Quoyloo Quill

  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, ...

Thanks to Orkney Scriever, Alison Miller, for her reflections in this blog piece. Would I like my personal diaries and letters to be read by other people when I’m dead and gone? Would I like them mined for works of fiction? It’s not an easy question to answer. Sure, while I’m still on the planet, the thought of somebody raking through private letters and journals feels somewhat uncomfortable. What did I say? What did I reveal about myself that I would rather keep hidden? Did I malign people? Was any of it actionable? I could ensure this scenario never happens by getting rid of diaries and letters while I still have time. On the other hand, when I’m dead, I don’t imagine I’ll give a stuff.   I recall a writer friend telling me she’d destroyed all her journals, written over decades of her life because she didn’t want her daughters-in-law to read them when she’s gone. The pang I felt when she said this was visceral. How could she consign years of details of her life, years of tho...

An odd title for the, belated, first blog of the year (and apologies to Blondie), but there is a reason. One of my New Year's resolutions is to take a photograph every day of something pertinent. So far, so good, although some are more interesting than others and I have had to revert to photographing my cats on quieter days, but I wonder if, come December, I shall still be clicking away, or will have long forgotten my January resolve. My other resolution, inspired by fab notelets I received for Christmas, is to write a 'proper' letter once a month and send it by Royal Mail to a friend or family member. Having long got out of the way of writing letters, this is not an easy task and seems a stupid one, given the convenience of email. No need to buy stamps and find a postbox, instant delivery and possible reply within minutes. However, there is something nice about receiving a letter or card in the post. My daughter did advise me, once, that there was no point getting a card u...

The middle of this month saw a significant birthday arrive for me and I decided to celebrate for a week rather than just a day. My celebrations started the weekend before the actual day with a trip to Royal Leamington Spa for a Murder Weekend (Joy Swift's Original Murder Weekends) I first went to one of these events in 1986 and over the years I have been to a few. As well as a chance to exercise the little grey cells, the weekends are an excellent chance to dress up, pretend to be someone you're not and meet some fantastic people. For the fancy dress dinner, with a theme of 'T', myself and my sister dressed as beer cans and went as two cans (toucans). No spoilers, but the plot was fiendishly complicated and very apposite. A great time was had by all. Following the weekend, I joined other members of my family at Gleneagles to continue the celebrations, which included a trip to Edinburgh to hear an organ recital in Greyfriars, with pieces by Bach, Buxtehude and Franck.  F...

  Last weekend I had the great pleasure of attending the inaugural Wick Indie Book Festival - postponed from 2020 for obvious reasons. The event was organised by Glyn Salisbury and his 'Write Place 2b' writing group, based in Wick, and took place in the Norseman Hotel over three days. The hotel is centrally placed, with friendly staff and plenty of nearby parking. Sunday lunch - a reasonably priced 3 course carvery - was delicious and the staff very attentive. Some of our group had special dietary requirements and one young waiter went out of his way to be helpful. As I was unable to attend on the Friday, I missed talks by Gaby Barnby and Birgit Itse, a workshop given by Glyn and readings from members of the Write Place 2b group. On Saturday, however, I heard talks by Morag Macrae, Stuart Wardrop, Gail Anthea Brown and Les Cowan on subjects as varied as children's writing, how to write short stories, publishing and crime fiction with a difference. On Sunday I went to a talk...

On Friday 12th August I had the joy of visiting Hoy for a creative writing workshop held in the Hoy Heritage Centre. Hoy is always a delight to visit, even in the rain, and even the short boat journey across from Stromness is something to be anticipated with pleasure, as you never know who you will meet. On this occasion I got talking to a lady who admired my Judith Glue runic cardigan (which I have had for over twenty five years and is still wearing well). The writing workshop was led by Stromness based poet, writer and musician Yvonne Gray, who encouraged the participants to write haibun and haiku - haibun being short prose poetry combined with haiku - inspired by Hoy. This included our own experiences of the island and also using pieces from the Heritage Centre display, which gave a fascinating insight into Hoy life. It was great to meet up with old friends, as well as making new ones and I think everyone would agree the day was stimulating in a creative sense and also highly enjoya...

                                          Sorry for the partially misleading title, this has nothing to do with Captain Kirk or Star Trek. As those familiar with this blog may know, my brother is called Jim. The heading is the inspiration for a talk I'm preparing for a book event in Wick, early October. It is being organised by Wick writer Glyn Salisbury and more on this may follow in future blogs. My talk, as you may have surmised, is on writing historical fiction - or at least my experiences of doing so. Hence the quick sand warning in the photo! Historical fiction is a broad church, so to speak. My first novel The Organist (Yolk Publishing 2016) can be described as a historical love story, set in 1911/1912. I wanted to set it just before the Great War and as I first had the notion to write it in 2012 I thought a hundred years before that was a good place to beg...