</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/03/l-taylor-house-beside-cherry-tree.html">Lea Taylor</a>, <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/03/pat-feehan-lucky-larry.html">PatFeehan</a> and <a href="http://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/03/sandra-davies-drink-with-dead-man.html">Sandra Davies</a>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Do scroll through my previous
blog posts to read about them. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SN8xROfiUts/YFzBnAooL4I/AAAAAAAAAdM/aN0xKkbrQCQIP6nRpLdOUJVTZLpdlNjbQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/DwaDM%2BFeb%2B2021%2Bcopy.jpg" /></div><o:p> </o:p><p></p><br /><br /><p></p><br /><p></p></div></div>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-66192485146785821982021-03-26T09:35:00.000+00:002021-03-26T09:35:07.832+00:00Sandra Davies - Drink with a Dead Man<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">A labyrinthine novel about the
sex-trade and its devious and self-serving financial backers, Sandra Davies’
Drink with a Dead Man is also about the fractures and bonds between long-time
friends weighed down with guilty secrets. If you relish whodunnits and
whydunnits, and tangled plot puzzles to unravel, this is definitely a novel for
you.</span></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Welcome to my final lockdown book blog!</b> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SN8xROfiUts/YFzBnAooL4I/AAAAAAAAAc8/kSfMvXoVHC06LRooJynsLmXf2wRtQZlHACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DwaDM%2BFeb%2B2021%2Bcopy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1514" data-original-width="2048" height="296" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SN8xROfiUts/YFzBnAooL4I/AAAAAAAAAc8/kSfMvXoVHC06LRooJynsLmXf2wRtQZlHACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h296/DwaDM%2BFeb%2B2021%2Bcopy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blurb.co.uk/user/SandraDavies?profile_preview=true">Drink with a Dead Man</a></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Extract</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Exiting the county, his train
having slowed to cross the Tweed at Berwick via the multi-arched bridge, Del
texted Arch: Northumberland St available to stay in?<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Arch’s reply was immediate:
Suite reserved @Howard. King St. ABCD Mathers @9<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Del checked the hotel. Five
stars, discreet. Looked good. He checked again, asking whether Arch really
meant ABCD? Meant </i>all<i> of them?<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Arch succinctly did.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>And yes, on arrival the hotel
as pleasing as its website.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Less pleasing, because
incomprehensible, was the envelope handed to him as he checked in. It contained
a half sheet of paper on which had been typed an address in Portobello.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>First thought, it had come
from Arch, surely the only person who knew his whereabouts? Then, re-reading,
it occurred to him Arch had likely booked the others in here as well. Though
didn’t Baz live in Edinburgh? Possibly his was the Portobello address. No idea
– obviously! – where Chris was travelling from.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Arch was no longer responding
to messages.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>(p.201)<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Review</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Kit Talamantes is ultra-cool, ultra-confident,
ultra-handsome: a ladies man through and through. The novel opens with a scene
from his very comfortable life in Spain, which an anonymously sent sliver of
newsprint threatens to disrupt. The newsprint – an announcement of a
forthcoming wedding – forces him to jettison the idyll of the artificial
identity he has created for himself and head back to England to work out who
knows his secret.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">What follows is a standard police
procedural yet so much more. Drink with a Dead Man drops the reader into the
centre of a pre-existing web of intrigue and a complex network of friendships with
overlapping layers and subtleties. Over the course of the first few chapters,
we become acquainted with a group of characters who shared a house at
university, despite being from very different social circumstances. We pick up
hints about their very human mix of trust and mistrust of each other, tolerance
and intolerance, love and understanding. Well over a decade later they’re
established in their careers – the upper class male model, the earthy Scots ex-navy
man, the earnest and loyal journalist, the morally questionable Kit Talamantes,
and – oh yes, Lucy, the high-class call girl, who selected them as housemates
and for whom they played a not-unwilling part in her self-directed apprenticeship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Not having read the earlier books
in the series meant I had to work quite hard at the beginning to commit to
memory everyone in this big cast of characters. The author also has a certain
syntactical style I learned to tune my ear to. The intrigue soon had its hooks
in me and I grew more and more eager to unravel all the clues as to who had
done what to whom. And why. Drink with a Dead Man is undoubtedly a novel on the
dark side. It features blackmail, double-dealing, the sex-trade and other forms
of devious criminality. It also centres on a murder. Actually, two murders. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Thematically dark, but it's hallmarked
by sensitive character profiling which ensures we care about these characters. Sandra
Davies' writing demonstrates her enormous empathy and understanding in the way
she presents the spoken – and most particularly the unspoken – communication
between the core characters and their interpretation of others’ inner turmoil.
This was evident in the police interrogation scenes, marking them out, for me,
as far from genre convention stereotyped. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As Sir Walter Scott put it, ‘O
what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive.’ In Drink with
a Dead Man, Sandra Davies sets her readers a multi-stranded puzzle that has us craving
to untangle the knots, and ultimately finding the satisfaction of doing so. </p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SDZdns7w8mE/YFzBr-7vDcI/AAAAAAAAAdA/5egRsP_X2kI4D0w1BMl-vsFwabhF70TlgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1055/Sandra%2Bphoto%2BSA%2B2017.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1055" data-original-width="1035" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SDZdns7w8mE/YFzBr-7vDcI/AAAAAAAAAdA/5egRsP_X2kI4D0w1BMl-vsFwabhF70TlgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sandra%2Bphoto%2BSA%2B2017.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Sandra Davies</td></tr></tbody></table>Q&A</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Hello Sandra. Thank you so
much for joining me on my lockdown book blog. I’m full of admiration! My first
question has to be – how on earth do you manage to dream up such multi-layered
plots? Seriously – do you have a big white-board or computer file? How do you
keep track of everything and judge how to drip-feed enough information to keep
your readers’ brains whizzing?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>SD</b>: Thank you Carol – I'm
delighted to be here for my first-ever independent review.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plotting is something I really struggle with
because I do rely to a large extent on my characters telling me what next. A
timeline is essential, and it does help to have the previous one unpublished so
I can make retrospective tweaks. Sympathetic and eagle-eyed beta readers are
worth their weight in gold.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: This is the fourth novel
you’ve written featuring a central cast of characters. Where did this idea
spring from? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>SD</b>: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'Step so grave', the first in the series, used
plotlines and characters generated via an online challenge to supply an
imaginary blurb to match a weekly-posted photograph of a book cover. Trying to
stuff a cast of 40+ into half a dozen plots explains why it took eight years to
knock it into shape. I then needed to write 'Longest shadows reach' to discover
why there'd been a seventeen-year stand-off between Luke Darbyshere and Baz
Rose. 'Commission & omission' examines what came next. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ao7Nw1GP-5k/YFzBfpG2ElI/AAAAAAAAAc4/pplTZCuvyuEPL2kTPJJuy3H6rL8KV5riwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/SSG%2BBRIGHT%2B17.04.1%2Bcopy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1504" data-original-width="2048" height="147" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ao7Nw1GP-5k/YFzBfpG2ElI/AAAAAAAAAc4/pplTZCuvyuEPL2kTPJJuy3H6rL8KV5riwCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h147/SSG%2BBRIGHT%2B17.04.1%2Bcopy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: That's fascinating. You must have got to know
your main characters really well over the series. It strikes me that you keep a
central core and then introduce new characters for each new storyline. Was this
something you planned, or did it come about organically? I felt a strong
connection to Baz and Arch, and also to Fran and Luke. Do you ever hanker after
new storylines, leaving your central characters behind? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>SD</b>: Having a free-standing story
around which the doings of Luke and Baz intertwine is essential if I want each book
to appear fresh, and work as a stand-alone. 'Drink with a dead man' is Arch's
first appearance, but I've made room for him in 'Snap is not a children's game'
by killing off one of my long-standing characters. I suspect the sixth – 20K
in, plenty relationships and a murder victim, but no idea how she died – will
be the last, which saddens me, especially as I've currently no replacement for
them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: What’s been most
influential for you in your development as a writer? And who are your favourite
authors?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>SD</b>: The encouragement of my peers,
and copious amounts of reading! (I average 170 books a year) There are so many
variations of excellence in crime writing, especially Scottish, Irish and
Australian, that I couldn't choose even a dozen representatives, but Dorothy
Dunnett's Lymond series will always be tops.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Final question – where can
we learn more about you and your writing?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>SD</b>: I have a blog: <span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="http://sandra-linesofcommunication.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #0070c0;">http://sandra-linesofcommunication.blogspot.com/</span></a></span>
and a Facebook page <span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sandradavieswriter"><span style="color: #0070c0;">https://www.facebook.com/sandradavieswriter</span></a>.</span>
My books are available <span style="color: #0070c0;">from Blurb <a href="https://www.blurb.co.uk/user/SandraDavies?profile_preview=true"><span style="color: #0070c0;">https://www.blurb.co.uk/user/SandraDavies?profile_preview=true</span></a></span>. And you can also find me on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1226042.Sandra_Davies "><span style="color: #0070c0;">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1226042.Sandra_Davies </span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I'm not on Amazon because I
prefer to support Drake the bookshop, my local independent. <o:p></o:p></p>
<b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sandra will gladly send a pdf of 'Step so grave' to
everyone who requests one via this blog, so get in touch! </span></b><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SN8xROfiUts/YFzBnAooL4I/AAAAAAAAAdM/aN0xKkbrQCQIP6nRpLdOUJVTZLpdlNjbQCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/DwaDM%2BFeb%2B2021%2Bcopy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1514" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SN8xROfiUts/YFzBnAooL4I/AAAAAAAAAdM/aN0xKkbrQCQIP6nRpLdOUJVTZLpdlNjbQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/DwaDM%2BFeb%2B2021%2Bcopy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></b><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Back cover text for 'Drink with a
dead man'</span></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Eight years ago Kit
Talamantes faked his own death. When he receives notification of a wedding
which cannot be allowed to proceed he has no choice but to return to England to
correct mistakes made in his previous life. But who has summoned him? And why?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
<span style="background: white;">Similarly unexpectedly Edinburgh crime
reporter Baz Rose hears of a proposed, and potentially problematic,
reunion for four ex-uni friends who fled apart on graduation.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="background: white;">DI Luke Darbyshere receives a tip-off more interesting for its provenance than its content. In pursuing that he finds himself in professional conflict with the woman who, having given him six months to convince her they should marry, is struggling to solve a murder.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;">And Drew Bishop is determined on
revenge.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-46623781492683597672021-03-19T09:48:00.000+00:002021-03-19T09:48:49.829+00:00Pat Feehan - Lucky Larry<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><b>Hapless Larry McAllister likes the quiet life. He’s fed up being the butt of his boss’s wrath and his wife’s ire. And that’s before the Glasgow hardmen get to him. To cap it all, he’s even getting hassled by the cops. Will Larry’s luck ever change?</b></span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="text-align: justify;">On this penultimate week of my lockdown book
blog, I’ve been reading and thoroughly enjoying Pat Feehan’s Glasgow-based crime novel </span><i style="text-align: justify;">Lucky Larry</i><span style="text-align: justify;">.</span></b></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ql-VI4ZGlTg/YFOG4raxisI/AAAAAAAAAcg/-3sYhV2ipD4LTjo6GRg1uqkOZYHabeDEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Lucky%2BLarry%2B-%2BFINAL%2BARTWORK%2BeBOOK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ql-VI4ZGlTg/YFOG4raxisI/AAAAAAAAAcg/-3sYhV2ipD4LTjo6GRg1uqkOZYHabeDEwCLcBGAsYHQ/w250-h400/Lucky%2BLarry%2B-%2BFINAL%2BARTWORK%2BeBOOK.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08NFHS38Q/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Lucky Larry</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table>Extract</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Larry sat open-mouthed. Could
this be happening? The wheel game was obviously roulette. Arthur’s mum had
wanted her son to play roulette and some card games. With her criminal
background she’d clearly realised the money-spinning potential of her son’s
unusual talents. But before she could put it to the test, she had died and now
Larry could take on the role.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>…Arthur saw it as a game, a
game that he and his mother had wanted to play but that he never got the chance
to try out. Well, Larry was the man who could take care of that. He realised
his biscuit was still dipped in his tea. He attempted to raise it to his mouth but
it collapsed into the cup in a soggy mess.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>With a few encouraging nods
and prompts from Larry, Arthur told him about his mum’s plan for the casino.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>‘She thought we could make
money because I’m good at numbers.’<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Larry couldn’t believe his
luck but did his best not to look too interested. ‘She was right. You
definitely have a talent.’ He took a sip of his tea. ‘But casinos are big noisy
places. You might feel a bit out of place there.’<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Arthur looked anxious …
Eventually, he blurted out the words Larry was waiting for. ‘Do you think you
could take me to the casino?’<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>…An hour later Larry sat in a
daze as he made his way home on the underground. He touched his hand to his
jacket, opened it slightly and peered down into the large, inside pocket.
There, peeping out at him, was the green jade Buddha. Larry’s luck was finally
changing.</i></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Review</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Lucky Larry</i> is a thoroughly
enjoyable crime novel set in Glasgow. The mean streets may have long gone, but
vestiges remain and Larry has to negotiate his way through. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Larry lost his job in the whisky bond after a case or two of malt disappeared, but
his brother-in-law has given him a chance in his pet shop. Larry loathes it. The
shop stinks, it’s always dead and he doesn’t know how his brother-in-law makes any money.
Maybe that’s why he regularly goes ‘away on a wee bit of business’. Larry’s taking advantage of his absence to have a
quick fag break at the shop back door when he realises a rabbit has escaped
from the cage and is hopping off down the lane. As he tries to recapture it,
Larry witnesses the local betting shop owner being beaten up and slashed by
three vicious hardmen. When the same man is murdered two days later, the police
want to know all about it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Throughout this story, Larry gingerly
picks his way with his wits through a landscape governed and controlled by two
sets of hardmen. The first set is Eddie Black and his henchmen – organised
crime heavies with interests in people trafficking, drugs and who knows what
else. Happy to use violence to exert their authority. The other people that
make Larry sweat and tremble when they push open the pet shop door are DS
McNally and his sidekick DC Wallace.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">All Larry wants is a bit of peace
and quiet to be able to go for a pint now and then, as well as a bit of extra
cash so he can treat his two kids whom he adores and who adore him in return. So,
while he’s trying to keep everybody happy and off his back – the bad guys, the
good guys, his wife who hen-pecks him and his brother-in-law who so disdains him
– Larry is looking for a small-scale side-line of his own.<o:p></o:p></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Maybe it’s strange to describe a
crime novel as ‘thoroughly enjoyable’. Maybe ‘gripping’, ‘tense’, ‘edge of the
seat’ and other epithets come to mind more frequently for this genre. There are
plenty of tense moments in this novel, yet Pat Feehan has a gift for creating a
character who would get a piece at any door. Translation – Larry’s really likeable.
Even though he's thinking about cheating vulnerable Arthur now his mother’s died
and left him on his own, and left a flat full of classy ornaments like that
jade Buddha, which is so incredibly like the one that went missing from the Art
Galleries.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Pat Feehan dovetails all the plot
elements of this glorious tale into one great fit that’s wholly satisfying. He gives
a nod to the conventions of the genre, situating and settling this
story in the heart of Glasgow noir. At the same time, he maintains his own
clear brand through characters that are surely going to become standards, and
he does it with lively and one hundred percent engaging wit and humour. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QFJU6RpzB84/YFOGy04MUtI/AAAAAAAAAcY/qY83i72STKkty2sDDFVldembAzcGen5mACLcBGAsYHQ/s398/pat%2Bfeehan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="299" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QFJU6RpzB84/YFOGy04MUtI/AAAAAAAAAcY/qY83i72STKkty2sDDFVldembAzcGen5mACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/pat%2Bfeehan.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Pat Feehan</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h3>Q&A</h3><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Pat, thank you so much for
joining my blog to talk about your writing. I so enjoyed eavesdropping on
Larry’s life! He’s totally three-dimensional, with so many contradictory,
human, qualities. Despite his faults, he endeared himself to me. How did this
fictional character introduce himself to you, the author?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>PF</b>: Hi Carol. I’m delighted to be
here. Thanks for inviting me to be part of this. I wanted to write about a
character who was a bit of a ‘chancer’, not averse to bending the rules but not
fundamentally bad. I also wanted him to be slightly comic, with things rarely working
out for him. I drew on similar characters from fiction and from people I’ve met
in Glasgow. I’ve had many a pint and many a conversation with guys like Larry
over the years.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: I felt as if I'd met Larry before, too! He's a brilliant character. What made you become a
crime writer?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>PF</b>: I started writing eight years
ago after signing up for creative writing classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve always enjoyed reading various genres
including non-fiction, but recently crime has been my favourite. So that seemed
a natural choice. Crime fiction gives the reader, and the writer, the chance to
experience the darker side of humanity, but from a safe distance. I think
that’s a big part of its appeal. I also like crime writing that uses dark
humour and was keen to try that out. However, I do enjoy writing in other
genres and formats and one of my (non-crime) short stories was a finalist in
the Scottish Arts Trust competition and appears in their anthology: <span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="https://www.storyawards.org/shortstoryfinalists2020"><span style="color: #0070c0;">https://www.storyawards.org/shortstoryfinalists2020</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: This is your second novel, after <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snap-Judgement-Pat-Feehan-ebook/dp/B07KN63GV6/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=pat+Feehan&qid=1616086337&s=digital-text&sr=1-2"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Snap Judgement</span></a></i>. Is
there a third planned? Will we meet up with Larry again?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>PF</b>: I’ve just started sketching
some scenes for a third novel. At the moment, Larry doesn’t feature in it. But
it’s early days and you can never predict what Larry will get up to next!
People have reacted very positively to Larry so we may well see more of his
adventures.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: I'll look out for that! <span style="text-align: left;">What took you down the
self-publishing route?</span></p><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>PF</b>: At each stage of my writing
I’ve been finding out what I’m good at and what else I could try. The creative
writing class focused on short fiction, I got positive feedback and people
encouraged me to try a novel. One of the things I enjoy about writing is that
you don’t need a complicated infrastructure: pen and paper, or a computer, and
your imagination. There’s a great sense of independence. Once I’d decided to
write a novel, I wanted people to be able to read it. I would have found it
incredibly frustrating if I’d had to depend on someone else to give it the
okay, especially if that took a long time, or never. So, self-publishing
continued that sense of independence, giving me control over how and when my
book would be available to readers and that was very liberating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ED7vjn3BQLo/YFOGyz1rrvI/AAAAAAAAAcc/5nMrhNK8Jy0lTbUbs66JpZ86WfuYp96cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Snap%2BJudgement%2Bimage.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ED7vjn3BQLo/YFOGyz1rrvI/AAAAAAAAAcc/5nMrhNK8Jy0lTbUbs66JpZ86WfuYp96cQCLcBGAsYHQ/w230-h320/Snap%2BJudgement%2Bimage.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pat's first novel, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snap-Judgement-Pat-Feehan-ebook/dp/B07KN63GV6/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=pat+Feehan&qid=1616086337&s=digital-text&sr=1-2"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Snap Judgement</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Are you in any writers’
groups? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>PF</b>: I’m in three groups and so
get a wide range of support: tips on market opportunities or competitions,
workshops with more experienced writers, sharing work-in-progress with other
writers on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting
feedback from other writers is incredibly valuable. But I also enjoy giving
feedback, I think when you read and comment on someone else’s writing you learn
so much that helps your own writing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">CMcK: Absolutely! Now, where can
we find more information about you and your writing?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">PF: I don’t have a website, though
it’s on my ‘to do’ list. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and have an author page on
Amazon.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pat.feehan.731/"><span style="color: #0070c0;">https://www.facebook.com/pat.feehan.731/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="https://twitter.com/pat_feehan"><span style="color: #0070c0;">https://twitter.com/pat_feehan</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pat-Feehan/e/B07LDD4HJF?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000"><span style="color: #0070c0;">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pat-Feehan/e/B07LDD4HJF?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: #0070c0;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: That's great! Thanks so much for joining
me on my blog.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-64022557299192041642021-03-12T09:41:00.002+00:002021-03-12T09:41:58.532+00:00L Taylor - The House Beside the Cherry Tree<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;">There are many different ways to
be a mother. This way might not be the best.</span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span>I’m grateful to L Taylor – Lea – for
an advance copy of her novel, which is being published by Scaramouche
Press on March 21<sup>st</sup> 2021</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7-kKKmrugKY/YEpNLA-ARBI/AAAAAAAAAbs/9JovVYd-EtcliTScjMoLmqPr8X975rPuACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/150466232_261230968735976_6652716590739007650_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="210" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7-kKKmrugKY/YEpNLA-ARBI/AAAAAAAAAbs/9JovVYd-EtcliTScjMoLmqPr8X975rPuACLcBGAsYHQ/w263-h400/150466232_261230968735976_6652716590739007650_n.jpeg" width="263" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 24px;">The House Beside the Cherry Tree</span><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #3c61aa; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px;"> </span><b> </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Extract</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>I would have given anything to
sit at the big kitchen table nursing a strong cup of tea while Mum busied
herself at the stove. … Without fail she dragged whatever problem that bothered
me out into the open. … Together we’d scrutinise it and winkle out a solution
with pointed questions, encouragement, reassurance and all topped off with a
warm embrace. She was completely at my disposal, just like she was for all of
the family.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>And Dad, I couldn’t think of
Mum without thinking of Dad. I could be stilled by his calming presence. There
he’d be, sitting in ‘his’ chair in the corner of the kitchen, engrossed in The
Times, muttering disgruntlements at the articles behind the pages. Identifying
Dad’s moods was like reading semaphore. It was all in the way he held the
paper. High signalled that he didn’t want to be bothered, half-mast meant he
was listening in to what was going on, lowered meant that more than likely he
was snoozing or very close to it. If only I had heeded his warnings. ‘Be
careful with that one son – she’s not right.’</i> (p.218)</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Review</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The strapline for this novel is 'Motherhood doesn't come easy' - something this novel illustrates very well.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The year is 1959. Diane is a
bright young thing – the light in her parents’ eyes, given the best of education,
passionate about theatre, music and the arts – but just one clumsy fumble with
local lad Richard has her unintentionally ‘in the family way’. Life as she
knows it collapses. All her dreams for the future disintegrate. Her mother calls
her a guttersnipe whore who’s brought disgrace on the family. It’s sobering to
remember the attitudes towards single motherhood in those days, and Lea
Taylor’s novel brings this smack into the present with her visceral portrayal
of Diane’s abject humiliation and shame. Loss of dreams is a key motif
throughout this novel, as both Diane and Richard are shoe-horned into doing
what society expects of them. It’s a life that suits neither of them. A life
that stifles and represses them. The tree in the garden that’s planted as such
a sign of hope has the briefest of flowering seasons before the rot sets in.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The House Beside the Cherry Tree
takes a brutal look at morality and convention in 1960s and 1970s Britain, but
more fundamentally it looks at the impact on a woman’s mental health and the
consequences for the child born into this dysfunctional family unit. By
allowing each of the three main characters – Diane, Richard and their daughter
Frankie – to tell their story in alternating chapters, we learn the harrowing
details as experienced by each of them. There’s no doubt this is a challenging
read. But there is lightness in it, too, in the love Frankie experiences from
her temporary foster mother, in the boundless affection both Diane and Frankie
have for the family dog, and in friendships that each of the main characters
benefits from. Some interactions within the story are completely
transformative, and this is where we find the joy in the novel. The House
Beside the Cherry Tree conveys a message about the negativity and sterility of
societal pressures on people, and the horrendous mental health treatments of
the 1960s, but ultimately it’s a novel about the need for resilience and hope. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>The online launch for The House Beside the Cherry Tree is on Sunday 21st March 2021. Attendance is free! To book a place, go to <span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #3c61aa; line-height: 24px;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/143121282609" target="_blank">https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/143121282609</a></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--CJ3RuUr41s/YEpNQ9-5AmI/AAAAAAAAAb8/B2gG9hZbmD0GDTjteuhcva9MT2mmCmTBACLcBGAsYHQ/s271/IMG_4811.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--CJ3RuUr41s/YEpNQ9-5AmI/AAAAAAAAAb8/B2gG9hZbmD0GDTjteuhcva9MT2mmCmTBACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/IMG_4811.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author L. Taylor<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h3>Q&A</h3><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Hello Lea – thanks for
joining me on my lockdown book blogging project, and for giving me advanced
sighting of your novel. It’s due to be published very close to Mother’s Day, so
I think I probably expected a sweet and cosy read. It’s anything but! Don’t get
me wrong – it’s very readable! I was quickly drawn in. That cover image – all
pink blossom and prettiness – is lovely, but you give us a very clear hint in
the fracture in the wording of the title. Tell me about the background to
writing this book. Where did the idea come from? What motivated you to write about
this era?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>LT</b>: Hello Carol, firstly, thank
you for inviting me to join your blogging project. It really is a pleasure.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The idea for the book came from a
number of sources really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Firstly,
though, my mother suffered from mental ill-health in the 60’s when I was a
child and I recall all the stigma associated with that, her preoccupation with
anyone knowing, like it was a dirty secret. That in and of itself did cause
issues within the family. So, I was curious about how mental health was viewed
in that era but also, following the adage ‘write what you know,’ I put a little
of my own experiences into the novel. Secondly a good friend of mine is a
therapist and I recall the two of us discussing how a lot of her clients’
problems stemmed from how they had been mothered. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Setting the novel in the 60’s and
70’s gave me ample opportunity to consider both women’s rights and how little
freedom they had back then– but also how people with mental health were
medically treated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having done the
research I had more than enough to write the book.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: One of the most gruelling
aspects for me was your portrayal of mental health treatments in the 1960s. And
the impact by extension on poor Frankie, who suffers terrible neglect and
abuse. I don’t want to give the story away, but can you tell me something about
this? Why was it important to you to write about this?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>LT:</b> Mental ill-health isn’t
pretty and certainly back in the 60’s little was known about how to treat it.
Being mentally ill then was both stigmatising, isolating and frightening, there
were no holistic person-centred approaches. People with mental health issues
were given either heavy duty medication or ECT (electro convulsive treatment).
I didn’t want to put a sticking plaster on the story and paint a fluffly unrealistic
picture of someone having a bit of a rough time. If it’s happening in a family
unit everyone suffers. This isn’t an isolated situation relating to the 60’s
and 70’s. It still happens today but fortunately there are far more checks and
balances in place to help a struggling family. My years as a Community Worker
have also shown me the uglier sides of mental health and its impact on family
life.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: I couldn’t make my mind up
about Richard. We hear so much negativity about him from Diane. And I started
off loving Diane then gradually distanced myself from her, which is exactly
what happened in the story – her family and friends abandoned her. As for
Frankie – I think she was my favourite character, and I’d like to follow her to
see how she gets on in her life after such a tough and loveless start. You
created them all – is it possible for you to have a favourite? And might we
meet up with Frankie again?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>LT:</b> Ha ha, yes, Frankie is
spirited isn’t she and I’ll admit I enjoyed writing her the most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, we will be seeing more of Frankie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m currently plotting the sequel, Frankie’s
coming of age story. The working title is ‘Blossoms on the wind.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: This is your first novel,
but you’ve been in the writing business a good while, with an admirable track
record. And you’re a storyteller, too. Tell me about your previous work and how
you’ve found the expansion into long-form fiction.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>LT</b>: Storytelling and writing you
would think are very similar creatures but actually they are entirely different
crafts. With storytelling you are painting the picture through spoken word –
you are telling the audience so that they can see the story in the mind’s eye
and can use a number of different ways to enhance the story through tone, pace,
gesture, facial expression and change of voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With writing it’s all down to what you write and how you show the story.
Again, tone, pace and all the other subtle writing devices come into play but
are used in a very different manner to storytelling. The expansion into long
form fiction has been a huge learning curve. I’ve had to learn not to condense
into short form writing but to expand and really drill down. But I have loved
the process and as with storytelling, I have found my happy place writing. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Where can we find out more
about you and your writing?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>LT</b>: Through my publisher’s
Facebook and Twitter pages;</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/scaramouchepressscotland/">https://www.facebook.com/scaramouchepressscotland/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Twitter: Scaramouche Press
(@ScaramoucheP)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">My own website: <a href="https://awaywithstories.co.uk/">https://awaywithstories.co.uk</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Twitter: Lea Taylor
-author@leataylor5783</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lea.taylor.54">https://www.facebook.com/lea.taylor.54</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Thanks so much for coming on my blog. All best wishes with your new book!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVj9x98vYvM/YEpNQDlpwVI/AAAAAAAAAb0/rqo9gzoTvkIgKZWDj1o7MJTnDhW61wwbwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51WFCa%252B%252BRKL.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="211" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVj9x98vYvM/YEpNQDlpwVI/AAAAAAAAAb0/rqo9gzoTvkIgKZWDj1o7MJTnDhW61wwbwCLcBGAsYHQ/w132-h200/51WFCa%252B%252BRKL.jpeg" width="132" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Other titles by Lea Taylor</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EXf7hecW8Tc/YEpNQPzk56I/AAAAAAAAAbw/CJ0S0mHOKSIwM7txGRSkxRNrqA8Y6vxMwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51-FyQuhAgL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="208" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EXf7hecW8Tc/YEpNQPzk56I/AAAAAAAAAbw/CJ0S0mHOKSIwM7txGRSkxRNrqA8Y6vxMwCLcBGAsYHQ/w130-h200/51-FyQuhAgL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpeg" width="130" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XwR3UF8qOJY/YEpNQOY4A5I/AAAAAAAAAb4/pD7TAQRXyZU8AJj-RUFpBY1O39VX9FA3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51ZCMZdz1cL._SX324_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="209" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XwR3UF8qOJY/YEpNQOY4A5I/AAAAAAAAAb4/pD7TAQRXyZU8AJj-RUFpBY1O39VX9FA3wCLcBGAsYHQ/w131-h200/51ZCMZdz1cL._SX324_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpeg" width="131" /></a></div><p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-69157463810664060732021-03-05T10:07:00.009+00:002021-03-05T13:04:06.957+00:00Raven McAllan – Love by the Stroke of Midnight <h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This week, prolific author Raven McAllan joins my lockdown book
blog with a special guest post that gives us a peek into the world of writing
hot romance – one of several genres of highly commercial fiction she has established
herself in.</span></h3><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First, Raven introduces herself and her writing process, then she tells
us a list of Ten Things about herself and her new novel </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Love by the Stroke of
Midnight</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Set in Scotland at Samhain when the veil between this world and the
spirit one is at its thinnest, this feelgood novel is romantic and witty, and
quite a bit hotter than the Scotland we think we know and love. Warning – you
might need to switch the aircon on before you read the extract!</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xlbc5bXsqlw/YEH-Zea2jVI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/o2B340NIafIVOjXtU9pLneYggPVBxxjfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/LovebytheStroke%2Bjpeg.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xlbc5bXsqlw/YEH-Zea2jVI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/o2B340NIafIVOjXtU9pLneYggPVBxxjfgCLcBGAsYHQ/w250-h400/LovebytheStroke%2Bjpeg.gif" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.totallybound.com/book/love-by-the-stroke-of-midnight">Love by the Stroke of Midnight</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Raven Rambles on life and writing</span></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I was asked to write a blog, and I decided I’d do ten things about
me and my writing process, I honestly didn’t think how hard it would be to find
ten things that I thought were interesting.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After all, if I say my writing works better with coffee, biscuits and
chocolate, that doing the ironing or changing the bedding is good—and
justified—procrastination isn’t very exciting. It happens, but…you get the
gist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, I sat down (with wine and chocolate…after all it was six pm) and had
a think.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And realised that once we’ve moved house, my writing process will
change.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I say will because we (the lovely husband and I) have been in rented
accommodation whilst our new house is being built.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whereas I used to write in my study overlooking the lawn, and a Scottish
forest, the last few months it’s been at a table by the window, overlooking the
garden of our rental near the Yorkshire coast. I’ve swapped seeing red
squirrels for grey ones, woodpeckers for ringed doves, and sparrows
for…sparrows. Oh and lots of seagulls.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soon I’ll be writing in my new study, overlooking a new garden with
fields beyond it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hope my creative juices still flow. (Urgh, that sounds nasty, but you
know what I mean)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s not been east living out of boxes and inevitably things I could
have done with are in storage. Mind you I made sure I had the basics. No not
the biscuits and chocolate (I bought those from the local shop) but some
reference books, plenty of notebooks (I’m a sucker for a nice notebook) pens,
pencils, and coloured markers. Oh, and some books I’d earmarked to read for
relaxation. And my eReader of course. What did I do before eReaders? (Filled a
suitcase with books when I went on holiday and shoved half my clothes in the
lovely husband’s suitcase).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">None of which is really about my writing processes and my new book.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, ten true things...<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VvX2IoBtS8Q/YEH-ZUKDf0I/AAAAAAAAAbI/KXi5gUuivzAHmwYvNikDNm-reGmyj_icACLcBGAsYHQ/s240/Me%2Bvietnam%2Bauthor%2Bpic.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VvX2IoBtS8Q/YEH-ZUKDf0I/AAAAAAAAAbI/KXi5gUuivzAHmwYvNikDNm-reGmyj_icACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h400/Me%2Bvietnam%2Bauthor%2Bpic.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raven McAllan in Vietnam</td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></h3><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">I can write anywhere,
and block noises, people and activity out. I used to get a lot of writing done
on a long haul flight. The only interruptions are food, drink, and the
inevitable…oohh, what are you writing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">I type two fingered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">I love research, but
oh how easy it is to get distracted and end up with a lot of interesting facts,
none of which relate to what I’m supposed to be researching.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">Raven (and my other
two alter egos Kera Faire, for darker romance, and Katy Lilley for romcom) were
chosen, not because I didn’t want to use my own name, but because they help me
get into the mind set for what I’m writing. Plus a Raven is the bringer of news
and I saw one just before I got my first acceptance, and McAllan is a play on
probably the best whisky in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KDMgZmuWlj4/YEH-aaMQdwI/AAAAAAAAAbY/lDHqaTr7BUoPNxyBoSFiJrDFZrtbA1H9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BRescuer.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="213" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KDMgZmuWlj4/YEH-aaMQdwI/AAAAAAAAAbY/lDHqaTr7BUoPNxyBoSFiJrDFZrtbA1H9ACLcBGAsYHQ/w213-h320/The%2BRescuer.jpeg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raven McAllan writing as Kera Faire</td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">I set a lot of books
in Scotland, a, because it’s a great place to set stories that want atmosphere
and, okay, midges and or rain in them.<o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6<span> </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">T</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">he island where Love
by the Stroke of Midnight is set, is based on an island on a loch near where we
lived.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">I have a great friend
who is Wiccan and who helps me to get details about Samhain and other Wiccan
and paranormal things correct.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">Marcail is a Scots
version of Margaret, which means Pearl and is important to the story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">Paden means royal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10<span> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">The story mentions
Wanaka in New Zealand where we were lucky enough to have a fabulous holiday,
just before lockdown. The second book, which I’m half way through is Marcail’s
brother, Baird’s story, and…*wink* well, you’ll need to wait and see.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Love By The Stroke of Midnight (Totally Bound publishing)</span></h3><div><a href="https://www.totallybound.com/book/love-by-the-stroke-of-midnight">https://www.totallybound.com/book/love-by-the-stroke-of-midnight</a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><em><b><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blurb</span></span></b></em></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">History, family, fate. Accept it or deny it at your will.</span></em><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The day you discover your boyfriend is using you as a
free meal ticket—and a way to save his money—is the day you say bye-bye.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marcail Drummond does better than that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She sells up, plans the rest of her life and heads north.
It’s time to go home, to a castle on an island in a Scottish loch, and face up
to the fact she’s not quite the same as the rest of her family. They can see the
past—and the future—and hear others. Heal the sick and help the broken-hearted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She can’t.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After all, talking to yourself isn’t the same thing, even
if one of the voices in your head is male and argues a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As far as Marcail is concerned, it’s just her way of
amusing herself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To Paden, it’s more than that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To him, it’s a matter of life and death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A wee tease…</span></span></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marcail Drummond
staggered out of bed, tired and sated, and wished she could sleep for a few
hours more. As it wasn’t going to happen, she turned to speak to the man who
had shared her night to…to what?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To see no second
indent in the pillows. No crumpled sheets except where she’d slept—or not
slept, as the case may be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact no sign of
any occupant—except herself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She surely hadn’t
imagined the night she’d just had? The sinfully sexy, hot, male, <i>aroused</i> body
next to hers. The way his hands had caressed her so skilfully and held her
close when she flew over the edge and into one of the best climaxes ever. How
he’d gradually inched inside her, almost reverently, until she’d tightened
herself around him and begged… “Please fill me now…please.” And he’d obliged so
they could move together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then another
climax, this time as he also came hard and fast, and the long gradual coming
down to earth, held close and cherished.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The soft words in
her ear… “<i>Mo ghaol</i>, it’s been oh so long…”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marcail blinked.
Had she dreamed it all, or…or what?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There couldn’t be
any other explanation—could there?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Somewhat
disgruntled, she stood up and stretched.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Boy she ached.
Ached in places she hadn’t known it was possible. If that was what happened
after an erotic dream, she wasn’t sure she’d have another one in a hurry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">“I’m here when you
need me.”</span></i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That was the last
thing she wanted. She had enough to worry about, without him niggling her. It
was bad enough to know his voice was in her head—whoever he was—but surely he
wasn’t in her dreams as well?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">“You know I’m
yours, however, wherever and…”</span></i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Enough.” She put
her hands to her hot cheeks. “Go away and let me get on in peace.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">“As ever, I’ll do
your bidding.”</span></i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">That’ll be the day</span></i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">. Marcail muttered under her
breath, stripped the bed, got washed and dressed and headed out. She hadn’t the
time to argue with herself, voices, or the man in the moon. Dammit, she hadn’t
even seen his face.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“You’ll know me.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wddFapO331I/YEH-ZZKH0DI/AAAAAAAAAbM/rBu9Jh1IFX0WUtb7UCbqQd9FNxp2eDuJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DaisyChain.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wddFapO331I/YEH-ZZKH0DI/AAAAAAAAAbM/rBu9Jh1IFX0WUtb7UCbqQd9FNxp2eDuJQCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h320/DaisyChain.gif" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also from Raven McAllan</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can find me
here…</span></span></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.ravenmcallan.com/"><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 150%;">my
web</span></a><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">
(which includes my blog)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.evernightpublishing.com/raven-mcallan/">evernightpublishing</a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://www.totallybound.com/author/raven-mcallan">totallybound</a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/ravenmcallan" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 150%;">www.twitter.com/ravenmcallan</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KatyLilley.Author/"><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 150%;">https://www.facebook.com/KatyLilley.Author/</span></a><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ravenmcallanandkerafaire/"><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 150%;">https://www.facebook.com/ravenmcallanandkerafaire/</span></a><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks so much for letting me pop by and ramble on,</span></h3><h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Happy
reading,</h3><h3 style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Love <i>Raven
xx</i></span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-irLQBu6WNXA/YEH-Z8tPzJI/AAAAAAAAAbU/YPqjW2hTAFYr0sQLYxDyZyGiXj0XAui0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Slide1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-irLQBu6WNXA/YEH-Z8tPzJI/AAAAAAAAAbU/YPqjW2hTAFYr0sQLYxDyZyGiXj0XAui0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Slide1.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Raven McAllan writing as Katy Lilley</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-75263792839354958632021-02-26T09:19:00.010+00:002021-02-26T09:56:07.873+00:00Brian Pendreigh - The Man in the Seventh Row<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Why are we so obsessed with stars
and the movies? It’s normal for children to play cowboys and Indians, but when
does imagination stop?</span></h3><div><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">I’m delighted to welcome Brian
Pendreigh to this week’s lockdown book blog to talk about his engrossing novel which I thoroughly enjoyed - The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition.</h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXJKtj0d5Bc/YDfNaWxr0OI/AAAAAAAAAas/LtUK5UB8Z54dcCZAlU8L_fSI1gRmEu-qACLcBGAsYHQ/s1786/cover%2Bscanned%2B%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1786" data-original-width="1165" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXJKtj0d5Bc/YDfNaWxr0OI/AAAAAAAAAas/LtUK5UB8Z54dcCZAlU8L_fSI1gRmEu-qACLcBGAsYHQ/w261-h400/cover%2Bscanned%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Seventh-Row-Related-Condition/dp/B08J16N97R">The Man in the Seventh Row</a></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Extract</span></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>In ‘The Magnificent Seven’
Brynner and McQueen achieved immortality. They are Akira Kurosawa’s samurai
knights relocated in the American West, with guns and horses and wistful talk
of Dodge and Tombstone in the days before they became civilised. They are the
embodiment of the legend, the myth, of the Wild West in corporeal form – not
the way it was, but the way it should have been. … Most of all they are a
couple of boys playing at cowboys and Indians. … They are gone now, but their
ghosts illuminate the Chinese Theatre. Cinema is the gateway to immortality,
the door to another dimension, to another state of being, another plane, life
after death. Brynner and McQueen are dead, but every night, somewhere in the
world, they still ride the range with the others in the Magnificent Seven.</i></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Review</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Roy Batty is obsessed with the
movies. Since the age of four, he’s been mesmerised by the beam of light
travelling across the darkened auditorium over the heads of the audience and exploding
into life in glorious technicolour on the screen. Every year on family holidays
to North Berwick, Roy has immersed himself in fantasy worlds. Westerns are the
best. He imagines riding the prairie, shoot-outs at the OK corral, tipping his cowboy
hat up off his face with one finger. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This is the background to Brian
Pendreigh’s <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Seventh-Row-Related-Condition/dp/B08J16N97R">The Man in the Seventh Row</a>. Roy Batty chooses to sit in the seventh
row of any cinema he attends, whether that’s in one of the many picture houses
in Edinburgh, or on those childhood seaside holidays, or, in adulthood, when he
seizes the opportunity to live and work in Arizona and LA to be at the epicentre
of the film world he adores.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The novel was originally subtitled
‘The Movie Lover’s Novel’, and this remains an excellent description. Brian
Pendreigh weaves his story of Roy Batty the boy growing to manhood through the
plots and storylines – the grand epic sweeps – of the blockbuster movies of the
era. Sometimes the two are so tightly meshed it’s hard to separate real from
imaginary. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">What happens when you’re so
obsessed that you begin to see your own features replacing the faces of the
actors on the screen? Is it obsession? Or is Roy losing his grip on reality?
This is the puzzle and the real plot in The Man in the Seventh Row, as the
clues the author has seeded amongst all the film references and descriptions
gradually grow in relevance and burst into life in a vivid flowering I can’t
possibly mention because it would be the spoiler of all spoilers. Just trust me
– the revelation is worth it. In a truly cinematic moment, it brings everything into focus and imbues this intelligent
and often laugh-out-loud funny book with solid depth and resonance way beyond
the make-believe movie world we’ve been caught up in. Layer upon layer. Because
this book, too, is a work of fiction. Throughout, there’s a sense of loss at
cinema closures – an era ending – and a yearning for worlds we just can’t have. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Man in the Seventh Row was
lauded loudly by some of the giants of cinema, literature and the media when it
came out with Blasted Heath almost a decade ago – Barry Norman, no less, Ian
Rankin, Andrew Marr and others. Pendreigh has revived the novel by adding three
related stories that stand alone yet also act as codas, intriguing us with further
layers to ponder about Roy, about our grasp on reality, and that strange dream world of the
movies that has such a grip on us.<o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EkuKTaUPxOM/YDfNacyluvI/AAAAAAAAAao/8JbD-KpEXpkEai_pFNLk-ufV3G_DM8ObwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20200303-WA0029%2B%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EkuKTaUPxOM/YDfNacyluvI/AAAAAAAAAao/8JbD-KpEXpkEai_pFNLk-ufV3G_DM8ObwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG-20200303-WA0029%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Brian Pendreigh</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Q&A</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK:</b> Brian, thanks so much for
joining me on my blog to talk about <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Seventh-Row-Related-Condition/dp/B08J16N97R">The Man in the Seventh Row</a>, which stopped
me with the popcorn half-way to my mouth. You have lots of non-fiction books
about the movies to your name. I’d love to know a bit about that first, and what
enticed you turn to fiction. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>BP</b>: <i>The first two books were quiz books. My family always did quizzes. Back in the 1980s my uncle Jim Brunton and I both entered a primetime quiz show called Superscot without either knowing the other had entered. We both reached the final. We had a couple of months between recording and broadcast and multiple bulging notebooks of Scottish facts. I saw a chance to put them to good use, set up a deal with Lomond Books. The Scottish Quizbook came out the day after broadcast and we did a signing at Stockbridge Bookshop, with queues in the street. It made the Scottish bestsellers list.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>I was originally a news journalist, but eventually specialised in film. My first film book was On Location: The Film Fan's Guide to Britain and Ireland. There was a gap in the market for an anecdotal guide for the general public and it was the first book of its type. I did a biography of Mel Gibson, having met him during Braveheart, and one on Ewan McGregor, which even got translated in Japanese.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>However I always wanted to write a novel and I
began work on The Man in the Seventh Row about 30 years ago. I always thought
William Wallace was a great subject for a film and the origins of my novel,
with its Wallace film references, predate Braveheart, a film on which I was
involved from the writer's original idea to the actual Oscars. I was at Mel's
party afterwards, but that is a whole other story. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK:</b> Wow! That’s quite a story!
When I write fiction, I imagine myself in the role of my characters, much as
Roy Batty transposes himself into the characters on the screen. So I have to
ask, do you get into the role of Roy Batty? And Yul Brynner? Where do you find
your storylines and characters?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>BP:</b> <i><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Obviously
some of the stories in the book are straight lifts from my childhood. I always
say the incidental stuff is biographical, the major incidents are not - I have
never been sucked into the movies, not literally. It was my intention to
produce a book that would meld fact and fiction, memoir and magical realism,
that would shift in tone and that ultimately would transcend the confines of the
traditional novel, beginning with one set of characters in a novel-length story
and end with another set in a different, but related story. </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK: </b>Your evocation of family
holidays in small Scottish resorts utterly absorbed me and had me recollecting ways
of life I’d completely forgotten. Yet one of the most immersive passages of your
book is when teenager Roy challenges himself to take the dangerous route up The
Law hill. I <i>was</i> Roy Batty while reading that, sharing that sensation of stinging
fingertips. Why was it important to you to show Roy conquering the hill in the ‘real’
world? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>BP:</b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>
</b><i>Well spotted. Firstly, this account is a genuine memory, which may
explain why the passage is particularly convincing. Secondly, although these
are literal roots – the words "root" and "roots" occur no
fewer than ten times in that passage – I would be happy if readers were to
conclude there may be a metaphor or two in there somewhere. I think a lot of it
is of course subconscious. </i></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQqRic9c0KE/YDfNfAZnCkI/AAAAAAAAAaw/gFrEZcEVBQobVJQPLlQqe6wvCmYazuDOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/This%2BWhatsApp%2BImage%2B2021-02-24%2Bat%2B12.40.22.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQqRic9c0KE/YDfNfAZnCkI/AAAAAAAAAaw/gFrEZcEVBQobVJQPLlQqe6wvCmYazuDOQCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h240/This%2BWhatsApp%2BImage%2B2021-02-24%2Bat%2B12.40.22.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting to grips with hills and roots</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK:</b> Did you ever consider writing
this as a film script? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>BP:</b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">
<i>No. I did some freelance work as a script consultant and did write a
screenplay for a thriller and got as far as having an agent, a producer,
casting talk and offices in Leith before it fell through. Film is like that.
And TMITSR would be a huge challenge, not just in terms of technology, but in
terms of legal rights to muck about with classic movies. When the original
version came out I had an inquiry from an English producer, which came to
nothing, and someone from Spielberg's company expressed interest, as in
"That sounds interesting," nothing more. If anyone were to go
anywhere with this in terms of film I reckon it could be Tarantino, though I do
not know how you would accommodate the layers and nuances. The book Cloud Atlas
is a masterpiece, the film is a confusing mess. It is not something I am
pursuing.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: It’s nice to know books can
still do things films can’t! What’s next for you and your writing? Where can we
find out more about you and your work, and buy a copy of your books?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>BP:</b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> <span class="gmaildefault"> <i>T<span style="font-family: inherit;">he next book is an
update of The Legend of the Planet of the Apes, which I was asked to do
specifically for the Brazilian market. It is currently being translated into
Portuguese. It seems I am big in Brazil. I have no more plans for books. But
then I always say that. I thoroughly enjoyed trawling through archives and
pulling material together for The Times on Cinema, which is my only other book
still currently in print. I am easily found on Google, Facebook and other
social media under my own name. There is only one Brian Pendreigh. The book is
available from Amazon as a paperback and ebook, as an ebook from Kobo,
Smashwords etc, and as a paperback from Waterstones. It is in stock at Topping
and Co and several other independent bookshops. Normally you would be able to
order it from any bookshop in the UK, but I am not sure at present. And of
course there is always eBay for everything old and new.</span></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>CMcK:
</b>Thanks, Brian! And thanks for supplying this link.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 16.5pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="gmaildefault"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Seventh-Row-Related-Condition/dp/B08J16N97R" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3c61aa;">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Seventh-Row-Related-Condition/dp/B08J16N97R</span></a></span></span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 16.5pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-41683793583121085112021-02-19T09:25:00.000+00:002021-02-19T09:25:43.719+00:00Fiona Glass - December Roses<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">This week on my lockdown book
blog, I have my first encounter with a genre I didn’t even know existed and get
a chance to quiz accomplished author Fiona Glass.</span> </h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie5NbYEtkWI/YC6VTBjFr_I/AAAAAAAAAaI/4afpl3m1L58Ftlw1tcSFdC8rYPrWg5bqACLcBGAsYHQ/s1350/decemberrosescover.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie5NbYEtkWI/YC6VTBjFr_I/AAAAAAAAAaI/4afpl3m1L58Ftlw1tcSFdC8rYPrWg5bqACLcBGAsYHQ/w266-h400/decemberrosescover.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B009E93MJ4">December Roses</a></td></tr></tbody></table></o:p></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Extract</span></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>…the doctor was still watching
him in an I’m waiting kind of way. He took a breath. ‘It was in a bar,
sir. In Belfast, coming up to a year ago. We got a call. There’d been a coded
warning to one of the papers – usual thing, time and place, not much more. Our
unit was on duty, we went in mob-handed to get as many of the kids out as we
could…’ His throat felt raw. This was the killer part. He paused, and licked
his lips. ‘Bastards set the thing off early, while we were still inside. They
knew. They must have known…’<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The swirling grey clouds
threatened to part and suck him in. He focussed on the hygiene notices on the
wall, forcing himself to read them and stay alert. </i>Always wash your hands…
never re-use equipment or supplies.<i> ‘It was right before Christmas and the
place was rammed. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the screams. And all the
lights went off and it was dark, and full of dust and smoke. Felt like I
couldn’t breathe. I wanted to get out, to get more of the kids out, but I got
thrown against the wall and something heavy fell on my leg and I couldn’t
move.’ </i>Never share needles, even with your friends.<i> The place was on fire,
sir, and I couldn’t get out. All I could do was lie there and listen to the
screams as civilians – kids – died and the flames spread closer and closer…’
His voice broke on a half-sob. ‘Sorry, sir.’<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>‘That’s all right, my boy.’
Latimer’s voice came from a great distance but sounded kinder than it had. ‘I’m
sorry to have to put you through that but I had to be sure.’</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Review </span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s the early nineties and Sergeant
Nat Brook has spent months in hospital undergoing treatment for the physical
and emotional trauma of being caught in a Belfast bomb blast.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nat is transferred to an army
rehab facility in the heart of the English countryside. The former Frogmorton
mansion is austere, but he begins to find solace in its overgrown garden and
wider estate. While efforts to rehabilitate his badly mangled leg have some
success, his psychological scarring takes longer to deal with, partly because
he’s reluctant to admit his sexuality. Being openly gay would mean instant
dismissal from the army, which is the only family he has, given his parents
threw him out.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fiona Glass creates a completely
credible character and situation – gripping, down to earth, a man crushed and needing
recovery – and then with admirable aptitude with pace and plot, she arouses the
reader’s curiosity further by introducing another thread. When Sergeant Nat
Brook randomly follows an overgrown path and stumbles into an area of diffused
sunlight, manicured lawns, statuettes and fountains, is he hallucinating? This
special place exists one day, but it eludes him the next. Is this a sign of his
increasing mental instability, like former army mate Jazz? Or something else
entirely? And what about the equally elusive Richie, the undeniably physical twenty-something
who leads Nat to those secluded places under the apple trees and inside the red
and gold Chinese pagoda?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="font-family: inherit;">December Roses</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> held my
attention from start to finish. In Nat Brook, Fiona Glass has created a
three-dimensional and convincing main character – sometimes irritable, barely
containing pent-up anger, sometimes physically and emotionally vulnerable – who
matters to us as we’re reading and in the quiet moments after we’ve set down
the book.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As events move forward, the
reader inhabits Nat’s world, intrigued and curious, eagerly following clues to unlock
the puzzle of the garden and Richie. Is he real? Can their relationship work? Where
will Nat go, when he heals – in or out of the army?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AHfUxHnVSso/YC6VTdtUOmI/AAAAAAAAAaM/noQIRnmgu9E10VDKZVG7qqPVsL8biq8hQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/fiona2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2008" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AHfUxHnVSso/YC6VTdtUOmI/AAAAAAAAAaM/noQIRnmgu9E10VDKZVG7qqPVsL8biq8hQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/fiona2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fiona-glass.com">Fiona Glass</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Q&A</span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK:</b> Fiona, welcome to my
lockdown book blog. I have so many questions to ask you! But first, with the
news this week that the army is being called on to recompense soldiers
dismissed because of their sexuality, it seems incredibly topical. What drew
you to this subject matter?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">FG:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you for
having me, and for letting me do what all writers enjoy most, which is witter
on about myself. Yes, I spotted that story and thought how topical it was – I
might have to blog about it myself! I’m racking my brains a bit about what
inspired the original story that led to December Roses, because I first wrote
it way back in the late 1990s. I seem to remember seeing a photograph of one of
my favourite actors at the time dressed in a paratrooper’s uniform for one of
his roles. He was quite probably bisexual, and I remember wondering why it was
that a bi man could portray a soldier but not serve as one. This was at a time
when it was still illegal to serve in the armed forces if you were gay, which
always struck me as illogical and deeply unfair. I think the story, and later
the novel, grew out of that – and a recent (at the time) trip to Biddulph
Grange gardens in Staffordshire, which the National Trust were in the process
of restoring, gave me inspiration for the setting.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">CMcK:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Gay paranormal
romance. When I heard that label, I thought it sounded very niche. But your
story is universal in its appeal. Beautifully written – expertly crafted in
terms of plot and pace. What attracts you to this genre?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">FG:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you for your
kind words – I’m blushing! I guess I’ve always been interested in things I’ll
never experience for myself, and I also have a strong belief in equality and
the right to relationships irrespective of gender. And although gay romance
might sound niche it’s actually incredibly popular, not just with gay men but
with people of all genders and from all walks of life. I first got involved in writing
it back in the 1990s and not only wrote a great many short stories, plus a
handful of longer works, but also ran an online gay romance magazine called
Forbidden Fruit for about eight years. It started small but with the help of
like-minded friends I grew it until it became something of a success. I even
had gay men commenting that they could get porn anywhere but had never been
able to access romantic stories before, so I’m really proud of the achievement.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">CMcK</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">: Oh wow – that’s
lovely!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">FG:</b><i style="font-family: inherit;"> I wandered away
from the genre for several years as I felt I was getting stale, but have
recently dug out some of my back catalogue and am re-editing, rewriting, or
using it to inspire new books. And really enjoying it, actually!</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">CMcK:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Tell me about your
other writing – and what’s in the pipeline.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">FG:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Most of my work
involves history, the paranormal, and romance, in varying (and varyingly
weird!) combinations. I currently have three more books available. Two of them
are also gay romance</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">: Echoes of Blood</span><i style="font-family: inherit;">, which is a dark vampire tale set
in modern-day Liverpool but involving New Romantics and a missing Roman legion;
and </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just Visiting</span><i style="font-family: inherit;">, a time-travel romance about a man’s struggle against
bullying and discrimination. The third, </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Got Ghosts?</span><i style="font-family: inherit;"> is a paranormal romp
set in a haunted manor house, where a TV crew filming for a popular show
disturb something they really shouldn’t and all hell breaks loose. I’m also
close to finishing the first draft of a brand new book set on an archaeological
dig, featuring a lost priory, a ghostly presence, a gold cross and something
unexpected lurking under the cloisters! If I can finish and edit that, I’m
hoping to publish it later this year. I’m a bit ‘seat of the pants’ when it
comes to writing, so after that, who knows?</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">CMcK: </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">You’re so prolific!
Enviable! Last question – where can we find out more about you and where can we
buy your books?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">FG<i>:</i></b><i style="font-family: inherit;"> If you’ll
forgive the pun I tend to haunt the internet so you can find me in all sorts of
places. First of all there’s my website (<a href="http://www.fiona-glass.com/">http://www.fiona-glass.com</a>)
which is where I list all my books and stories, as well as information about
myself, my writing, and any bits of news. Then there’s my blog (<a href="https://fionaglass.wordpress.com/">https://fionaglass.wordpress.com/</a>)
where I rabbit on about trips out, gardening, history, various TV and book
reviews, and my own writing; and my new Dreamwidth account (<a href="https://fionaglass.dreamwidth.org/">https://fionaglass.dreamwidth.org/</a>)
where I’m posting snippets and samples of my work. And of course you can always
find me on Facebook (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/fiona.glass.33">https://www.facebook.com/fiona.glass.33</a>)
and Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/F_Glass_Author">https://twitter.com/F_Glass_Author</a>).
All my books are available on Amazon (you can find my author page at <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B009E93MJ4">https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B009E93MJ4</a>);
December Roses, Echoes of Blood and Just Visiting are also free on Kindle
Unlimited. You can also buy Got Ghosts? directly from the publisher, Fox Spirit
Books (<a href="https://www.foxspirit.co.uk/">https://www.foxspirit.co.uk/</a>).</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK:</b> Thank you so much for joining me on the blog!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>FG: </b></span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you!</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-36142814860394977202021-02-12T10:03:00.006+00:002021-02-12T10:03:59.095+00:00Gillean Somerville-Arjat - Uncle George and the Cacti<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;">This week, I meet a master of the craft of short story writing - author Gillean
Somerville-Arjat - and chat with her about her collection </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncle-George-Cacti-Other-Stories/dp/1916274110/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1613061863&sr=1-1" style="text-align: justify;">Uncle George and the Cacti <br /></a><o:p> </o:p></h3><div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpRS2U_WdQQ/YCZQvLrOXlI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/9cP9nEUfYW4iO74W6FmootWFdIX7k6OSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20210211_160155-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1270" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpRS2U_WdQQ/YCZQvLrOXlI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/9cP9nEUfYW4iO74W6FmootWFdIX7k6OSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20210211_160155-1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncle-George-Cacti-Other-Stories/dp/1916274110/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1613061863&sr=1-1">Uncle George and the Cacti</a></td></tr></tbody></table><o:p><br /><br /></o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3 style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">Review and extracts</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">Here’s a
really satisfying collection of short stories – mellow, sonorous and rhythmic
in language, heady with sensory observation and insights. Gillean’s narrative
voice has warmth and conviction. It’s inclusive, holding the reader with
security and confidence. Her stories are multi-layered, deeply knowing about
the conflicts and quandaries of human life, and never cosy. They wrap
themselves around you. Set in locations as diverse as the Lisbon, Morocco, and
the rocky edge of a mountain in the Scottish Highlands, they are utterly
convincing in their evocation of place and time. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">Take this
extract from ‘Poetry in Lisbon’ as an example –</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">… <i>there
were days when the Tagus gleamed blue and sparkled in the sunlight. On one of
those, they’d crammed themselves into a tram that carried them up the narrow
winding streets to the Alfama district with its precipitous staircases and
winding alleyways. Lisbon had retained its old trams. In contrast to the
smooth-gliding modern ones, they rattled like bustling yellow beetles, wobbling
up the steep slopes, wheezing, clattering, clanging, delighted tourists filling
every available space.</i> (p.25)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">Gillean’s
characters appraise their lives against these backgrounds, pre-occupied, looking
for work, tending vegetable gardens or climbing rocky paths. Sometimes the
author and her characters grapple with questions of politics – the legacy of
the bank crash, passions on both sides of the Scottish independence debate, the
harsh realities facing migrants into Europe.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">Sometimes
they’re contemplating age and the prospect of loss – or its immediate impact. In
‘Poetry in Lisbon’, a woman evaluates her past while being moved by a
connection with a young poet in the present. It’s wistful and poignant, but
life-affirming. There are stories of the dispossessed. Some retell Ancient Greek
myths. Some have streaks of irony and humour, while others employ high-end
elements of the crime genre to create richly satisfying studies of human
motivation, most notably ‘It Is the Cause’.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">‘Interlude in
Venice’ is a longer story in three parts. Set in an earlier era, it features an
adolescent girl whose future is precarious after her father dies when loading
building stones into his canal boat. Her future is taken out of her hands by
family members who aim to provide for her in a way that’ll keep her off the
streets, albeit not that far away from them. With its different take on the
idea of the painter and his muse, this story of disappointment, powerlessness,
learning from lived experience and moving forward sees the young woman reclaim
her right to decide her own destiny, and gives the reader a very satisfying
ending.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">In ‘Under His
Skin’, a young man ruminates on his life, feeling sour, disillusioned, angry. School
didn’t work for him. He remembers sharpening a pencil. <i>Once he lifted up the
basket and tipped it out over his head. That got a big laugh. No. School was a
joke. What did he have to show for it? A few Foundy Standard grades, that’s
what. And where did that get you? Fucking nowhere is where. Packing meat. On
the dole, is where.</i> (p.145) Now, he’s fixated on a slouchy old man he
resents so much he resolves to find what the reader dreads might be the worst
possible escape route from his disempowered life.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">I took notes while
reading this book. When I came to the title story of the collection, the only comment
I jotted down was, ‘Awww beautiful. Perfect.’</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">It’s the
quiet, internal shift in the thought-processes of the characters that is most
gratifying in these fictions: that subtle realisation and resolution that are
typical of the absorbing, deep-dreaming quality of Gillean’s writing. These are
stories that reward close reading. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncle-George-Cacti-Other-Stories/dp/1916274110/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1613061863&sr=1-1">Uncle George and the Cacti</a> is a collection
to linger over and return to.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BRDwjh-SQCk/YCZQQoSB-XI/AAAAAAAAAZw/6xzRu5EAty4JuACrSuLEqfM8Rgms8KL5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s751/DSC00878%2B%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="751" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BRDwjh-SQCk/YCZQQoSB-XI/AAAAAAAAAZw/6xzRu5EAty4JuACrSuLEqfM8Rgms8KL5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSC00878%2B%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gillean Somerville-Arjat</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<h3 style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">Q&A</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Hello
Gillean. I’m so glad to have you as part of my lockdown book blog project.
<i>Uncle George and the Cacti</i> is a truly mesmerising collection of short stories.
Tell me something about the background to it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><b>GS-A</b>: T<i>hank
you very much, Carol, for giving me an opportunity to talk a little about my
collection. The stories were all written after I retired, now over a decade
ago. I had had the odd story, the odd poem, the odd article published years
before, but with a living to earn found it difficult to combine writing with
the demands of secondary school teaching. Some people seem to have the energy
to do both, but I couldn’t. I joined the Edinburgh Writers’ Club, which has an
annual programme of talks, workshops and competitions, and a lively writing
group at the Scottish National Gallery where we combined looking at paintings
and subsequently writing about them and critiquing each other’s work. I also
heard about <a href="http://www.crimeandpublishment.co.uk/">Crime and Publishment</a>, which you know about, a group which, aside
from pandemics, hosts an annual crime writing weekend for keen crime writers
near Gretna in the Scottish Borders. I’ve attended three of those. All these,
combined with reading a shelfload of books about writing, meant that I
eventually accumulated a number of stories that I felt had enough merit to
publish. But I’m getting on now, agewise. I didn’t feel I had the time to send
the script out to publishers and wait for rejections. Short stories don’t sell
as well as novels, unless you’re an established name, and publishing is a
commercial business. So, with the help of some friends and a day session at the
Amazon Academy in Glasgow, I decided to self-publish and although selling
myself seems to be a gene I lack it’s a decision I don’t regret.</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: You
have stories set in Morocco, Spain, Lisbon, Crete – and Scotland. How did these
places come to feature in your stories? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><b>GS-A</b>: <i>The
only location I haven’t visited among these is Crete. My impression of it derives
from my classical education at school, where I studied both Latin and Greek,
and was fascinated by the old myths and legends. It’s on my bucket list though.
However, nearly forty years ago I went on holiday to Morocco in an open-sided
truck with a group of like-minded young professionals. We toured the country
from Ceuta in the north to Zagora in the south, taking in the cities of Fes and
Marrakech en route. We camped mostly, but in the cities we stayed in hotels. It
was a memorable trip and in Fes I met this guy who made an impression. I went
back, we became friends and a few years later I brought him to Scotland and we
got married. We still are, happily. During that time we spent a few weeks
almost every year visiting his family and so I got to know the culture pretty
well. One of his sisters is settled in the south of France in a small village
between Nîmes and Avignon. She now has a grown up family dispersed around
France. Later another sister settled in a seaside resort in Spain, just an hour
by train north of Barcelona. These have been great places to combine family
visiting with going on holiday. We have also visited Portugal twice on holiday,
once to the Algarve and once to Lisbon, where I did meet the young poet who
features in my story, although in reality we simply said hello and I asked him
about his writing. The story is otherwise a fiction. I visited Venice many,
many years ago, but that story was actually inspired by a small, possibly
unfinished, watercolour by </i><i>J M W Turner
of his hotel room in Venice that featured in a 2009 exhibition 'Turner in Italy' in the Scottish National
Gallery.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWHrQNIe4pI/YCZQQqEXp4I/AAAAAAAAAZs/Y6fr514pY5ISp5NYK-05-UoGn7kgDzijACLcBGAsYHQ/s1168/DSC00832.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="1168" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWHrQNIe4pI/YCZQQqEXp4I/AAAAAAAAAZs/Y6fr514pY5ISp5NYK-05-UoGn7kgDzijACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSC00832.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: I’ve
spoken about the quiet internal shift in the characters’ consciousness at the
end of many of your stories here. Yet there’s a fair bit of action, too, including
crime. What’s important to you when you set out to write?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><b>GS-A</b>: <i>That’s
an interesting question. I don’t have a formula. Each story is different and
they just seem to evolve. I start with a character or two in a setting and then
something happens to trigger a change, or a revelation or a shift in
perspective. Often it arises from personal experience. I’m not really attracted
to fast-paced, high octane action, or torture, or putting someone through
serious pain, one reason I don’t think I could ever be a proper crime writer in
the contemporary sense. I’m more interested in motive and psychology. When I
was a little girl I wanted to be a detective. Later I would have liked to study
psychology, but I wasn’t good at maths. I got a lot of psychology from studying
literature though. I love the great 19<sup>th</sup> century novels, English,
French and Russian. </i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: What’s
next for you in your writing? And where can we buy <i>Uncle George and the Cacti</i>?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><b>GS-A</b>: <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncle-George-Cacti-Other-Stories/dp/1916274110/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1613061863&sr=1-1">Uncle George and the Cacti is available on Amazon, </a>either as an ebook or in a printed
version. I’m really pleased with the cover of the print version which was
designed by a young Indonesian artist I found by chance on Fiverr. I liked what
she had showcased of her work and she was so nice and helpful to deal with. As
for what’s next? I’m still working on a crime novel, which has gone through
several rewrites since I first had an idea for it back in 2013. I got stuck
about two thirds of the way through. I know what the ending is to be, but it’s
going to involve a change in tone from the first two thirds and I’m having
difficulty getting into the zone to complete it. I just have to concentrate and
avoid distractions for a bit. I also write a regular fortnightly column for the
online <a href="http://www.scottishreview.net/GilleanSomervilleArjat557a.html">Scottish Review</a> and hope to continue writing short stories.</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-27419718270613348882021-02-05T09:44:00.009+00:002021-02-05T09:52:12.173+00:00Lorraine Johnston - Later Tartan Gator <p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m always interested in hearing
about people’s motivation to write. That’s why I was particularly happy to chat
with children’s author Lorraine Johnston for this week’s Lockdown Book Blog.</span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--plrV3bfulI/YBwpZiwZoFI/AAAAAAAAAZU/zAYKR2q6o54E6Ys0vB4G9xBM_WeAbb8fwCLcBGAsYHQ/s668/Whit%2Band%2BLater%2BTartan%2BGator.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="668" height="241" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--plrV3bfulI/YBwpZiwZoFI/AAAAAAAAAZU/zAYKR2q6o54E6Ys0vB4G9xBM_WeAbb8fwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h241/Whit%2Band%2BLater%2BTartan%2BGator.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.writerlorrainejohnston.com/whit-of-whiteleys-wood">Read more about Lorraine's books on her website</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Meeting Lorraine </span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I end the video call still
laughing. Desperate for a coffee after an hour and a half of chat, but still
laughing. Lorraine Johnston seems to have a bottomless Santa sack of entertaining
anecdotes, yet she doesn’t shy away from the serious side of life. There’s
something about her that compels – and merits – attention. She has an indefatigable
joie de vivre and a quiet confidence that comes through in real life
interactions and very much so in everything she writes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lorraine is the author of four
picture books. Two are already published and the third and fourth are due for
release soon. <i>Later Tartan Gator </i>originally appeared in 2013 in New Orleans,
where it’s set. A new ‘Special Edition’ has recently been re-written and a small
print run of 500 copies was produced last August. It’s available in various
local shops and is selling well through <a href="http://www.writerlorrainejohnston.com">her website</a>, with some copies even
travelling back to New Orleans. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">A story
about an alligator living in the city’s Audubon Zoo, who has a colourful
reaction to something he’s eaten, <i>Later Tartan Gator</i> is witty and charming. It features
adorable characters, affectionately illustrated, and is an excellent demonstration
that diversity can be the norm in picture book publishing. £1 for every copy of
the new UK edition is donated to <a href="http://www.scaa.org.uk">Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance</a>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two years ago, Lorraine wrote – and
gifted – a story called <i>Whit of Whiteley’s Wood</i>. Illustrated by Mandy Sinclair,
it again features absolutely endearing characters. What seems at first glance a
simple story about a young owl who takes a tumble while learning to fly soon
materialises as a storyline that shows kindness, friendship, teamwork, and
empathy. It’s light-hearted but full of love and engenders and encourages
resilience. Don’t take my word for it. Lorraine reads the story on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Fl_jhIsdvyM">Youtube here</a>
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Astonishingly, Lorraine has gifted 100% of proceeds to <a href="http://www.whiteleysretreat.com">Whiteleys Retreat</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> in Ayrshire – a charity that provides free therapeutic short breaks for children,
young people and their families with cancer and life altering illnesses.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lorraine conceives each
storyline, writes it, finds wonderful illustrators, and oversees each production.
She has successfully placed her books in shops and has particularly appreciated
the support in sales at the wonderful <a href="http://www.foggietoddlebooks.co.uk">Foggie Toddle Books</a> in Wigtown.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Forthcoming soon is a new
adventure picture book featuring a Scottish mole. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AbyJF7Nhfxg/YBwpYlV_UqI/AAAAAAAAAZg/nhc9F4fIvKIZr_MmtQxeAbDlyuKKmcFxACPcBGAYYCw/s403/MacMoley.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="302" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AbyJF7Nhfxg/YBwpYlV_UqI/AAAAAAAAAZg/nhc9F4fIvKIZr_MmtQxeAbDlyuKKmcFxACPcBGAYYCw/s320/MacMoley.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MacMoley Collectible <br />available from <a href="http://www.heartfeltbyliz.com/" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">www.heartfeltbyliz.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘MacMoley Moves Home’ is
illustrated by <a href="http://www.janecornwell.co.uk">Jane Cornwell</a></span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and – again – </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lorraine has arranged for £1 from each book sold to go to charity. This time, for the <a href="http://www.scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk">Scottish Wildlife Trust</a>.</span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">even</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">
purchase a limited edition ‘MacMoley Collectible’ hand made by celebrated Textile
Artist and <a href="http://www.heartfeltbyliz.com">felt maker Liz Gaffney</a>. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm really curious as to what makes Lorraine so
committed to charitable giving through her work. It’s a question I determine to
ask her.</span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSxnaFVfUPU/YBwpYgnAs0I/AAAAAAAAAZM/_cmG3mgLJXohHBV7m5PkMpisys1dcxcRwCLcBGAsYHQ/s540/Lorraine%2BJohnston.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="304" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSxnaFVfUPU/YBwpYgnAs0I/AAAAAAAAAZM/_cmG3mgLJXohHBV7m5PkMpisys1dcxcRwCLcBGAsYHQ/w225-h400/Lorraine%2BJohnston.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.writerlorrainejohnston.com/home">Lorraine Johnston</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Q&A</span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK</b>: Hi Lorraine – thanks for
joining my book blog. You began writing for children just over a decade ago. Tell
me a bit about your life before then. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>LJ</b>: <i>Wow, where </i></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">has</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> the
time gone? Before picking up my pencil, I was more familiar with wearing my
hard hat, doing inspections at construction sites and donning a uniform and
being a volunteer first aid officer at the weekend during public events. I wore
many hats through my career: trainer, advisor, inspector, advocate, guest
speaker and implementer. My areas of expertise were in childcare, social care,
accident management and triage and Health and Safety: jobs where I was always
responsible for the wellbeing of others.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK</b>: You had a life-changing
event which was a turning point for you. What happened?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>LJ</b>: <i>We all receive gifts from
time to time, that, well, aren’t our cup of tea. On my 40</i></span><i><sup style="font-family: inherit;">th</sup><span style="font-family: inherit;">
birthday, I got an early morning eye twitch, that developed into complex
symptoms that I suspected were neurological. By the time we were having a
special birthday dinner, I knew that it was the first day of a </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">different</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
life and that something serious was unfolding. I was soon diagnosed with
Multiple Sclerosis. A most unwelcomed gift for a 40</span><sup style="font-family: inherit;">th</sup><span style="font-family: inherit;"> birthday.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK</b>: Indeed! You supported
charities during your working life, financially and through practical
volunteering. Your diagnosis changed that. It could have robbed you of it. You
made sure it didn’t. Why is writing so important to you?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>LJ</b>: <i>Having MS is the hardest
thing I’ve had to learn to live with. It grounded me, literally. Losing my
career and active lifestyle to a very sedentary and painful one, that cruelly
allows plenty of time to fester. It was important that I adapted my
expectations accordingly. My mobility, concentration and constant neuropathic
pain is truly debilitating. I see my options as having two choices. Concentrate
on all the negatives and rue the activities I cannot do or do the best with
what I CAN do. Writing has allowed me to avoid festering. It makes me feel like
I am being useful by supporting the charities through my books. It gives me a
sense of purpose, and everyone needs that. It’s also such tremendous fun.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK</b>: My grandchildren loved <i>Whit
of Whiteleys Wood</i>, and the ‘gator in <i>Later Tartan Gator</i>. I know for sure
they’re going to adore MacMoley. Where does your inspiration for these stories
– for these loveable characters – come from?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>LJ</b>: <i>Having worked in childcare
for 13 years and being such a child at heart, my imagination was always full of
ideas. I was taking pain medication for years that dampened the pain a little
but dampened my clarity of thoughts and drive, even more. Before I wrote Whit
of Whiteleys Wood, I was having such problems with the nasty side-effects of
the medication, that I decided to come off them. The result is, I’m in more
pain however, I feel more like my old self. Ideas are constantly popping in and
out and I just have to be careful to use a few minutes here and there, to write
them down. I can’t stand for very long. I can’t walk for very far. I can’t sit
for too long. So my new life is scheduled around moving when I can, writing
when I can and staying as healthy and independent for as long as I can.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ouNKNpj81U0/YBwpYkrwRYI/AAAAAAAAAZI/c77Ubj2IujwJCuDMZBMto6i-XUsKfkMqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s560/MacMoley%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="560" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ouNKNpj81U0/YBwpYkrwRYI/AAAAAAAAAZI/c77Ubj2IujwJCuDMZBMto6i-XUsKfkMqQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h288/MacMoley%2Bcover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">CMcK</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>: </b>I’d describe you as
fearless and indomitable in spirit, with a warm heart. Others have said you’re
an inspiration. Have you considered writing your life story?</span></div></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>LJ</b>: <i>I’m a bit uncomfortable with
being called ‘inspirational’ which </i></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">does</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> seem to come up quite a lot. And
here is why: when I was a working mum, in a full-time career and did some
voluntary work once or twice a month, during the weekends, I also gave a little
of my salary to charity via direct debit, however, no one needed to know. I
didn’t shout it from the rooftops. It’s just something I’ve always done since I
worked my first job. Now that I write, you have to shout about it and ‘show
off’ your latest project, otherwise you won’t sell any books and raise
awareness or donations for your chosen charities. This oxymoron of mixed
feelings about just helping out quietly without fuss and making a lovely huge
fuss about a children’s book, is still new territory for me. As for writing my
life story, I better do things that are worth reading about first, and I’m
still very much trying to ‘write a happier ending’ to </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">my</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> own story so
far, through my children’s stories.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK</b>: Do you have any plans in
foot for more children’s books that you can tell us about?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>LJ</b>: Oh<i> my goodness yes. The less
mobile I become as the MS progresses, the more stories I will have to write. I
have loads and feel like the lid of my imagination has been opened. After
‘MacMoley Moves Home’, will be ‘Walter’s Wonky Web’ and I also have a ‘big book
project’ which I can’t discuss, which is hugely exciting.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK</b>: Something for us to look
forward to! Thanks for coming on the blog and telling us about your writing
motivation and journey.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can read more about
Lorraine’s books on <a href="http://www.writerlorrainejohnston.com">her website </a> where there
are links to buy direct. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Follow her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/WriterLorraineJ">@WriterLorraineJ</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lorraine described her diagnosis
and journey forward very movingly in a recent post for the website Alliance which you can read </span><a href="https://www.alliance-scotland.org.uk/blog/opinion/adapt-and-write-living-with-ms/?fbclid=IwAR198Xf8BnzT4ZCzgGVxbPwn-6AJeVARTW2PCqlTGW8mbDWMlCfgU_oVdxk#expanded " style="font-family: inherit;">here</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-62585203743115113842021-01-29T09:59:00.003+00:002021-01-29T09:59:40.647+00:00F J Curlew - The Unravelling of Maria<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Welcome to week four of my lockdown book blog. Today, we're heading to Scotland's east coast <i>and </i>Estonia with F J Curlew thanks to her latest novel <i>The Unravelling of Maria.</i> </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LOD6zGGORBQ/YBLvf8GfSYI/AAAAAAAAAY8/6qXUd_fiS5I2z079tMDfuRd7USPZtpehACLcBGAsYHQ/s874/Picture1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="546" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LOD6zGGORBQ/YBLvf8GfSYI/AAAAAAAAAY8/6qXUd_fiS5I2z079tMDfuRd7USPZtpehACLcBGAsYHQ/w250-h400/Picture1.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">First, what a blurb!</h3><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Lovers separated by the Iron Curtain.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Two women whose paths should never have crossed.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>A remarkable journey that changes all of their lives.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Maria's history is a lie. Washed up on the shores of
Sweden in 1944, with no memory, she was forced to create her own. Nearly half a
century later she still has no idea of her true identity.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Jaak fights for Estonia's independence, refusing to
accept the death of his fianc</i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">é</span>e Maarja, whose ship was sunk as she
fled across the Baltic Sea to escape the Soviet invasion.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Angie knows exactly who she is. A drug addict. A waste of
space. Life is just about getting by.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>A chance meeting in Edinburgh's Cancer Centre is the
catalyst for something very different.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Sometimes all you need is someone who listens.</i></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Review</h3><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>The Unravelling of Maria</i> opens with an elderly woman
making a frantic, rather manic night-time escape from a hated institution.
She’s planned it meticulously, conditioning herself over months by counting
steps and pacing the grounds till she’s ready, but she hasn’t factored in heavy
rain and darkness. She hasn’t factored in bitter cold, and the danger she might
fall in a sodden and muddy roadside ditch. It’s in the extremes of this episode
that the reader first meets Maria, and wonders – who is this woman? Has she
lost her mind? Will she be able to survive?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Angie is the polar opposite of the elderly woman she first
meets in an Edinburgh cancer clinic.
That woman’s dress, manners and diction set her apart from the ordinary
people there. She’s obviously an aristocrat. But Angie feels a class apart as
well. Junkie, prostitute, abandoned as a child, abused and battered – Angie’s
had to deal with it all.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">From the random chance of sitting together when they’re
anxious about diagnosis and treatment, these two women bond, gradually
overcoming mutual reservations and drawing strengths from each other. And as
their relationship develops, we learn something of Maria’s surprising
backstory. At least, the part she knows. Because Maria has no recollection of
the first two decades of her life. This is where the novel’s title makes us really
think. What exactly is unravelling?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I absolutely loved this book. At times upbeat, at times pained,
it’s the perfect blend of adventure and emotion, of harsh life conditions meets
fellow-feeling, companionship and security. And love.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There’s a third character in the story. Through following
Jaak’s experiences over the decades, we unpack a grisly history of war-time
abuses, Siberian labour camps and the struggle for Estonian independence. Fiona
Curlew has us follow each character’s inner voice to experience first-hand
their traumas and their triumphs.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It’s a big job, dove-tailing all the time-frames,
backstories and desires, with all those aches, dreams and losses, but Curlew
does this with assuredness. More than that, she has the reader willing her
characters on. I found myself earnestly yearning everything would work out for
them with each new risk they took, and with each new adversity they
encountered.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Does it all work out in the end? You’ll have to read the
book to find out. You’ll be so glad you did. </p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2J4Fbcm29SA/YBLsNO_v63I/AAAAAAAAAYk/lxDB1NdTdlIS264qJkOV7YGAX3YFiDabwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Author%2Bprofile%2Bpic.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1753" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2J4Fbcm29SA/YBLsNO_v63I/AAAAAAAAAYk/lxDB1NdTdlIS264qJkOV7YGAX3YFiDabwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Author%2Bprofile%2Bpic.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://bit.ly/3okI3MV">Author F J Curlew</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Q & A</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I could hardly wait to chat with F J Curlew to find out more about <i>The Unravelling of Maria</i>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Thanks for joining my lockdown book blog, Fiona. I
thoroughly enjoyed your novel. The two women main characters are so different
from one another in terms of their histories. What inspired you to write about
them, and to unite them in one story?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>FJC</b>: <i>Thank you for having me Carol! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m so glad you enjoyed the book. I’ll be
honest, the characters took a very long time to show themselves. I had spent fifteen
years teaching in international schools, predominantly in Eastern Europe. Seven
of those years were spent in Estonia. Over that time my love for the little
country flourished as I learned of their struggle, their resilience, their love
of nature, and how song helped to keep their culture alive. Their hope alive. I
knew that it was something I wanted to write about, but how? I wrote and
rewrote, wrote and deleted. It just wasn’t coming to me. I began to despair and
gave up for a while, focusing instead on writing a different book. When that
was finished I tried again. Nope! I wrote another book. Perhaps now? Finally,
Maria and Jaak said hello and began telling me their stories. But it wasn’t
enough. Finally, Angie dropped into the cancer centre and from then on it just
flowed. I hadn’t planned to have two such diverse characters interacting with
each other, but they clicked and I loved writing them. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Both main settings are lovingly depicted, and there’s
a subtle hint that spending time in these calm, natural environments is good
for the characters’ healing. Is writing about the natural world something you
enjoy? How important were the wide beaches of East Lothian and Pärnu
to your characters, and to you?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>FJC</b>: <i>Absolutely essential! I love nature and it plays an important
role in all of my books. One of my readers described my writing as, “Human
experience impacted upon by political situation, interwoven with a love of
nature.” That pretty much sums it up perfectly! I also accredit my own survival
to being fortunate enough to have beauty right on my doorstep. Places to
breathe, to recharge, to recover. Many hours have been spent strolling along
Scottish and Estonian beaches contemplating life. I lent Maria that bit of me. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Maria and Angie have very different living conditions
when they meet. Both have suffered terrible constraints emotionally and
physically. While Maria’s story is the primary one in the novel, Angie’s is
pretty gritty and harrowing. Which was more difficult to write?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>FJC</b>: <i>Without doubt, Angie’s. She had so many challenges
to face and as I wrote I didn’t know if she was going to pull through. The idea
of her was based on a young woman I met in the 1980’s. Her life was harrowing,
heart-breaking, made even more so by the anger in her and the dismissiveness which
she cast at the world, masking what was really going on; hiding her true
feelings. Maria, on the other hand, always has a positivity to her which made
it easy to be inside her head. Angie’s? No. Not so much. It was quite a scary
place to be!<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: I’ve said there are three main characters in the book,
but actually there are four. One who gives and receives unconditional love.
Tell me about Albie!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>FJC</b>: <i>All of my books have dogs in them. I can’t help
myself. What’s a life without a dog in it? My second book, Dan Knew, is the
story of 15 years of my life and travels, told through the eyes and in the
voice of one of my rescued Ukrainian street dogs. So, yes, Maria had to have a
dog. Something feisty and full of character. I observe people all of the time
(if only they knew!) and on my daily dog walk there are a couple of Border
Terriers who were the inspiration behind Albie. I won’t say that I stalked them
but, well, I sort of did! <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: It’s been so interesting hearing about your writing. Where
can we buy <i>The Unravelling of Maria </i>and find out more about you and your
other novels? What’s next for you?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>FJC</b>: <i>The Unravelling of Maria is available through Amazon
and The Book Depository. I am hoping to expand on that in the near future. You
can of course check out my website for updates, or follow me on Twitter. Novel
number 5 is just beginning to show itself to me, I think! It might be a
thriller. It might be a love story. It’ll probably be both. As always, I’ll
know once the characters show themselves to me and are telling me their
stories. Not quite there yet!</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK</b>: Thank you, Fiona!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Check out F J Curlew's author website at <a href="https://bit.ly/3okI3MV">https://bit.ly/3okI3MV</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">She’s on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/FJCurlew">@FJCurlew</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Her books are available here <a href="https://amzn.to/333mCr2">https://amzn.to/333mCr2</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p><br />Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-84711280748005852112021-01-22T09:54:00.003+00:002021-01-22T09:54:56.743+00:00Emily Donoho - In the Canyons of Shadows and Light<h3 style="text-align: left;">In today's Lockdown book blog I'm in New York City courtesy of Emily Donoho, whose book <i>In the Canyons of Shadows and Light</i> I strongly recommend.</h3><div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Extract</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Washington Heights bustled
around him: men in suits and women in heels with professionally arranged
dreadlocks hustled to work; mothers stood on the stoops with a baby on their
hips and a toddler in tow; teenage gangsters in clothes three sizes too big
slouched off to school or maybe not; the homeless and the dope fiends, their
eyes haunted and faces hollow, wafted hungrily through the crowds. They melted
together like snowflakes in a blizzard, minding their own business in the way
only New Yorkers knew how in the swirling, fast-paced melee of street life. (p. 243)<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ep9Ej2XolbE/YAm1OG1rLMI/AAAAAAAAAXo/BpBf6v-5WDYr9hixBqU1LJX-w6EV2kL-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/book%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1356" height="368" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ep9Ej2XolbE/YAm1OG1rLMI/AAAAAAAAAXo/BpBf6v-5WDYr9hixBqU1LJX-w6EV2kL-wCLcBGAsYHQ/w244-h368/book%2Bcover.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Review</h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A mesmerising, atmospheric novel
set in New York in the years immediately following 9/11, <i>In the Canyons of Shadows
and Light</i> weaves its way back and forth through time as it charts the
psychological meltdown of its main character, Alex Boswell. Mid-forties,
overweight from a diet of ice cream and fast food, Alex shares the
stereotypical characteristics of TV detectives we’ve grown familiar with. Booze
combined with irregular hours and the emotionally searing demands of the job
have driven Alex’s wife and family away. But Emily Donoho has crafted a
character who is different, too. Alex Boswell is an individual. He’s in chronic
pain from a 1987 shooting. He misses his colleague and mentor who ran into the
Twin Towers just before they crumpled. And there’s a case Alex thought was tied
up which comes back to haunt him – a cop killing. This is the background to <i>In
the Canyons of Shadows and Light</i>. It’s intense. It’s got twists and
complications and subplots that hold the reader’s attention right through its
445 pages.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In many ways, this is a standard
police procedural. Alex works for Manhattan North Homicide. Over seventeen
years, he has earned respect from his team and team leaders alike. The District
Attorney trusts him and they have a strong working – and socialising –
relationship. Alex is drawn into a big murder investigation – another cop
killing – and this is the main meat of the detective story.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">What makes this different from
standard police procedurals is the focus on Alex as a character. As the plot
unravels, so, too, does Alex. First, he’s tormented by the sentence of death by
lethal injection for the cop killer. Then he suffers yet another failed love
relationship. He mourns his old work partner, who was transferred for a misdemeanour.
The new one – Ray Espinosa – is a clean-cut, health-food-eating, God-respecting
family man and sometimes it seems there’s a gulf between him and Alex, who is a
tightly-leashed alcoholic and serial womaniser. In Ray’s eyes.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Alex’s disintegration makes for
fascinating reading. It’s during the course of his long struggle against it
that we see his true strengths, and also the strengths of his relationships
with those around him. As his police caseload builds and climaxes, so, too,
does Alex’s physical and psychological crisis. The book ends with a satisfying
crescendo that reaffirms our faith in the justice system and in our human
capacity to care.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kTogF-RmNi0/YAm1NKrM5fI/AAAAAAAAAXk/iGjLftxSmd8HJ5thKms2q8vM2KFcaxN3gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1453/BB032B92-4621-412C-A771-1158549071C1_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="1090" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kTogF-RmNi0/YAm1NKrM5fI/AAAAAAAAAXk/iGjLftxSmd8HJ5thKms2q8vM2KFcaxN3gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/BB032B92-4621-412C-A771-1158549071C1_1_201_a.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Emily-Donoho-977662978933470">Emily Donoho</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>I invited author Emily Donoho to tell
me a bit about the background to writing the novel.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK: </b>Hi, Emily. Thanks for
joining me on my blog. I loved <i>In the Canyons of Shadows and Light</i>! I’m a slow
reader, but it totally engrossed me. Each time I surfaced from reading, I felt
a sense of dislocation, because I was so deeply ‘in’ New York through your
descriptions. What does the city mean to you? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>ED:</b> <i>I live in Scotland now but
I spent a lot of time around New York City as an undergraduate in Massachusetts
and lived there briefly. I loved it. I was drawn to its energy. It has a magic,
wild vibe that I’ve never found anywhere else. But it is also totally
impracticable for me to live there because of other interests, like owning
horses. Unless you have more money than God, keeping a horse and living in NYC
are mutually exclusive. Even owning a car in NYC will give you a nervous
breakdown. But I can write about people who live there, still engaging with the
city in my head – that will have to do.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK:</b> The police procedural
aspects – forensics, lividity in dead bodies, legal requirements and so on –
all seemed convincing to me. Alex Boswell’s psychological meltdown is also
compelling. Do you have a background of work in these areas, or does your
understanding come from research?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>ED:</b> <i>All of the above. I did a
couple internships in District Attorney’s offices - Boulder, CO and Brooklyn - so I know my way around the criminal justice system and where to look when I
need information. I also did a psychology degree as an undergrad, and my PhD is
in the history of psychiatry in the Scottish Highlands. That’s nine years of
researching mental health stuff, most of it at a high academic level.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK: </b>Fascinating! Now, as you know, my lockdown
book blogging project is trained on indie and self-published books. So I’d love
to know something about your decision to pursue a more literary focus on the character
and his meltdown, rather than focus on a purely genre police procedural novel.
Did this make it difficult to place the book with a genre publisher, for
example?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>ED:</b> <i>I wrote a 130,000 word PhD
thesis, proof I can’t achieve brevity even when I try. It was always going to
be a literary novel because that’s how I see myself as a writer. I also felt
like the world needed a more accurate police novel – one that turned away from
the usual crime genre tropes, where either the detective has a personal
connection to the case they’re investigating, or all the cases are interconnected.
Those tropes are endemic. They’re everywhere. I gave up on the BBC series </i>Luther
<i>after the second episode, where Idris Elba’s detective slept with the serial
killer he was investigating. In the real world, that isn’t what happens, and I was
trying to capture that. On the other hand, standard crime novels that tick all
the genre boxes are easier to publish with traditional publishers, but those
aren’t what I want to write.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ep9Ej2XolbE/YAm1OG1rLMI/AAAAAAAAAXw/gRMnN9aJkc81mY3DqCT2D8gy0h__6JrTgCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/book%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1356" height="231" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ep9Ej2XolbE/YAm1OG1rLMI/AAAAAAAAAXw/gRMnN9aJkc81mY3DqCT2D8gy0h__6JrTgCPcBGAYYCw/w153-h231/book%2Bcover.jpg" width="153" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK:</b> What drew you to writing?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>ED:</b> <i>I have always written. I
wrote stories as a kid, for fun. Then I played about with fan fiction as an
undergrad (should one confess to that?). I started writing original fiction a
couple years after finishing my PhD.</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK:</b> Fan fiction seems to be an excellent training ground! So, what’s next for you? Will
we see another Alex Boswell story?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>ED:</b> <i>Yes – in the near future!
I’ve been working on the sequel to this for some time. It’s an even bigger,
more ambitious novel, sprawled between timelines – five years after the events
in </i>Canyons, <i>and then about fifteen-to-twenty years before it. It’s about
the crack epidemic, miscarriages of justice, why good people do bad things,
Alex’s ongoing mental health issues, his life in general. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK: </b>Excellent! Thanks so much for joining
the blog. Where can people buy your books and find out more about you?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>ED:</b> <i>The book is available on
Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble, all the usual suspects. I’m really
terrible at the social media thing, but I have a Facebook page which doesn’t do
a whole lot. I might make a fresh one. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Emily-Donoho-977662978933470">https://www.facebook.com/Emily-Donoho-977662978933470</a><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>CMcK: </b>Lovely. And here are links to <i>In the Canyons of Shadows and Light </i>in those stores</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088PWL15L?pf_rd_r=GT7E0K95JFA00N11SDEZ&pf_rd_p=e632fea2-678f-4848-9a97-bcecda59cb4e&fbclid=IwAR0m_BNClhxMeWASGPGPjOnEDUi0zo8GzW8kkeHb0XzIyfY19zqpUNdJBpo">Amazon</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/in-the-canyons-of-shadow-and-light/emily-donoho//9781838035709">Waterstones</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-canyons-of-shadow-and-light-emily-donoho/1121893092">Barnes and Noble</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <o:p></o:p></p></div><p><br /></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166708145784086324.post-77088767209158223802021-01-15T09:56:00.017+00:002021-01-15T13:48:37.276+00:00Jacqueline Smith - Slaves of Men and Gods: Book One (Obroni Tales)<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm running my lockdown book blog from January till March, and this week I'm delighted to tell you about a super indie-published book by Jacqueline Smith - <i>Slaves of Men and Gods: Book One (Obroni Tales)</i></span></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq_3ybqsNcQ/YACmTplAlcI/AAAAAAAAAW0/5w177Lcw4nAHeWzaQwt20oX2jwgLmsmXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Bk1%2B-%2BEbookcover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1446" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq_3ybqsNcQ/YACmTplAlcI/AAAAAAAAAW0/5w177Lcw4nAHeWzaQwt20oX2jwgLmsmXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Bk1%2B-%2BEbookcover.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bit.ly/wordsmith-jacqueline" rel="noopener" style="color: #0b9dcc; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: start; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://bit.ly/wordsmith-jacqueline</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Extract</span></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Krisi tried to turn her head
to look around the hot shack she was in but she was stuck, unable to see much
now that the light had gone and unable to move. Her arms were aching from the
tension in the rope pulling them behind her back. She was sure the mosquitoes
had been making a meal of her too, since she was itching in a few places she
had no way of reaching to scratch. How was she going to get out of this?
Anxiety flared again making her pulse thrum and jitter. In fact, how did she
get herself into this in the first place? She was only trying to help a friend
and look what had happened.</span></i></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Review </span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fifteen-year-old Krisi is
abruptly and unwillingly uprooted from life in urban Scotland when her father
removes her from her alcoholic mother to live with him in Ghana. Here, he is
undertaking a PhD on traditional African herbal medicine. Krisi’s culture shock
is a window on the rapid urbanisation of Ghanaian life and the fast-paced
changes in attitudes as traditional beliefs and western ones jostle for supremacy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Krisi is feisty with a strong
sense of outrage at something she sees as not right, like the physical abuse
meted out to frail and overworked local girl Gifty. Krisi’s quest for justice
takes her into situations she doesn’t understand, like the goings-on at the
railway embankment when the bustling market day ends and girls dance under the
close scrutiny of pimps and against a backbeat of drums. Soon, Krisi herself is
in danger, prompting motorbike and car chases through the cramped and crowded
city streets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jacqueline Smith has created credible,
complex characters in school friends Kofi, Wisdom and Kuukuwa, who champion
Krisi when she needs them most, and who show Krisi, and the reader, that good
and evil are not the preserve of any one social structure or belief system.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Slaves of Men and Gods</i> is a bold
work of crossover fiction that will appeal to adults and older teens alike.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>I got in touch with Jacqueline
for a chat about it.</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxbns4fNHwjY1fL4zGl_PXxtJ6V-6LAa3ztBbofAYxKxnPX5A0fJEzpUPciJzhqpwOZa4M_pAVMpGFLbfFC7w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><h4 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Trailer for</span> <i>Slaves of Men and God: Book One (Obroni Tales)</i></span></h4><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK:</b> Hi Jacqueline. Thanks for
appearing on my blog with your novel <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slaves-Men-Gods-Obroni-Tales/dp/183853282X">Slaves of Men and Gods: Book One (Obroni Tales)</a></i>. I was hooked on it. It’s a fast-paced contemporary adventure with a
strong sense of right and wrong, but one of the things I enjoyed most deeply
was the portrayal of Ghana itself – whether that was the traffic in the city
streets, the open sewers in the desperately poor areas, or the lushness and red
earth Krisi encountered when she made the trip to the outlying villages. What’s
your connection with Ghana?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: </b>Hi Carol, thanks for the
invite. Yes, Ghana is a great country with excellent music, often apparently of
extremes while people’s positivity and resilience is evident everywhere from
urban cities like Accra to rural Mafis (villages) like Seva in the lower Volta
region and beyond.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I fell in love with the people
and country after volunteering with the Ghana Homeopathy Project (GHP) as a
clinical practitioner and lecturer in June 2014. It was a whirlwind fortnight spent
visiting all aspects of the project around the Central and South of the country,
after which I returned within six months, inspired by the work being carried
out by GHP since 2008; having been appointed as the new GHP coordinator until I
left the organisation in October 2017. Feels like my second home so I still
visit yearly when possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK: </b>One theme running quietly
in the background in the novel is the practice of homeopathy. Tell me a bit
about your approach to including that.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: </b>As mentioned above, my introduction to Ghana
was through mine and others’ provision of homeopathic training and treatment
for the people of Ghana as a safe, effective and affordable (offered free by
GHP) alternative to paying for conventional treatment, which so few were/are
able to do. (No NHS there)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Including it in the story was second
nature to me having also been a trained and qualified professional homeopath
since 1997. Having successfully applied it with people in UK, India and in Ghana,
I know it to be a potentially life-changing treatment for acute and chronic diseases
of the individual that offers the possibility for self-healing and self-understanding.
Also a great way to introduce its use in context to those unfamiliar with the
system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK:</b> Krisi and her friends are
beautifully and individually crafted in the novel. I could really see them in
my mind’s eye, which is the best kind of fiction. How do you find your
characters? And how important was it that they be teenagers, rather than
adults?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: </b>Thanks for the review and compliments
Carol! If that’s the case about the characters then they grew out of/through
the events of the story and its homeopathic influences. Homeopathy is all about
recognising peoples’ most individual characteristics in great detail, in order
to offer appropriate treatment, so I’ve been trained to observe what we in the
business call ‘strange, rare and peculiar’ mental, emotional and physical
qualities.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Having already written novels
with adult characters, I decided I wanted a fresh perspective. A more immature,
questioning perspective. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK: </b>Writing about African
traditional practices and religions like Christianity and Islam could have been
a minefield of political correctness (or incorrectness?) and some might even accuse
you of writing a story that isn’t yours to tell. Did this concern you? It’s a
massive topic, which you handled with great fairness and sensitivity.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: </b>I was brought up as a
Catholic so am quite familiar with the pros and cons of that. I have studied
world religions including Islam etc. at Glasgow Uni and been a practitioner of
other eastern practices for over thirty years.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Traditions like witchcraft have
existed in cultures the world over including in Scotland and about which I’ve
previously written in my novel <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scottish-Witchfinder-Jacqueline-Smith/dp/0993051472">The Scottish Witchfinder</a></i> (Fleming Publications
2018). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Living and working intimately on
a daily basis with those of another culture affords the opportunity to observe
the effects and habits of that specific culture. The biggest concern was that
people would think I, like colonialists have in the past, would present the white
protagonist as ‘a great white saviour’ and I don’t think I did that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK:</b> No – far from it. Sorry for
interrupting. Go on!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: </b>I made a great but not
difficult attempt to explore Krisi’s motives and the attitudes around her at a
15-year-old Scottish adolescent level of questioning and understanding while
grappling with her own similar issues of abandonment. Krisi doesn’t save anyone
in the story but she is a main instigator of pivotal events. There is no fault
in questioning abuses, and adolescents are often quite judgemental in their
idealism, though, if they’re brave enough, can tend to rush headlong into and
create potentially politically incorrect? situations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Krisi’s character is acknowledged
from the outset as what she is in the Ghanaian context – an Obroni (foreigner).
The book explores what she encounters and her own individual way of dealing
with new and conflicting attitudes and practices. The story informed by my own
observations and experiences as an ‘Obroni’ living in the country is mine to
tell - the rest is fiction.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq_3ybqsNcQ/YACmTplAlcI/AAAAAAAAAW4/9J4wmLfaIJI0gM-YqzrzfULflRofGBC1gCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/Bk1%2B-%2BEbookcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1446" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq_3ybqsNcQ/YACmTplAlcI/AAAAAAAAAW4/9J4wmLfaIJI0gM-YqzrzfULflRofGBC1gCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Bk1%2B-%2BEbookcover.jpg" /></a></div><b style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">CMcK: </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">You end </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Slaves of Men and
Gods</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> with a question mark. Can we look forward to seeing Krisi again?</span></p></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS:</b> I’ve just started working on
Book Two of the Obroni Tales series with Krisi as protagonist and I’ll probably
get into trouble (again!) for highlighting another stand-out Ghanaian
traditional practice given the YA thriller treatment. ‘Spirit Children on the
River of Return’ should be out in late 2021.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK:</b> I look forward to that! Now,
I’ve been blogging about indie-published books and realising it’s a steep
learning curve, going it alone. I love your video trailer! What advice can you
offer about book promotion?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: </b>It’s a never-ending
occupation! Sorry, but it is. Publicity and Marketing are of necessity
repetitive activities. Depends how keen you are to dedicate money and time.
There are millions of writers all vying for an audience but others would say
there’s also millions of readers out there too.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many will also tell you about
building your own audience and that takes time and effort. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I like making videos because I’m
a visual person and you do need something to catch readers’ attention. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All of it is work that’s as
necessary as the writing. Personally, like most of us writers, I prefer the
writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK: </b>How can we find out more
about you and your other novels?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS:</b> You can visit my writing
website at: <a href="http://bit.ly/wordsmith-jacqueline"><span color="windowtext">http://bit.ly/wordsmith-jacqueline</span></a> where
there’s a bio, videos and links to buy all of my books and you can contact me
at: wordsmith.jacqueline(at)gmail.com <b>And for the next two weeks the Kindle edition of <i>Slaves of Men and Gods</i> is on special offer at £1.99.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>CMcK:</b> Bargain! Thanks for joining me on the
blog!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><h4 style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="background: rgb(253, 253, 253); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">E-book links </span></span></b></h4><div style="font-size: 13px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0875FRR53/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" rel="noopener" style="color: blue; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0875FRR53/</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slaves-Men-Gods-Obroni-Tales-ebook/dp/B0875FRR53/" rel="noopener" style="color: blue; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slaves-Men-Gods-Obroni-Tales-ebook/dp/B0875FRR53/</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><a href="https://books2read.com/u/3LgYV7" rel="noopener" style="color: blue; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://books2read.com/u/3LgYV7</span></a></b></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><h4 style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><b><span style="background: rgb(253, 253, 253); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Print book ISBN 978-1-83853-282-6 </span></span></b></h4><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/183853282X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3" rel="noopener" style="color: blue; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/183853282X/</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slaves-Men-Gods-Book-One/dp/183853282X/" rel="noopener" style="color: blue; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slaves-Men-Gods-Book-One/dp/183853282X/</span></a></p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>Carol McKay Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02209828284361391684noreply@blogger.com1