A lot of things we believe come from some pretty suspect sources. If you’re like me, you believe that in the days of sail navies – both military and merchant – were full of press-ganged victims, that the food was foul, the officers brutal and you could be flogged for little or no reason. In…
I watched The Hobbit the other day. It’s old history, I know, but that’s how it is at my place. Anyway, having watched the movie (part 1) I re-read the book for the first time in many years. It was an interesting exercise in seeing how a children’s book was adapted to be a fitting…
As a writer, I rub shoulders (virtually) with lots of other writers. On Facebook I’ll often see quotes from people like Stephen King, or Hemingway and others. Inspirational stuff. I think. But sometimes writing advice needs to be weighed and measured before it’s blindly believed. Here are a few I’ve encountered. Read lots Really? Oh,…
Although the vast majority of the action in To Die a Dry Death happens on the Abrolhos Islands, some of it takes place in the city of Batavia itself. Pelsaert had a meeting with Governor Jan Pieterszoon Coen to inform him the ship Batavia had been wrecked, Pelsaert had a second meeting with the new…
There is one rule of writing you break at your peril, and that is – do your research. I was involved in an interesting discussion with writers of science fiction, based on a blog post about whether the ‘science’ was important in science fiction. Specifically, the author discussed a scenario in a novel where a…
It’s time to start a new writing adventure, face the cold, blank screen and begin. For me, it’s the hardest part of the whole process – the empty page. Once something – anything – is down, words are written, then you can read them back and change them, because the thought is there, translated into…
The Battle of Bannockburn, fought over two days in the summer of 1314, was when the Scots came of age, and Robert the Bruce cemented his hold on the Scottish throne, and sent Edward II’s English army packing. The field on which the most famous of battles between England and Scotland was fought, is visible…
Oh, man. The majestic Imperial Star Destroyer. I’ve said before it was one of the reasons I fell in love with Star Wars. Here it is in all its glory. Bristling with weapons, a space-going aircraft carrier cum assault ship. According to Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, the 1.6km long…
I recently posted a few dioramas of the engine room (so to speak) of Stirling Castle – the kitchen and bake house. We also visited the upstairs chambers, where the gentry lived. Much of the restored part dates back to the sixteenth century. At this time, the kings of Scotland used Stirling Castle as home….
Scotland is, of course, full of Scottish history. One of the most interesting visits we made was to Stirling Castle, which stands on a rugged crag above the town of Stirling. As with all these castles, some sort of fort would have stood up there for millennia. Over the years, the walls and buildings were…