Mairiuna, I finally found the picture of Thomas Carlyle’s statue that we took while crossing the little village of Ecclefechan, in the southern region of Dumfries & Galloway, close to the English border. 🙂 The artist, Joseph Edgar Boehm, has depicted the philosopher of Chelsea seated in an arm-chair, in deep study. More statues of Thomas Carlyle can be found, … Continue reading →
Day after day, in our quest of Scotland, we go deeper and deeper into that fascinating country and like hungry pilgrims on a never ending path we discover new horizons at each turn. So, let us walk on, listening on the road to what people say and write there… If you could see my library, you couldn’t believe it. Since … Continue reading →
You know, Mairiuna, how much I love going out to book sale events and I am very happy to let you know that my most recent outing to research Scottish author’s books was a rewarding one. Maybe not as much in quantity as the McGill University Annual Book Fair but still, the quality of books found was definitely worth the … Continue reading →
Hey Janice, did I tell you I had received The Lore of Scotland, by Jennifer Westwood and Sophia Kingshill? Remember, I had mentioned it in my last post. You know, I have always been very interested in myths and legends and so I’m looking forward to reading it. When I was a little girl, I used to come back from … Continue reading →
The 11th Wigtown Book Festival has just closed its doors. So, once more they did it ! And if the feast is over the music can still be heard ! The 2008 Wigtown Book Festival won the Thistle Award for Best Regional Event and Festival but there is no doubt that the 2009 edition will have been as successful as … Continue reading →
The Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective? Sure Mairiuna, it is with great pleasure that I will talk more about it, especially that information on this very unique literary award is not easily gathered online. Furthermore, it is rather confusing as they are several categories. I first heard about it when blogging a few days ago about Christopher Brookmyre‘s novel, … Continue reading →
How are we going to cope with our Scottish reading list, that’s what I wonder Janice… we’re adding new authors and new books everyday, in all genres, from all times and not only Scottish books of course, though these ones do appear to be on the top of our list ! Not to mention our favourite Scottish magazines : Scots, … Continue reading →
There is so much to say and so much going on at The Mitchell Library in Glasgow that I will, Mairiuna, stay in the building for another blog post. Especially so, that there will be a Book Launch this month in the Mitchell Library Theatre, for Pandaemonium, the latest book written by Christopher Brookmyre, well known Scottish crime fiction novelist. … Continue reading →
What a great tour into Sue Walker’s literary work you just guided us through Mairiuna! It is so interesting that I will continue on the same path for a while and explore how the unique atmosphere of a particular place provides inspiration to an author. And come to think of it, to capture such “sense of place” is a great way … Continue reading →
(…) “I was asked by an acquaintance recently how the inspiration for my novels came about. A common enough question and I had a straightforward reply. ‘Location, location, location.’ And that answer, to a great extent, is the whole truth. It is certainly the case that the locations used in The Reckoning (the island of Fidra and the East Lothian … Continue reading →
The Rebus Tours ! Can’t wait to play the game Janice, but you know, it’s already listed on Itinerary 7, together with the Ghosts Tours and a number of other ones for that matter! Remember how we used to stop in front of every poster advertising the Tours in Edinburgh and how desperately we tried to understand what the lively … Continue reading →
On the subject of anniversaries and detectives, I’m indeed very pleased Mairiuna to talk about another well known Scottish author, Ian Rankin, creator of the famous Scottish detective Sergeant John Rebus. Back in 1987, when his novel Knots & Crosses introducing for the first time Inspector Rebus was published, Ian Rankin had no idea that he would win, in 1991-92, … Continue reading →
Quite touching the idea of portraying Sherlock Holmes brooding over the death of his author… all the more since we know how,  at one time, Conan Doyle got so tired of his character that he decided to ‘kill’ him. “I must save my mind for better things,” he wrote to his mother. In The Final Problem, published in 1893, Conan … Continue reading →
