Hogmanay seems like the right day to introduce a new occasional series of posts about Scottish words which may or may not be little-known. I'm not entirely sure about the provenance of 'redding' but I'm fairly certain the word and the concept are Scottish as my mother and granny both used it. My mother, who …
I think there’s something in it.
Today I carried out the self-imposed task which I had been dreading and looking forward to almost equally: I re-read the draft of 'The Lion and Unicorn Quest' I wrote in November. This is probably the scariest moment during the writing process, especially if the whole thing has been written in a rush, to a …
Building up a head of steam
As arbitrarily as it started, Fifties month is now at an end, despite the heading to this post. I've now become submerged beneath a rising tide of pantomime preparations and Christmas-related stuff - if only they didn't always coincide! A head of steam is what I'm hoping to build up before I look at my …
Spirit of Christmas (and birthdays) Past
Having spent yesterday afternoon out shopping for Christmas presents, my thoughts turned to what sort of presents I remembered receiving in the Fifties. (No, Fifties month won't go away even now that it's turned into two months.) One of my best ever presents was a birthday gift from my parents: a large doll called Sally, …
Fifties month continues – the Festival of Britain
I'm afraid Fifties month has spilled over into December. My excuse is that I've been too busy writing fiction about the Fifties to worry about the facts. I find it very difficult to concentrate on both at the same time. I haven't quite managed to squeeze all my research into the novel (yet!) but that …
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Cecilia Peartree - woman of mystery 