Category Archives: Fiction

As I Died Lying

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

Last autumn, John, Stuart and I, the three Dark Angels (d’archangels as we’ve now been christened by the endlessly inventive Faye Sharpe – see link to the Secret Archaeologist in the blogroll below), had a mad idea. It was a … Continue reading →

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Spit and polish

Posted on March 15, 2013 by

Today we’re setting off to Balavil, a large house in the Highlands, on our maddest Dark Angels adventure to date – an attempt by 15 writers to produce a collective novel (I’ve mentioned it in previous posts). We obviously won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Dark Angels, Fiction, Stories, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tennis elbow

Posted on March 8, 2013 by

This is a bit of an experiment. I’ve got mild tennis elbow and I’m trying to give my arm a rest, so I’m dictating via the voice recognition software that I’ve used over the last few years when writing books. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business writing, Fiction, Language, Music, Stories, Writing | 11 Comments

Music and silence

Posted on March 1, 2013 by

I have two piles of books beside my bed. On top of one is A Book of Silence. On top of the other is The Big Music. I’m reading the first, the second has just arrived. Their juxtaposition is serendipitous, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Landscape, Music, Non-fiction, Personal development, Scotland, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Holding back

Posted on February 22, 2013 by

I was ready to be moved to tears at the Dunfermline Crematorium, but I wasn’t expecting Steely Dan. Beloved of musical anoraks for their technical precision, and of anyone else with any pretensions to being cool for the two fingers … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Music, The Witness, Writing | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

House of stories

Posted on December 7, 2012 by

In March we’re taking a Dark Angels group to the Highlands to see if we can write a collective novel. It’s a slightly mad idea but we’ve reached the point now where we have a group of people who’ve been … Continue reading →

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The next big thing

Posted on November 23, 2012 by

I’ve been persuaded by my fellow Dark Angel John Simmons to take part in something known as The Next Big Thing. It’s described as an author blog chain. This is how it works. I answer the questions below and ‘tag’ … Continue reading →

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Reading matters

Posted on June 1, 2012 by

A circular from the Society of Authors dropped into my inbox yesterday morning. Although the theme was not a new one, I stopped and read it carefully. The Society of Authors is the unaffiliated trade union that represents around 9,000 … Continue reading →

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Hurley burley

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

The hurlymans are still with me (see Day of the Door). I’m on my way back from Cornwall where I have just spent four days in a house overlooking an entirely deserted sweep of beach with no other human habitation … Continue reading →

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Tongue-tied

Posted on April 21, 2012 by

It’s unpleasant to feel a language slipping from one’s grasp. There was a time when I was a confident French speaker. I was taught it very well at an early age by an inspired teacher who showed us large pictures of … Continue reading →

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