Wednesday 5 December, 2018
This is a little Christmas tale for boys and girls of all ages.
It was written for Ethan (5) and Drew (3) who are busy making lists to send to Santa.
The story was prompted by a Writer’s Circus challenge “One Upon a Time”.
This version is revised to include more information about Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs.
Wednesday 10 October, 2018
In the early part of 2018 the UK suffered an extended spell of sub-zero weather.
Glasgow and the West of Scotland had snowfalls of 4 feet. The blast from Siberia lasted for days on end.
Transport was disrupted offering our local train company Scotrail
Abelio a perfect additional excuse for late running, station skipping and
obfuscation.
This gives the backdrop for this candy floss piece.
Read on and believe!
Wednesday 22 August, 2018
This is a tale based on fact from a long ago story.
It is set in Aberdeen at the height of the North Sea oil exploration boom in 1998.
Its memory was disinterred from my long-suffering memory cell when I was asked to set the
theme for our August story at Writers’ Circus.
I always have thousands of ideas for stories but caught unawares, I chose “Quandary”.
As frequently happens, I made several false starts on wildly different stories when this
one lit up and wrote itself, more or less.
My friends received it with modest enthusiasm and I edited to their comments.
I hope you enjoy it.
Mercifully short at around 4,500 words/ about 15 or so minutes to read.
Tuesday 7 August, 2018
A few weeks ago our web hosting provider ‘disappeared’.
However, as you will have discovered by making this visit, the internet address is unaffected.
Not everything was lost. We have recovered everything up to October 2017.
So, what you have today is the website as it was at that date.
All the missing stories are safe, backed up several times elsewhere but the introductory tags to the stories are lost in hyperspace and will need to be re-written.
Over the weeks ahead, I shall reinstate the missing stories with new tags.
If you visit the website during this time, you should see each story again as it re-appears.
When the website fully up-to-date again, I will email a round robin to my faithful readers and friends with this news.
Many thanks to my brilliant web master, Dr Michael Mackenzie.
Saturday 30 September, 2017
This is another tale about my father, usually called Jack or sometimes Jock.
It came from my Dad and recounts an incident which happened in retirement when Mum and Dad lived at Dewshill Cottages beside the busy M8 motorway in the shadow of the Kirk o Shotts TV and Radio transmitter.
I have enjoyed telling this story down through the years because it captures the essence of Dad.
After a recent re-telling I was urged by my son Craig to write it down.
If you enjoy this one, try Early One Morning, a story from his time working at Yorkhill Hospital for Sick Kids.
Thursday 29 June, 2017
This is a wee tale prompted by a Writers’ Circus challenge - ‘the light switch’.
As I wrote I thought of it as a tale to be told to children, that is, as a ‘read to’ story. And, as usual, I wondered how to find a willing and affordable illustrator.
My writer friend Peter soon pointed out that this is in fact a story for adults, an archive story to remind us all what our wee ones are/were like at Ethan’s stage when questions come relentlessly.
Kareth Paterson my editor suggested that if it was to become a story for kids then it would need a lot of work to dramatise the language etc.
So, here it is, nearly as written. Many years from now Ethan as a bigger boy might read and enjoy it.
Perhaps one day, when Santa brings or sends me an willing and industrious illustrator, I will re-vamp it as a children’s story. Pigs might fly.
As you read you may detect that Ethan is keen on ice-cream and sweets, items he gets only very infrequently. Think healthy eating, think fruit!
Tuesday 13 June, 2017
This is a sad little tale about neighbours in a high rise block.
It was written in response to a Writers’ Circus challenge: “The man/woman upstairs.”
Monday 12 June, 2017
This is another Maisie Kaywood story.
It reveals another side of Maisie and takes us into the world of of the medical profession.
Many thanks are due to Kareth Paterson for her diligence an fortitude. Any remaining errors are all mine,
Tuesday 11 April, 2017
At Writers’ Circus we were challenged to write a piece about flying.
This tale recounts a short joy flight we experienced in Australia when visiting friends.
It happened a long time ago, but the take-off and landing trauma is with me still.
Far better to be in a big, big plane, with eyes firmly closed.
Tuesday 11 April, 2017
This story was written for Euan, our neighbours’ son, then 9 years old.
It is a story about three boys who live at the Antonine Wall, near Bearsden.
The boys live on the safe side which is controlled by the Romans.
They have been told repeatedly never to go north of the wall to the lands where the savage Pictish people live.
However, the best fishing is in the Pictish lands, and the lure of Trottus Enormos proves too great.