This spring I'm being haunted by Mary, Queen of Scots. Having finished the first draft of my latest novel, 'The Queen of Scots Mystery', I've now temporarily moved on to the task of sourcing props for - guess what? - an amateur theatre production of 'Mary Queen of Scots got her head chopped off' by …
The end is in sight
When I say the end, of course I mean just the end of the first draft. It is already clear (as it always is at this stage) that there are things in the middle that need to be re-arranged a bit. However, I can cautiously say 'The Queen of Scots Mystery' is reaching its climax. …
Returning home
Today I returned home. Or at least to my virtual home, Pitkirtly. Everything looks much the same as when I was last there. It isn't the kind of place that changes very much, or very quickly. Apart from the new Cultural Centre and new police station that have sprung up during the time I've been …
Warming up weekend
When I call this 'warming up weekend' I'm certainly not referring to the weather, which is cold and wet with traces of snow. I don't feel encouraged to go out, and the only thing to do seems to be to sit in the conservatory and prepare for April's writing challenge. I did wonder whether to …
As easy as 1, 2, 3
Up to now I haven't generally been very good at multi-tasking when it comes to writing, but I think I may be getting the hang of it. I now have 3 very different novels in mind which I hope to write this year. Fortunately the NaNoWriMo people seem to have been tuning into my plans, …
So tell me, Ms Peartree, where do you get your ideas?
Nobody has actually asked me the above question, but I do have a few answers prepared so I thought I might as well use them... Taking my latest publication, 'The Lion and Unicorn Quest' first, I can now divulge that I've been fascinated by the Festival of Britain for so long that I can't even …
Continue reading "So tell me, Ms Peartree, where do you get your ideas?"
Soft launch
I'm trying to be quite minimalist about releasing 'The Lion and Unicorn Quest' into the wild, so this may be your only warning that it has now gone live on Amazon. Now that I've done this I feel a gentle sense of melancholy. This novel has been in my head for some time, and now …
Almost ready
My latest mystery novel is unexpectedly almost ready for publication. I didn't realise this until yesterday, when I looked at the number and seriousness level of edits waiting to be done in the printed copy I used for proof-reading, and saw that because there were very few plot holes left (but I'm willing to be …
Marinated with a dash of heresy
Regular readers of my Pitkirtly series of mystery novels may have noticed recurring references to traditional Scottish recipes and delicacies. This is partly an attempt on my part to counterbalance the prevalent urban mythology about the Scottish diet – although I must admit one of my work colleagues swears by deep-fried confectionery to ward off …
Knowing where to start
A trip to the cinema to see Steven Spielberg's 'Lincoln' made me think about how difficult I would have found it as a writer to know where to start writing the script for it. Actually, one of the very many good things about this movie was that it made me think about quite a lot …
Cecilia Peartree - woman of mystery 