On An Awfully Big Blog Adventure, author Michelle Lovric has posted a fascinating look at why so many medieval and Renaissance portraits of the Virgin Mary include a cat. Well worth a look, art lovers (and cat lovers), and make sure you read the comments, too.
Michelle will be discussing ways to write about […]
Last Saturday I wandered around the grounds of Traquair House, soaking up the magical atmosphere of Traquair Fair, sipping tea in a yurt and visiting a Cabinet of Wonders inside a Tardis-like van. This was the very odd and enigmatic Kabinett Fatalia, the creation of […]
I thought this would cheer up those of you who live in Scotland. We’re coping with rain, rain and more rain (which we’re grateful for on the one hand and depressed about on the other), while the Continent copes with heat, […]
Ridley Scott’s new take on Robin Hood got me off the couch and into the movie theatre last night. It kept me entertained and at times mesmerised by the number of flying arrows, the amount of pitch poured down castle walls and the rocking boat scenes on an […]
Recently I added this photo to my Powerpoint presentation for school groups. It’s a mountain of The Blackhope Enigma
The sun is out. The 48 hour squall that passed over us, dropping snow, sleet and rain has moved out. Back to spring dreams.
I am ensconced in the Next Book and feeling how far I have come since I started writing The Blackhope Enigma. The learning curve was very steep but the rewards […]
Yesterday I found this battered little Matryoshka doll on the pavement. A lady at the bus stop looked at me oddly when I picked it up, but I didn’t much care because I like to […]
Last weekend we climbed up onto Cumbrian crags at sunset to wait for a necklace of torches along Hadrian’s Wall to be lit from the east to west. I have always liked the scene in The Lord of the Rings where huge beacon fires are lit […]
I’d like to think I don’t get complacent, but I do. I forget the wonders in my own back yard – in this case, Glasgow. That thing about tourists seeing more of a place than the locals do is true. I guess I am kind […]
I was browsing through this year’s nominations for Best Animated Short Film and came across Brown Bag Films‘ Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty. Two Irish animation studios have work nominated in the Animation categories this year, which is pretty good – the other is for hand-drawn […]