Blackness Castle Situated on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, looking towards the Forth Bridges and Queensferry Crossing, Blackness is a castle I visited prior to writing this blog. I returned this summer having applied for a volunteering role as a visitor connector with Historic Scotland at Blackness Castle and I’m thrilled to … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 202
Greyfriars Although having visited countless times, the opportunity of joining a free tour of Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh came into my inbox, so I joined up and went along on what turned out to be a cracking day weather wise. As the tour was scheduled for mid-afternoon, I travelled in early and spent time reading … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 201
Two Hundred I note from earlier in this blog, that my one hundredth post was entitled ‘One Hundred’ so I suppose calling this one ‘Two Hundred’ is appropriate. At the time of writing I now have a little over one hundred and twenty-one thousand words. My rationale for these posts was outlined in post one … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 200
City Art Centre After my visit to the Edinburgh Modern Art Gallery, then stopping off to view St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, I headed for the City Art Centre in Market Street just off Waverley Station. This site is dedicated to Scottish visual and applied arts, past and present. Pieces from the Scottish art collection are … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 199
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
