Welcome to the Quoyloo Quill

                                             Welcome to the first blog from the Quoyloo Quill. 


To start, we have my three feline friends who help with the writing and who will be happy to greet you personally any time you are passing their garden in Quoyloo. You are also very welcome to PYO raspberries when the fruit ripens next month.

July has been an active(!) month of reading and reviewing books from fellow writers and also of getting down to editing and writing. If you want to do any writing friends a big favour, then please think about adding reviews to online sites, as well as sharing by word of mouth.
A shout out here for Sarah Norquoy and Gaby Barnby (pen name Helena Cooke), both Orkney buddies with recent books on The Orcadian shelves.

Although playing the organ is not yet possible with lockdown restrictions, have spent the time getting to know the 'masters' better and names such as Franck, Dupre, Vierne, Widor and Alain may creep into future blogs.

Keep safe and sane!

Babs






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Literary Skulduggery from Shetland, courtesy of poet Chris Tait

Image
  I am excited and delighted that poet Chris Tait has agreed to contribute to the Quill. Chris is not only an outstanding poet, but is also a playwright, fantasy writer and spoken word supremo. She currently lives in Glasgow, but her writing still very much flows from her Shetland roots. The poems are from her anthology Literary Skulduggery.  https://amzn.eu/d/11yOlvM The Stone Solitaire Islands A skull in a blistered helmet Called from the Nordic crews His bones marched streets in amulets And sailed seas like a bruise His ruined croft was Camelot A golden egg by a goose Rings on cushions from rats Bonds for the guizer jarl's house The ruffled manes of hamlets In a rock measured radius Crofters jousted for their plots Tassels are handcuffs and a noose Beelzebub and his Minions Patrick's criminal fingerprints He clumsily slipped the sovereign At the castle with razor points The carriage burst to a pumpkin The little match girl was a servant Learning spells with cauldrons Banquet
Read more

Irish Folklore by Nina Oram

Image
  I am delighted to welcome Irish based writer Nina Oram to the Quoyloo Quill. Nina's books are bulging treasure chests of Celtic folklore, some of which are not too far removed from Orcadian folk legends. When Babs offered me the chance to talk about my writing and Irish mythology and folklore, I was thrilled and honoured. I thought it would be so easy, after all, my trilogy and many of my stories are immersed in Ireland’s rich tradition, and yet the more I tried to put my thoughts down, the more elusive they became. It was like unpicking a knot. My YA Dark Fantasy Trilogy started with a trip to the Carrowkeel Tombs, five neolithic tombs perched on top of a hill in County Sligo in the province of Connacht. Being able to sit inside stone walls that had been built millennia ago, listening to the wind shriek past, was for me, sublime. Evoking, as it always does, that strangely wonderous feeling of having connected with something magical. But old magic. The magic of the crow,
Read more

Travels with my Neighbour

Image
                                   Our first trip, so to speak, was a quick jaunt to Birsay for a tea/coffee in the tearoom there and a look out to sea. It wasn't until after our second 'joy ride' - a sunny drive to the round church in Orphir, en route encountering a distinctly uncooperative set of traffic lights, and admiring a preening seal in the shallow waters of Stenness loch - that the idea for a journal took root. Although neither my neighbour nor I are reduced to wearing purple (well, maybe sometimes) we are both of an age to laugh in the face of self-consciousness, which augured well for hearty adventures. Two things came to mind when planning this blog. The first is that due to declining eyesight and reduced mobility my neighbour no longer drives herself. During our trip she observed with wonder the cloud patterns over Hoy and the sun ripples on the water of the loch, and declared how beautiful Orkney is. My neighbour has lived on Orkney for many years, but not ge
Read more