There’s a quaint little coastal village, way up in the North-eastern corner of the country, that you could so easily overlook on a tour of Scottish points-of-interest because it’s just a little too far from the main road, or the train doesn’t go there. But if you ever do get the chance to meander along the coastline in Moray you’d probably be pleasantly surprised to find the little row of restaurants, cafes and bars overlooking a modern foot bridge which takes you directly onto a five-mile expanse of white sand peppered with crumbling concrete world-war-two pillboxes and dunes inhabited by seals and rare ground-nesting birds. It’s too cold for most…
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If you’ve never heard the term ‘Selkie’ before then odds are you’re not from Scotland. A Selkie is a traditional mythical creature that lives most of its life as a seal, bobbing about in the ocean, but on rare occasions will take off its seal skin to reveal the human beneath. Or in other words, Its a Ware-Seal! Stories of Selkies were popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and later were related in print by a number of early Victorian authors who introduced the idea of the immoral human peasant entrapping the beautiful selkie and having a child with her. For this version I’ve set it in the very…
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The town of Buckie presses itself back against the rocks as it nervously looks out across the mouth of the Moray firth right into the heart of the North Sea, its salt-stained and cracking buildings a stark reminder of the sheer force of nature this close to the edge. It was once a busy fishing port, its safe harbour walls enfolding countless small boats while music overflowed from lively pubs to compete with the laughter of crews returning from the sea. But that time has passed. The life of a fisherman has become harsher, the fish stocks have been diminished, and the town now smells more of rust and diesel…
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Well… I’ve finally done it. Welcome to my slightly scruffy little corner of the internet. I’m a fifty-eight-year-old, so-far-unpublished author. Yes, I know that makes me an “author” only in my own head for now, but I’ve decided it’s time to stop writing just for myself and actually share some of the stories rattling around in there. I’ve been scribbling since school, when short stories felt like a private pastime. Later, boarding school gave me the perfect excuse to dive into Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, where I became a dungeon master and spent countless hours building worlds for my friends to stumble through. University took me to Plymouth, where I…
