St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral ‘Stopped into a church I passed along the way’ is an apt line from a song that came to mind while on the way back from my visit to the Edinburgh Modern Art Gallery (see Part 197 of this blog). The song is California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & The Papas … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 198
Electronica Part 2 I recently visited the Modern Art Gallery in Edinburgh. This was long overdue as I hadn’t attended for a couple of years. I regularly visit the venues in the centre of town, but the Modern is about a half hour walk from the National Galleries so I could never go during my … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 197
New Novels It’s been awhile since I’ve provided an update. Circumstances have changed and I find myself retired from the frontline of cyber security, and attempting to adjust to life with the possibility of time to write on a regular basis. Many folk have noted before, that the reality once it comes around, is never … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 196
Giants I was excited to visit the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh to see a new exhibition called Giants. This features ten extinct mammals which existed tens of millions of years ago and are described as giants on account of their colossal size. These examples are the largest ever to have walked on the … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 195
Still Glasgow I decided to to return to the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) to see what was new. I previously blogged about the gallery in May 2025, in Part 149 of this blog series. Some of the exhibits are still in place, notably John Akomfrah, Mimesis: African Soldier; the Sharon Hayes exhibit and … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 194
Are you a footballer? Playing catch-up here, but I did visit the Whisky Experience at the top of the Royal Mile recently. I’ve been before, but it has changed a bit and was a really enjoyable experience. Also tried the Bowmore 20 year old single malt in the bar later on which was a real … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 193
Robert Burns Portrait I took a trip to the National Gallery in Edinburgh to see what is described as the lost portrait of Robert Burns. As a fan of his work this was quite an occasion. I was fortunate to be able to find a space to see the painting as the lunchtime queue for … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 192
Stirling Castle I’m currently a member of Historic Scotland and my membership gives me free entry to Stirling Castle. The last time I visited was in between lockdowns during the pandemic, with masks and social distancing still in place, so I was overdue another visit. I’ve often mentioned in this blog about following in the … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 191
2025 I can’t believe it’s February already and I haven’t written my review of last year. So here it is. It was a good year. I had writing plans and didn’t manage to stick with them, though I did manage to produce some work. It happens. I suspect it’s the same every year. I blogged … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 190
The Wallace Monument Revisited In blog post number 91, I featured the Wallace monument. I recently made a return visit and this time took to the stairs to the top. I don’t make the climb every time I go – it’s not free – but recently I chose to go early morning, but unsurprisingly I … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 189
