Fran Macilvey's Blog, page 36
August 16, 2017
Swimming in the Aegean
Swimming in the Aegean
The soft Aegean
Rocks and salts my palid skin
Burned red by hot sun
A haiku for my writing group, the Thistle Scribblers. Thanks for revealing and sharing the mystery of haikus.
Comparing notes with my sister yesterday, we agree that the Aegean is unusual – soft, it moves slowly. It appears to have no swell or breakers to speak of, the shoreline disrupted instead by waves generated by those in speedboats offering rides and thrills out in the flat waters just beyond t...
August 14, 2017
Our Big Five
Our Big Five
No, not the animals in Africa that hunters find most difficult to track on foot; not the lion, the rhino, the leopard…
No, I’m only referring to our holiday travels. Our big five featured on our holiday to Greece, from which we have just returned burned, blistered and a bit dazed by the intense light and heat. I loved it, but even for me, it proved a bit too hot…
Our itinerary was a rather complicated:-
Taxi to Waverley station, train to London Kings Cross, Train from St Pancras...August 12, 2017
Getting Back to Normal
Getting Back to Normal
Welcome back after the long Summer break – I’m so pleased to be blogging again. It’s great to be getting back to normal, settling back into the usual routines.
But, hang on….
It seems we all take holidays and travel away, abroad in vast numbers each year for a week or two, to ‘get away from it all’. There are dozens of clichés about seeking adventure, a change of scene, finding oneself. And, getting away can make me feel bigger, more expansive, and helps to broaden my p...
June 30, 2017
Ongoing projects
Ongoing projects
I have several ongoing projects, as I work best that way. The third book in my memoir/ MBS series, called, ‘Making Miracles’ is scheduled for publication before the end of the year; and the first of my fiction series, Lisa Somerville is being rewritten; these are my next two book projects for 2017.
But I also have some editing on-board for my mum, who has a lot of books to finish; plus – of course – all the usual routines and expectations which go with being a wife and mum –...
June 28, 2017
Going into business
Going into business
Going into business on our own account, there are two things to know, and lots of stuff to discover:
First, we are going to make mistakes – some people call these ‘learning curves’, others prefer to see them as un-necessary detours, some as par for the course, but most of us see our mistakes as somehow reprehensible, un-necessary, wasteful and even, sometimes, shameful. Mistakes are none of these things. In fact, I would characterise them as necessary, valuable, and a mat...
June 26, 2017
Writing for teens
Writing for teens
I’ve never seriously considered writing for teens, though my daughter has asked me often, if I would consider it. So it comes as a bit of a revelation to me – not for the first time, I realise – that young adults, teens from all over the world enjoy reading my memoir, Trapped. In exploring my life as it was, I never set out to consciously write a book for young adults, though my prose style tries to avoid over-sophistication. (Even as I write that, I worry: my daughter as...
June 22, 2017
My dear I wanted to tell you – Louisa Young
My dear, I wanted to tell you – by Louisa Young
I have been reading a lot about the first world war, lately. Having eagerly devoured Paxman’s two books, ‘Empire’ and ‘Great Britain’s Great War’ (which are like a primer course for anyone wanted an accessible entry into that vast subject) I felt willing to take on My Dear, I wanted to tell you, Louisa Young’s novel exploring the social and emotional turmoil of war from several perspectives.
I was a bit phased by the style of the writing at the...
June 20, 2017
Where would I be without my friends
Where would I be without my friends?
When I sit to think about how my life has changed in the last ten years, I am almost overcome with gratitude. My friends…are everywhere. I go to Meeting, I go to church, I go out for a walk, and always, someone will stop and say hello, and nice to see you. It is a pleasure to stroll, admiring the flowers, watching the little kids and their parents; and doing such things as this, the joys of friendship are like a gift.
I used to be so embarrassed by the...
June 19, 2017
A heartfelt thank you
A heartfelt thank you.
When my first book was published, the silence was … not exactly deafening, but… I got a hug from a friend, which I remember because it was unexpected and welcome, but nothing else happened. No streamers, no party, no ‘welcome to the world post-publication’. I hadn’t expected anything else, really; and when another friend offered to host a book launch in my usual venue – the Quaker Meeting House in Edinburgh – I had to decline her kind offer, because I was unable to s...
June 16, 2017
Lowering the voting age
All those in favour of lowering the voting age say ‘Aye!’
Given the ways our votes affect young people, increasingly I favour of lowering the voting age.
For some reason that is unclear to me, young people venturing forth seem to be discouraged from being too independent until they hit their mid-twenties.
Perhaps, until youth reaches the middle twenties, it is considered too radical, having little or no stake in the status quo. Increasingly, punitive legislation and the withdrawal of state su...
