Ali Bacon's Blog, page 10
October 16, 2016
More Photographic Treats
The white chocolate shortbread may be gone, but this week has been a good one for feeding my early photography obsession.
First of all Rob Douglas, the contemporary calotyper who I met in St Andrews, sent me prints of his own calotypes. I apologise for giving you a poor digital version of Burnside Farm and the Spindle Rock taken exactly as they would have been by John and Robert Adamson in 1843. Rob’s originals, on plain paper of course, are much more detailed and evocative. Take a look at h...
September 27, 2016
To healthy obsessions
photo by Alan Morrison,ASM Media-PR
Going to the first ever St Andrews Photography Festival was such a thrill, only part of which was having my first ever one woman show. I’m happy to say the show was everything Iwanted it to be withanattentive and appreciative audience. But in a way the real thrill was discovering I wasn’t the only one obsessed with the lives of a small group of people (all of whom died over 100 years ago) and their photographs. Which of course I knew to be the case. But itw...
September 15, 2016
Cheltenham Litfest, Monday October 10th: a late show not to be missed
First of all this post is not about me, because Stroud Short Stories Greatest Hits is not about me, even if I do happen to be in it, which of course makes me absurdly pleased very time I think about it.
As pleased as the Ugly Duckling when he saw himself reflected in the water and said,‘Me? A swan?!’
But that’s not the point. I am urging all writers and readers within reach of Cheltenham on Monday Oct 10th to get themselves along because the event is a celebration of the Stroud Short Stories...
July 17, 2016
St Andrews Photography Festival – being part of it
“Celebrating 175 Years of Photography in the home of Scottish Photography”.
By invitation!
When I found out about the first St Andrews Photography Festival taking place this summer, I had a pang of regret thatI wouldn’t be there to see it. However, in an unexpected turn of events, I will actually be part of it as I’ve been invited to read my historical fiction in a festival event on September 9th.I can’t think of anything more special than to take my work to the placewhere the story began, an...
July 11, 2016
We all love Andy now
Last year on Andy’s bench in Dunblane (he probably needed a haircut too).
Some of my friends think I’m ridiculously attached to Andy Murray. This post from 2013 explains why.
Growing up in Scotland and loving tennis is a difficult path to follow and I should know. In my home town not a million miles from Dunblane, the weather was always rubbish. A lot of my school tennis memories involve looking out of the window hoping the puddles on the court wouldevaporate by the afternoon gym period. I wa...
June 22, 2016
Another Flash in the Pen or, ‘Is that a ukulele I can hear?’
Suddenly it’s summer – on the calendar if not in the air right now, and here’s something to celebrate.Authors Electric, where I blog on the 22nd of each month (latest is here) have published a new anthology to accompany last year’s Flash in the Pen with something in it by me – light-hearted, seasonal, and no ukuleles (or ukulele players) were harmed in the making thereof!
But apart from me, there are some great authors in there, all well worth a look.
Heads-up! The price of the e-book is only...
June 10, 2016
St Andrews in a New Light: the Adamson family
Every now and then we go back to St Andrews and always find things have changed. I already knew my old hall of residence had become luxury apartments (!) but it was somehow even more of a culture shock to find Fatface , Costa and Waterstones rubbing shoulders with more – um, traditional establishments.But each time we go we have a new purpose and see the place in a new light. This time I was on a bit of a research mission.
Right from the start, my interest in Hill and Adamson was piqued by kn...
May 2, 2016
Ali Bacon, feeling blessed
Inan age wheneven best-sellingauthors are rarely given any tangible reward for turning out to big festivals, however distant or inconvenient, needless to say lesser mortals only ever do these things only for fun and for the love of what they do (which in itself gives smaller events the special atmosphere remarked on here by Joanna Penn).
Which is why amongst all the other delights of the Hawkesbury Upton Litfest it was a lovely surprise to discovermy author’s badge didn’t just bring interesti...
April 21, 2016
It’s here – that big weekend!
What possible excuse can there be for not stopping here to flag up possibly the busiest weekend ever to have gracedmy calendar? I’ll leave out theFriday golf and light opera event and cut to the chase of things I feel you need to know about.
So here we go, here we go …
Bright and early on Saturday I’ll be off to the increasingly famous village of Hawkesbury Upton where the Indefatigable Debbie Young(whose name you may remember!) is staging the second HU Litfest.If you’d like to catch me ther...
March 13, 2016
Libraries Matter
In Emersons Green Library with Radio Bristol
This blog seems to have become the repository for mattersclose to my heart and as is the way of these things sometimes you don’t realize how much something matters until it’s under threat. Not that cuts to libraries are anything unusual, but suddenly it’s our libraries and yes, they matter a great deal.
For anyone not in the know, here’s a summary of the present situation re South Glos libraries as provided by a representative of thecouncil (my emp...
