Orphir is a region of Mainland Orkney where once again we were immersed in history, this time 11th/12th century, and back to the murder of St. Magnus First, we visited the Orkneyinga Saga Centre to view documents and a fantastic audio-visual display about the saga, which tells the extensive history of the jarls (earls) of […]
Back again to yet another Neolithic chambered cairn – this one, Cuween Hill, is the final one we visited, and I’m glad, because I can tell you, if this had been the first, I would never have gone inside! The approach is up a steep hill (guess the name gives that away!), and it isn’t […]
Way back when I was starting to write with a view to publication, someone asked me about the theme of my book. It wasn’t something I’d even thought about: I was writing an SF adventure story, what did theme have to do with anything? I reckoned I’d better consider this question though, and happily answered […]
I’m really busy with work just now, catching up on what could not be done during lockdown, but I’m also continuing to read (and write), so here is my latest book review: WISP by Adele Marie Park Blurb: Edra; a world where magic flourishes and where dark secrets are concealed by those who rule. Secrets […]
A quick trip forward in time on Orkney again, moving from the Viking settlement across the causeway to the 16th-century Earl’s Palace on the Mainland. The ruins still display the layout and size of the palace, built around a large open courtyard. Nominally a castle (though it wouldn’t have been very defensible, in my opinion), […]
I’ve been a Star Trek fan since the very beginning. I’ve watched all the series over the decades, and a few weeks ago I took the plunge, re-instated my access to Amazon Prime TV, and started watching Picard. I hate to admit, I was pretty confused at the start, and felt I wasn’t watching Star […]
I had one of those lightbulb moments about another sporting technique that can easily be applied to writing. One of the most difficult things for a performance athlete to learn is total focus. This means learning that while you must address the things that are within your sphere of control, you must equally well learn […]
A little departure this week from the still-to-be-completed posts from Orkney. As lockdown eased and we were allowed to go back to work, I drove down to England to teach for a week. On the return journey I took a short stop at a beautiful site I haven’t visited for some years: The Hermitage at […]
Still catching up on my trip to Orkney, I’m taking us back in history again, this time to the Vikings. I recently read a fantastic historical novel (3 books in 1, really): King Hereafter, by Dorothy Dunnett. Published in 1982, the language is far more dense than modern books, and more Tolkein-esque in style with […]
I decided against reviewing these books separately, as it really only means much if you’ve read the earlier books in the series. I reviewed book #1 STORM BORN, and #2 THORN QUEEN already, and although each book is a separate story, there is one overall arc to all four, #3 IRON CROWNED and #4 SHADOW […]
