Culross I took time out to visit Culross last month. I’ve been many times, but as I’m now a member of the National Trust, it meant I had free entry to the Palace, so I wanted to revisit before it closes for the winter. It is described a a unique example of a merchant house … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 67
Falkland Palace Another popular destination on the Outlanders Trail, fans of the show will recognise the town square from the opening episode of the series. This location is more unusual in so much as the palace is adjacent to the town of Falkland itself. It is right of the main street in as you go … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 66
Catch-up It’s been a busy few weeks. Work has been full-on and fitting writing around it has been challenging. I’ve left the structural edit of The Clockmaker Conspiracy alone for now while I am now in the swing of writing out the draft of a follow-up to The Canongate Containment. I’m effectively doing NaNoWriMo in … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 65
Poetry It struck me the other day that I haven’t blogged about poetry. Looking at my book shelves I have a number of individual collections and anthologies which I dip into on a regular basis. Being Scottish, I was brought up with Robert Burns and had to learn by heart a number of his poems. … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 64
Doune Castle I revisited Doune Castle at the beginning of September. Those who are fans of the Outlander series, will know this was used for the fictional Castle Leoch, where Colum MacKenzie and his clan lived. As always I took a great many photographs, despite having done so on previous occasions. If you have watched … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 63
Castle Campbell I recently revisited Castle Campbell. With a backdrop of the Ochil Hills, it has a commanding view high above Dollar Glen and when standing on the top of the tower you can see why the location was chosen all those centuries ago. The architecture of the tower dates from the 1400’s, though it … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 62
Chapter One I hadn’t realised until I started the opening draft of the second book in my Will Logan dystopian crime series, that I spend around a week on chapter one before moving on and writing the rest of the novel in around four weeks. It appears I like to have a solid foundation on … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 61
Banksy I visited the Banksy exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow. I think his work is great and his way with a soundbite is entertaining and thought-provoking. He was quoted around the exhibition and there were moments when I had to laugh. I wasn’t expecting that. I’ve only ever seen pictures of … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 60
The Clockmaker Conspiracy I donated blood, so this is just a brief note to say again, if you can then please do. I understand not everyone is able for good reasons, but if you are fit to do so, then please think about it and give it a go. You have nothing to lose, other … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 59
Canongate 2 In part 55 I blogged about the feeling a new novel was on its way and hoping I would be able to do NaNoWriMo in September. I can report I’m all ready to go. I had an idea for a second book featuring my Edinburgh old town detective Will Logan, so I put … More Inside the Fiction Factory – Part 58
The Fiction Factory 