My current ‘Finding Inspiration Through Folklore’ course is drawing to a close. Among other things, we’ve been looking at stones. From beach pebbles to standing monoliths, stone is significant, symbolic and often sacred to us. Think of henges, cathedrals and statues.

You’ll have to allow me a little digression here, because although my blog posts are usually fairly frivolous, how can I write about statues and not mention the seismic changes that we’re now experiencing?

The year 2020 has really shaken us to the core, hasn’t it?When the pandemic first hit, we were fairly resigned to the inevitable lockdown. It made us stop and think, we said. This is a chance to slow down, to reconnect with what’s really important. Family, friends, baking our own bread and playing board games and family quizzes. It made us switch off our screens, go out and meet the neighbours, even if it was only from our doorsteps, and at a safe distance.

As the weeks wore on, despite the heartbreak of lost lives and lost livelihoods, we made peace with the ‘new normal.’ Many of us decided we didn’t actually want to go back to the way we were before.

Since we had so much thinking time, 2020 decided to give us something to really think about. The senseless death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers was beamed into our living rooms. There was no escape. We saw it all unfolding, in real time – one of the most horrific and brutal things I think I’ve ever witnessed. A rising, powerful tide of anger rose up and engulfed many nations, and as I write, the figure of Edward Colston, a man I’d never heard of until last week, has just been fished from the bottom of Bristol Harbour. Quite what happens to him now, who can tell, but it’s clear we must find a way to acknowledge the death, suffering and disempowerment he and his ilk were responsible for.

We were right – we cannot go back to the way we were. I feel shaken, by all the things I didn’t know, and all the voices I’m hearing. The words of historian Kate Williams really resonated with me.

I’m going to paraphrase, but she said it’s always been the powerful elite who

‘choose who we should venerate.’ The ‘city fathers’ of Bristol (and every other city) could have chosen to honour an abolitionist, Williams suggests, such as Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave who dedicated his life to the abolition movement and in 1789 published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of or Gustavus Vassa, the African.

I read this book when I was a second-time-around student, and it was my first real glimpse into the horror of the slave trade and Britain’s part in it. Strangely, we’d barely touched on this subject at school, which is really part of the problem, isn’t it?

But let me get back to my starting point. Stone. This time last year- 2019 seems like a different planet- I was conducting research into witch trials for my forthcoming book, Sight Unseen. As we know, thousands of women and some men – we don’t know the full extent- were summarily executed for witchcraft on these shores. They suffered terrible torture and deprivation before being forced to confess. What has this got to do with stone and statues? In my research, I came across this encouraging article about a proposed national memorial to those accused of witchcraft.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-49754814

We have many wrongs to right, but perhaps the democratising of our nation’s statues might be a good starting point.

Who would you choose to commemorate?

Below is one of my favourite stone memorials.

Maggie Wall’s Monument at Dunning, Perthshire. The graffiti says

‘Maggie Wall burnt here 1657 as a witch’.

Although the name Maggie Wall does not appear in the parish records, and there is no reference to her execution, writer and researcher Geoff Holder discovered that a field named Maggies or Muggies Walls was known in the 18th c and in later maps, a Maggie Walls Wood appears.

The monument to the unknown Maggie is in effect a monument to all of those souls caught up in the hysteria and horror of the witch trials.

My late creative writing tutor Jim Stewart would often remark that ‘reading is a very serious business!’ Jim didn’t have a television and I’m pretty sure he didn’t bother with electronic devices or audiobooks, just an industrial pile of traditional, much-loved hardbacks. His book case comprised of planks and bricks, which could be dismantled and repositioned in the event of a house move. A no frills, practical solution to a very serious business.

I’m not half the reader Jim was, but I’m determined to do the best I can, with Goodreads nudging me when fall by the wayside. I am dividing my reading time between my Kindle, my Audible account and of course lovely ‘proper’ books, borrowed and bought.

I’ve just finished The Stopping Places by Damian Le Bas, a fascinating insight into Gypsy culture. You can read my Goodreads reviews here

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Everyone is talking about a New Decade while a lot of other people are saying it’s not a New Decade until 2021. Something to do with us not having a Year Zero. But are we certain there was no Year Zero or are we merely speculating? It’s all a bit like the Millennium when we speculated about our computers melting. So, going on the assumption that a New Decade is actually going to happen (unlike the computer meltdown), it’s probably quite a good idea to pause for breath and take a look behind…!

Ten years ago, I had just enrolled as a mature student at the University of Dundee. It was quite a leap of faith, because in order to go full-time, I had to give up my job in a pharmacy and find something that I could fit in around lectures. That meant either late night bar work or early morning cleaning. Being a lark rather than an owl, I plumped for the latter, although I did spend three months as the worst bar tender/waitress in Angus.

My abiding memory of cleaning is gazing longingly out of the canteen window in the Carnoustie Co-op watching the sunrise and longing to be somewhere else. My memories of Dundee Uni are coloured by a sense of optimism and possibility. Of course, it was hard work, but I’ve always loved learning and my MA opened my eyes to so many things. In fact, I think I’ve learned more about life and the way the world works in the last decade than at any other time in my life. By 2014, I was still there, studying for a Masters in writing practice. It very slowly dawned on me that I might, just might, get my writing published.

My current novel, available from all the usual outlets!

In the last four years, I’ve signed with an agent (the lovely Jenny Brown) and have published three books with Polygon. I’m currently writing my fifth novel, the second in my new Sarah Sutherland series (the first, Sight Unseen, will be out this summer) and I also have a non-fiction title all set to go.

My debut- and a very special nomination

That time I got my (almost) own billboard!

I’ve been lucky enough to visit some wonderful places for writing-related events, such as India and Iceland and lots of places in Scotland that I’ve never visited before.

Perfect travelling companions! Lin Anderson and Jenny Brown

Kelvingrove Writers

I’ve met the most wonderful people- fellow students, fellow writers, industry professionals, book lovers, booksellers, book bloggers, festival programmers and volunteers- an amazingly cheerful and dedicated community  I’d be lost without, and that includes those lovely ladies Dawn Geddes and Elizabeth Frattaroli, my Chasing Time partners-in-crime! We’ve held quite a few weekend retreats and day courses at our wonderful Arbroath sanctuary. Watch this space for more!

The Chasing Time Team hits EIBF!

Personally, the last few years have been difficult. I lost my father and my much-loved mother-in-law within twelve months of each other and another family member has been fighting cancer for over two years. I suppose writing is a bit of an escape, and while people describe me as being ‘prolific’, I think it’s more to do with the fact that time is so precious. Perhaps I have a sense of time running out. Here we are in 2020 already- how did that happen? So many ideas, so little time!

My ‘mother out-law’, Joan and my Dad, Jack enjoying a family get-together with added wine

My New Year goals are simple- I just want to keep doing what I do, and maybe learning to do it better! Whatever stage you are on your own journey, writing or otherwise, may all your hopes and dreams be realised within the next decade. Happy New Year!