New Year – Time to Celebrate or Reflect?

I might be alone in this, but New Year never seems a huge deal to me. Just because we switch the calendar from one number to another, why does that give license to burn thousands of pounds (or dollars) of fireworks? And what is the deal with getting so drunk you don’t even remember seeing those fireworks? Okay, so I’m … Read More

We Meet in Emotions

Saturday would have been my father’s birthday. Would have been: in those three words you know something of how I felt yesterday and feel today. As you read my opening sentence, you probably remembered the people who have gone from your life, and whose leaving still causes you, at times, to feel a lump in your throat and prickling behind … Read More

(Un)Helpful Advice For a Quiet Writer (and Some Other Stuff)

I am not exactly the world’s best at self-promoting or of pushing myself forward. It used to be shyness that stopped me, way back in teenage days. Shyness being a term to describe quiet people with noisy minds – minds that chatter away saying: “They won’t like you if you say that.” And, “You’ll look like a fool if you … Read More

His Grandparents’ House (Extract)

This extract is from the story: His Grandparents’ House, found in my short story collection, Looking For America: Short stories from the Shetland Islands The story is about an old crofter (small farmer) and his elderly dog, named Lad, out in the fields during lambing time. The story was inspired by my father, who went on running a croft until … Read More

Thank You For the Days: Precious Memories of 2013

The last days of any year are traditionally a time of reflection, and so this post is. For me, this year is overshadowed by the death of my deeply loved father and wonderful aunt, so writing this refection was never going to be easy. I didn’t even get to the end of the first sentence without some tears. I will … Read More

A Man Who Inspired

My lovely father died 12 days ago. As I mentioned in my last post, he had cancer for several years and we knew the end was near.  Yet when it came, it was sudden and a shock. In fact, we had been expecting him to go home from hospital that day or the next and to have a few more … Read More