LeftcoastRighthand

I’m still struggling to comprehend that today is my last day as a European Citizen (even though I no longer physically live in Europe).   This means that my family will no longer be able to return to Scotland to live without my husband having to go through an immigration process- a process that is still unclear. It means that I will not be able to live and work in Germany with ease, as I once…

While I’m alive, I’ll make tiny changes to earth.

It’s hard to write this and feel that there is anything positive to say. What positive can you take away from a life cut too short by a brutal disease?

I’m not even sure why I’m quite as cut up as I am. I didn’t know Scott, not personally. I know people he knew him, he could have been any one of my friends. Maybe that’s why it hurts, why so many people are touched by his music and his death. He…

It’s Been A While.

  I’ve shamefully neglected this blog for the last few months. There’s no reasons, other than life and work and writing lots. So here’s an update: The Lucky Weasel is now out at readers. (Which means good trusted people are tearing it to shreds then helping me put it back together so that it’s better). This used to scare me senseless. I still remember sending the first 50 pages of The Remote Part…

It’s been over a week since I last managed to put words on paper for the WIP. It’s stuck. I feel like it’s a boat on a sandbank, looking over at Dundee, just waiting on the tide to come in and carry it back to shore. And while we are waiting on the water I’m beating off a particularly feisty seal that wants to eat the manuscript and probably my lunch. Good times. So what does a writer do while…

Cover Reveal: THE HUNDRETH QUEEN by Emily R. King

Well, this is exciting. It’s the first time I get to do this. But, since it’s my first time, it’s possibly yours too. So I’ll answer your questions. What’s a Cover Reveal? What’s this all about anyway? It’s that exciting moment when a writer gets to see what their new book is going to look like and show it off to the world. What’s not to be excited about there? Let’s face it, next to who is going…

In which we discuss Jackie Bird. (Happy New Year)

It’s that time of year again. Jackie-time. Now. Before we go any further. I KNOW. I think we’ve already established the fact that I’m pro-Indy. So, I KNOW we have issues with the Beeb. But this isn’t about politics (for once). Or writing. This is about the majestic wonder of Jackie Bird. Say what you like about The BBC. Jackie is fantastic. Hogmanay would not be Hogmanay without her. Even this…

It never struck me as strange, growing up, that smack in the city centre of Dundee there is a graveyard. But then I also grew up next to an undertaker so I was used to the idea of dead people from an early age.  When you think about it, it’s an odd thing, that right in the middle of town there’s an ancient burial ground. There’s a few, actually, but the others are attached to churches, which…

On the Scottish Diet

It’s been a wee while since the last post but things have been busy. I finally got the first draft of the Work In Progress (hereby referred to as The Lucky Weasel, with a promise to give it a better title at some point) finished. I’m trying to focus on starting an editing plan but never being much of a planner it’s causing massive headaches and much procrastination. Still, at least the dishes are…

I’ve wanted to write about my hometown for ages. Like most Dundonians, I’m intensely proud of the place. It’s not got the romance of Edinburgh or Inverness. It’s not got the friendly reputation of Glasgow or the oil money of Aberdeen. In fact ask anyone outside the town what they think and they are likely to turn their nose up at it. Or back off in fear. As well they should. But ask a Dundonian…

It’s two years to the day since Scotland voted to remain part of the UK. I wish I could be more objective about this but it still hurts a bit. And yes, I know, because it has been pointed out more than once, that I don’t have a right to an opinion on this having chosen to leave eight years ago. But guys, I’m sorry. I do have an opinion and the last two years watching Britain descend into fear and…

Swim Until You Can’t See Land.

The sea plays a vital role throughout The Remote Part. It is never far from the action and its moods often set the tone for the chapter. But for Isla the sea is part of who she is. It is a realisation that comes to her as the novel progresses, but even in the opening chapter she cannot escape it’s grasp. Exhausted and sick she curls up in bed only to be pulled out into the night by Stewart, and…

I’d like to say I listen to music as I write, that I sit down at my old oak desk and tap out words in time to pretty tunes. But in reality I do most of my plotting in the car on the school run. So my inspiration comes from what CDs are in the glovebox. Or at least they did until I dicovered Spotify. Now I just stick it on shuffle and see what happens. It’s making the WIP interesting. For this…