In the Maine, Community Banks kick ass

I confess. It is eight months since my last post. I am a lapsed Prolific. Since then: I’ve been home to Scotland; decided (with my loyal wife and life companion Juli) to move from Southern Maryland to Maine – six hundred miles and a climatic climactic away. Now we are near to family, who can share the care needed for our almost ninety-year-old parents/parents-in-law. Even if we still have to do the bulk of it, at least we can see everyone most weeks and it doesn’t involve an eleven or twelve hour journey. Now we live in a house which is all on one level. We’re still in the woods, but we can see the trees. And New England has some pleasures for us that we hadn’t realized.

Here is one out of many.

All over the US, there are community banks which still focus on what banks ought to focus on – the needs of customers and the security of their money. These banks weathered the 2008 crisis and its aftermath with the consummate skill of the good sailor. No toxic loans for them. No silly selling of unwanted or undesirable financial products. Just good, solid, sensible business, with the customer at the forefront.

Here in Freeport, we found three local banks which have a long history in the area. We chose, mainly because it was closest by about half a mile, the Bath Savings Institution. The local branch is modern, friendly and competent. It offers everything the twenty-first century customer needs, plus you get personal service and the sense of being part of a family. But the thing that really sold it for me was the fact that they decorate the interior of their building with pictures of old sailing ships. Plus, wonder of wonders, our debit card has a tall ship as its background. What’s not to like?

Bank of America (and others), eat your sad, greedy heart out.

Snippet of the Week

From the novel Flight of the Butterfly, rumoured to be nearing completion. The action here takes place in a former CCTV surveillance centre in the Pilton area of Edinburgh, Scotland. This is not the first time the two characters have appeared in the story.

In the  light of the monitor-phalanx, Sharon Renton performed her art. Keyboard and joystick extended the reach of nerves and synapses as she processed passing data into a three-dimensional picture of Pilton and its environs. Her skill was a synthesis of speed, capacity and imagination. Sometimes, she could tell what was going to happen next.

“No kidding,” Hughie would say. “Our Sharon can see into the future.”

Into the future, indeed. But it was the past that gripped Hughie. Ever since the huge Glaswegian had rumbled into their tiny space, he hadn’t been himself. As if memories had derailed his personal train. For a moment, Sharon’s seldom-seen face paused in its bubblegum-fuelled metamorphosis.

“Are you going to be a miserable git forever, Morrison, or is there some relief in sight?”

She could sense his shuffling, elephantine presence behind her.

“He was always that size, you know,” he said. “Like a rock. A big rock. He could have crushed all the other weans in the class without breaking sweat. But they didn’t take him on, of course. Too risky.”

“Aye, well,” said Sharon. “Sounds to me like he was a great pal to have, especially with you being such an unmitigated one-boy freak show.”

Hughie felt a change of subject coming on. Something more in his comfort zone. But it failed to materialise. Like a grandfather clock given a dunt by a passing stranger, everything jangled. Intimations of a past life, best forgotten, set off alarm bells in the present.

“I’ve missed something, Sharon. Something really important.”

Narrow-eyed, he peered at the screens as if inspiration might spring from there. A subtle change in the sound signature of the room caught his attention; Sharon had stopped chewing. She swivelled round to face him: “a rosebud blooming in the midst of a pile of shite,” as her mother had once said.

“What’s up, Dough-head,” she snapped. “Losing your marbles? ”

Hughie blinked.

“No, not at all, Sharon dear. I think I may just have found them. And tomorrow, I’m going to do something I haven’t done since I can’t remember when.”

Her face rushed through a series of genetically-encoded expression changes, before settling on utter disgust.

“Christ Almighty, Hughie! I hope your not talking about what I think your talking about. I mean, a girl could have nightmares about such a prospect. In fact, I’m having a nightmare right now.”

He waved a hand.

“No, no. For goodness sake, woman. Nothing like that. No, I’m going to go on a journey.”

Sharon shook her head and turned back to the screens.

“Well, see and take some string with you, Marco Polo. If you get lost, I’m not coming after you.”

Heather The Hound

In September of last year, our beloved Joe The Dog (sometimes known as JTD) was tragically and unexpectedly whisked off to the Great Doggy Park in the Sky. He was chasing a squirrel at the time, and failed to notice the SUV bearing down on him. We like to think that he was at least doing something he enjoyed when he died.

The thing is, I looked on Joe as a canine muse. Twice a day, he and I would walk the beach or stomp through forest trails. He would sniff out the delicious smells, forage for crunchy snacks and, occasionally, play fetch or wrestle a bit. I would wander into my alternate universe, peopled by the characters and the stories that I had created. Here was the ideal opportunity to chew on plot tangles, develop personalities and play out dialogue and action.

His departure didn’t stop me writing, but it certainly did slow things down. I thought I might continue the walks on my own, but the motivation was gone and I found it hard to be accompanied by JTD’s ghost everywhere I went.

Time past. We decided not to get another dog. “They are such a tie,” we said. “They take up so much time,” we said. “They are so expensive,” we said. And yet. Without any previous discussion, we discovered one day that we were both thinking that the time had come. Enter Heather The Hound (HTH). Heather’s early family history is a blank sheet. She was almost certainly bred as a hunting dog (she is a Harrier mix) and then dumped somewhere in North Carolina or Southern Virginia. She was rescued from an ignominious death at the Dog Pound by our local Animal Welfare League and then we happened along. So far, both parties in the arrangement are ecstatically happy. I get my dog-walking time back, we have a dog to keep us company on the sofa when we watch TV in the evening and Heather gets a new pack which offers her comfort, care, security and love.

Stuart’s Leibster Blog Award, Part The First

I have to confess, my first reaction to KJ Waters making this award was one of disappointment. But this was only because I had read it (in the absence of my reading specs) as the LOBSTER award. I do eat lobster, but it’s not my favorite. Having sorted that out, I was then intrigued by the name, thinking that perhaps it might have some Irish connotation. Turned out I was confusing it with Leinster, which is one of the counties in Ireland. Leibster is German for favorite. One lives and learns day by day. Indeed one does.

Anyway, a big thanks to KJ for including me in her list of awarded bloggers. I am genuinely honored.

The rules of this award (for the hard-working author gets nothing for nothing, as I ought to know) mean that I have to divulge eleven random facts about myself and answer KJ’s eleven questions. Finally, I have to nominate eleven bloggers for the award. Phew! I have achieved the first two goals, but still working on the third. I’ll post the final list in a day or two.

Random facts

1. Most of my childhood was spent living in a small village on the shores of the Holy Loch, in the Clyde estuary in Scotland, which later became the base for the US Polaris submarine fleet. (There is no connection between these two things, as far as I am aware).
2. I’m 65 years old. Kind of late middle age…
3. My stock response to people here in the US who say “I love your accent – just say something for me,” is “Aye, no bad. Ah wiz born up a wally close wi a richt eneugh midden in the back court, an ootside cludgie an nae bath. Ma ma used tae gie me a syne doon wance a week in the jawbox.” (Translation available on request).
4. I can occasionally be induced to sing. Drink is usually taken on such occasions. By those listening.
5. I love to sail. Our dear old 30-foot Morgan sailboat lives just ten minutes away from our home here on the Chesapeake Bay.
6. I have two delightful grandchildren (a three-year-old and a one-year-old) who live in Portland, Maine.
7. I’m an enthusiastic chef.
8. I’m not a fan of Ernest Hemingway.
9. I’m married to my editor.
10. I can turn my hand to almost any task around the house, including electrics, plumbing, carpentry and cleaning toilets.
11. I’ve never liked soccer, so I don’t support any UK football team. This is a major social drawback for a Scotsman, I can tell you!

KJ’s Questions

1. What is your favorite movie and why?
Out of dozens that would come into this category, I’ll choose Fargo at random. Wonderfully directed, great performances and a fine story about human weakness and degradation being defeated by a strong woman with no pretensions. What’s not to like?

2. Who is your favorite author and why?
Impossible question, but I can do this. It has to be Patrick O’Brian and his wonderful Aubrey/Maturin series. I read all twenty of them in a row. Beautifully written, great characters and wonderful stories. The hero is also based on a real historical character, who happens to be a Scotsman, so that made it even better!

3. What is the concept behind your blog? Simply to promote your book/skills/product or a bigger purpose, like mine as therapy to deal with my current location?
Concept? Concept? Good grief! You think there was some PLAN here? My original intention was to attract readers by writing something that was just a bit different, loosely focused around my writing activities. The jury is still OUT!

4. What is your favorite meal?
Mince and tatties (explanation available for the uninitiated).

5. What would you describe as your biggest personal accomplishment?
Raising children. No question.

6. Why are you so awesome? I ask this because I chose you…apparently I think you’re pretty fab.
I might fantasize that it’s because I’m good-looking, loving, intelligent, sociable and compassionate, but really I haven’t a clue. Anything to do with the way I write? Oh, I give in…

7. What is your favorite household appliance and why? Ha! How’s that for a quirky question.
Our Black & Decker bread-maker. My wife bought it for me at a thrift store for $10 and it makes wonderful bread. Coming into the kitchen in the morning to the smell of fresh bread and coffee is one of life’s great joys!

8. Boxers or briefs
Briefs every time. When it comes to those all-important bits, I like a sense of security.

9. What is your favorite holiday and why?
Cruising in our good old sailboat or traveling anywhere in Italy. Gorgeous country, beautiful cities, great food, excellent wine. In spite of all its political and financial problems, it is still one of the most civilized countries in the world.

10. What is your favorite restaurant? Why?
The King’s Wark in Edinburgh, Scotland. Essentially a fine, old-fashioned pub, it has a superb restaurant which serves some of the finest food I’ve ever eaten. A great ambiance and relaxed, friendly service complete the perfect eating experience.

11. Which question above was the hardest to answer? Why?
Ach, there were all easy-peasy… (wipes sweat from brow).

Inspiration in the ER

Worry not gentle readers, it wasn’t me in the ER. My father-in-law had a bit of what the doctors describe as a ‘cardiac event’ yesterday. He’s absolutely fine now and back home safe and sound, but we did have to spend an hour or two in the local hospital while we waited for a diagnosis. With nothing much else to do (there is only so much ‘Health TV” that any sane person can watch), I used it as an opportunity to get on with Chapter 43, the first three paragraphs of which are appended below for your delectation. This is strictly first-draft stuff, you understand, so no sniggering at the back there, please.

“What about that Lobster Blog Award that you’ve been promising to tell us about for weeks?” I hear you ask. To be honest, I have a horror of chain letters, or anything that smacks of them and this award has that kind of feel about it. However, I am receiving daily psychotherapy and hoping for an improvement any time now. My grovelling apologies to KJ Waters who gave me the award in all innocence, believing me to be a reliable citizen and sound of mind and body. Hang in there, KJ, I may do it yet!

You don’t really need to know the plot to understand this excerpt, but the action is taking place in the City Chambers in post-apocalyptic(ish) Edinburgh, Scotland. Marion is in her mid-fifties and the leader of what’s left of the City Council. Joe is in his late twenties and has recently escaped from being imprisoned by a baddie.

Another night in the museum, Marion thought; although it increasingly felt like an ornate, badly stuffed prison. In the frozen watches of the small hours, she had shocked herself by dreaming about Joe. It was the kind of dream that needed to be roughly shaken off; hateful water on the dog of imagination. But she could not deny its pleasures, those long since expunged from the role-call of her daily existence. She bit her lip, as if pain might sanction the denial of enjoyment.

Dawn had done little to alleviate a sense of the world failing to materialise in its accustomed manner. The sun was utterly foxed by fog, whose ghostly, attenuated fingers had felt their way into the city streets overnight. In the crepuscular light from the pale, pictureless rectangle of her window, the office was a Turner painting in shades of black and grey. The sense that she had become an invisible part of it was shattered when Joe, the version that was high in flesh and bone, exploded through the door.

Marion sighed.

“I see that you’re another of those creatures that fails to understand the concept of knocking on the door.”

“Door?” said Joe, looking back in mock surprise. “What door?”

He sat down: a rush of physical presence; an instant source of entropy; a grinning mocker of the pretentious. He fumbled for his trusty pouch, the ritual of skin-and-strand calmed bubbling waywardness.

“Yeah. Well. I went out for a walk. Jesus, but it’s foggy out there. I met this guy who was ringing a bell and mumbling about the end of the world. I told him that the world had ended and he’d missed all the fun. I think I might have ruined his day. Hopefully.”

There was that tongue again, running along the cigarette paper. Marion was waylaid by a tingling that reminded her of better days.

A Touch of Writing in the Night

This is really just a filler while I get my act together over the Leibster Blog Award and other pressing matters. A couple of paragraphs from the Work In Progress. (Warnings: may contain strong language; manufactured in an environment which contains nuts).

The old house, squatting viscerally on now-thawing ground, had the best of it. It was deaf to returning boots, babbling excuses, raised voices, retribution. Later, soldiers in washed-out fatigues gathered like children at the foot of the great staircase and listened as the awful shrillness of Farrell’s anger and the bass rumble of Donnelly’s resigned responses played out. Donnelly was their man, a target for loyalty. Farrell was the provider of nourishment and fear, the dripping roast pig at the banquet that kept leaping from the spit and savaging with tusks and sharp hooves.

A door opened; fatigues dissolved into dark corridors; Donnelly came down the stairs, two hundred and ten pounds of pent-up anger. He strode across the hall, an Exocet looking for a whiff of infrared. Nothing registered. He pulled open the oak doors, the horse long since bolted, took a deep breath of warming air; felt sunshine on his face; exhaled shakily. As he fumbled for his Malboros, he wished that fucking McLennan and his ghastly crew would come marching up the drive and they could finish it once and for all.

A New Year flip-flop

Hello? Anyone out there? I’m really not terribly sure about this at all. In fact, I’m actually distinctly lukewarm about the whole idea. Or perhaps ‘lukewarm’ is putting it too strongly. I’m also worried about the number of words ending in ‘ly’ that I seem to be using. A sure sign of weakness. I wanted to talk about New Year…you know…thingies. Those – er – firmnesses of resolve that people make a lot of when one year carelessly (sorry!) picks up an extra digit and inadvertently (damn!) becomes another. Year, I mean.

Anyway. My thought was that this blog suffers from institutional neglect. Were it a cat or a dog, I would be had up for cruelty. I felt that it might benefit from a bit more – um – discipline on my part. Instead of posting once every not very often, I might bestir myself to write some meaningless tarradiddle (if you’ve read this far, you will have a good grounding in precisely what that involves), let’s say once a (gasp!) week.

There, I’ve said it. The cat is out of the bag, the genie out of the bottle and there is no going back.

Of course, there may be slippage…

Now, what was that lovely KJ Waters telling me? Something about a Lobster Blog Award.

No good can come of it.

A Hippy Blue Year to you all.

Interview with author Martha Bourke

Once again, the Haddon blog demonstrates that no journey is too far, no challenge too great to get in the way of interviewing talented authors. Martha is the author of the the excellent Jaguar Sun series which includes Jaguar Sun and Jaguar Moon. I interviewed her at her delightful New England home.

It was the duct tape that got me there in the end. The Appalachian Trail is a long and weary way to get from Maryland to New England and WalMart’s best walking boots weren’t perhaps the sensible choice. The penurious author suffers for his craft.

Late afternoon sun made artwork from Fall colors; a bluster of wind produced a flurry of golden snow from tall trees as I limped the last few yards past the old stone wall. The house was perfect for the place and the season. Deep-red, tall-gabled, its eaves reaching down as if trying to touch the ground. The center chimney looked set to defy the worst onslaught of a New England winter.

Martha met me at the door: dark eyes reflected Autumn; warm smile hesitated as she took in the tramp which I had become.

“Goodness,” she said. “Did you have a disagreement with a bear?”

“Not a bear as such,” I said. “More of a thorn bush. I was trying to have a private moment to empty my bladder.”

“TMI,” she said.

This slim woman in her vintage sweater, skinny jeans and ankle boots made me giddy. Or perhaps it was hunger.

“The duct tape is a nice touch,” she said, moving to one side and inviting me to come in. Brave woman.

A shower, several large slices of cake and the donation of proper clothes made all the difference. We sat on the sleeping porch: Martha’s spiritual home. The place where she wrote the wonders of Jaguar Sun and Jaguar Moon. I sat on the white wooden chest with cushions and gawped at the photos hanging from the picture rail. Martha sat in the wicker rocker.

“Right,” I said. “Time for the interview. Tell me how you started writing.”

She crossed her legs, uncrossed them, leaned forward, swung back. She was clearly giving the questions a lot of thought.

“It all actually started with poetry in the fourth grade. My teacher really liked some of my poems and even tried to get a few of them published in magazines. She wasn’t successful, but I was hooked! From there it was short stories around grade six. By high school I was writing novellas by hand in my spare time. I always had a wild imagination and I think writing was, and is, the perfect outlet for it.”

Percy the dog sat beside her and bit his nails.

“Is he finding this nerve-racking?” I asked.

Martha stroked his head.

“I doubt it. But who knows? The nail thing is a just a habit, I think. OCD for dogs.”

She reached out for another piece of cake.

“So,” I said. “What about Jaguar Sun? Pretty amazing piece of work, if I may say so. Where did that all come from?”

The smile was full on this time. The cake stayed on the plate.

“Well, thank you, Stuart. I’ve always loved foreign languages and cultures. I was a foreign language teacher for fifteen years. I’ve also always loved to write. For some reason, I thought my first novel would have a Hispanic theme. I read other Young Adult books, like Esperanza Rising, and continued to feel that way. As it would turn out, my first novel, still unpublished, is about a witch. In December 2011, I took a sabbatical from teaching. Over Christmas, Maya’s character popped into my head not long after. She started out as a normal teen living somewhere in the southwestern United States. I knew she was Hispanic; I knew she was abandoned by her mother; and I knew she was close to her grandmother.”

I helped myself to cake and we munched companionably for a moment. Percy gave me a look which I interpreted as, “You’re no damn use as a visitor if you don’t offer cake to the dog.” I tore my eyes from his, which now looked darkly accusing.

“What about process?” I said. “You know, from idea to final product?”

“Usually, when I write, the process is pretty much the same. A few major scenes will come into my head – action, dialogue – almost like in a movie. I take notes and write down what I can. And from there it’s all about filling in the story between those scenes. I do research as I realize I need to. So I guess that makes me a pantser with planner tendencies?”

“I guess it does. I empathise with that. My pants are worn out from all that flying.”

She laughed. “And all those thorn bushes!”

“Quite so.”

A phone rang in another room. Martha excused herself and I got up and had a look at bookshelves. Percy’s eyes followed me as if they were attached by strings. I found Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach’s sensational fable of the early 1970s. A million copies in two years. Amazing. I also found an abundance of Dickens, including A Christmas Carol. One of my own favorites. Then there were books and authors I didn’t know. Fledgling by Natasha Brown. I read the first paragraph. Intriguing. And Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. “Once upon a time, an Angel and a Devil fell in love. It did not go well.” I liked that.

Martha returned, apologetic, and we sat down again.

“Tell me about publishing and marketing,” I said. “The author’s bane.”

Martha carved out a couple more slices of cake.

“I’m a proud Indie writer, so I don’t have a publisher. Basically, because Jaguar Sun, the first book in the series, revolves around the end of the Mayan calendar this December, traditional publishing was not an option for me. I finished writing it in April 2011, and I was told by an editor at a conference that a trad publishing house wouldn’t accept it, because they wouldn’t be able to get it out in time. But he really liked it. A couple of months later, my sister gave me an article about self-publishing and I was on my way. I market my series by using social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. I’ve done a blog tour, and some KDPS free days at Amazon. Right now, I have both Jaguar Sun and Jaguar Moon at all outlets. I’m running Jaguar Sun free indefinitely, as a lead in to the series. Since the series is five books, I think it makes sense. A lot of YA series authors do that. Revelations, which is a prequel novella to the series, comes out at the end of the month and I’m considering running that free as well. But it has to be something you’re comfortable with, of course.”

Outside, darkness had ushered out the day and was in full command. A dog yipped, far off. Or maybe it was a fox. Percy broke off nail-biting and lifted his head.

“Tell me what you enjoy most about writing, and what frustrates you,” I said.

Martha grinned.

“The characters for sure! My mother calls them my “people.” She’ll say, “What’s going on with your people today?” She’s 82 and what a hoot. She does make me sound a little like Sally Field in Sybil. She means well, though. It’s the other things that go along with writing that frustrate me: editing, proofing, formatting, getting my work up on all the sites. It drives me nuts. I have people who help me with all of this, of course. But I really would rather be writing.”

I began to put my laptop away.

“You working on a new project of some kind?” I asked.

She tapped the side of her nose.

“Not saying, I’m afraid. Top secret.”

I zipped up my backpack.

“Very intriguing. I look forward to it, whatever it is.”

I stood up. Martha stood up. Now she was looking concerned.

“You’re not going, are you? It’s pitch dark out. My husband will be back soon and we can have dinner and then you’re very welcome to stay the night.”

I sighed.

“That’s really lovely of you to offer, but I gotta go. It’s a couple of weeks at the very least back down the trail and I’ve got writing to do myself.”

She held out a plate.

“Cake?”

“Thanks, and do you have any duct tape?”

 

Martha’s website is at http://www.marthabourke.com

Her Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/jaguarsunseries

Find her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Martha_Bourke

And on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/u/0/111506780154296861030/posts

Running for Life

In my new novel, one of the characters escapes from captivity. The following describes the point where he makes it to freedom. I like it.

He settles into a pace fit to carry him to world’s end and back. The road meets another in a T, black-on-black in the tattered darkness, and he swings left without thinking. A childhood memory levitates unbidden: warm sun on bare backs; baby-buggies and rucksacks; cobbled streets and the nearness of traffic; tall girders and ice cream; shuttling boats and a raucousness of gulls: a day out in Queensferry. The old buildings huddle in to him as he passes. The high, sharp smell of ozone, the dull undertow of bad drains; cobbles through slush; lancets of once-bright window glass. He is the only moving spirit in this scarred-scape, feels like the last free-man in a world gone to wetness, wild wind and grime. But, as the defile of the town street drops behind and he feels the inky mass of the rail bridge towering on his left hand, at least he now knows where he is going.

A Sense of Plaice

If you feel that there is something fishy about the title of this blog, then you may well be right. My wife and I have an apartment in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its address is Portland Place and there is a fish and chip shop below which we would dearly like the owners to call “Portland Plaice.” Actually, come to think on it, it’s now an Indian restaurant, so that doesn’t work anymore. Damn.

All of which fustian tarradiddle convinces me that I should get to the point. Right from the moment at which I first considered writing a novel, standing outside a beach locker on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay with Joe The Dog looking at me as if to say “let’s just get home, pal, I haven’t had breakfast yet,” the color and smell and shape of places has been a big part of what I write and how I write. I usually go in for short sentences, too.

It’s tempting, of course, to make up locations. You can have them just the way you want and let your imagination create the plaice. Sorry, place. What I discovered, as the first novel blundered into existence, was that I like using the real thing. In particular, I like using places that I have visited or know well. Even then, the kind of detail required, especially when action scenes are concerned, requires more information than my old memory can possibly muster. This is where Google Maps, Earth and Street become invaluable.

For example, I needed to locate a tower block in London, suitable for landing a helicopter and near to MI5 HQ. I flew Google Earth to the banks of the Thames and hovered near to my area of interest. Bingo! A building called Millbank Tower fitted the bill. Then followed some background research on the actual building (how many floors, nature of construction, helipad included? etc). Finally, Google Street allowed me to put together what my characters would see as they emerged from the building. Here is part of the relevant text from The Butterfly & The Bull.

Colin and I were still crumpled from sleep when Lynn arrived, transformed from scary MI5 agent by faded jeans and a blue fleece. She led us up dark stairs and we emerged into an unresolved April morning. A threadbare covering of cloud struggled to obscure the eager Spring sun. Across the road and below the embankment’s edge, the Thames drifted past, a constant, noisome token of the collapse of good intentions. The building behind us rose glacially in the cool air, steel and glass levels thirty-three high perched on a single floor extending on either side of the base of the tower. Supporting columns at street level formed a cool, shadowy arcade. As we turned to our left and slipped in under the canopy, I caught a glimpse of a corner of Thames House peering bluntly at us. MI5 HQ. 

Detail is often important to bring places alive for the reader.  To achieve this, personal knowledge can be invaluable.  In this extract, the hero and his companion are sailing across the Irish Sea to the Island of Jura off the West Coast of Scotland.

Homecoming. Six months previously that would have involved walking up Virginia Avenue and smiling at Theresa as I headed across the foyer of our apartment block. Now, in the light of a new day, I was sailing towards another, older home.

I could have closed my eyes and imagined almost perfectly the unfolding animation of sea and land as we sailed north. Frame by frame, its pattern was deeply etched in my mind. I could feel memories crowding and jostling for attention, vivid and visceral.

As the purple and green and tan landscape unfolded on either side of the shimmering sea, I felt a reconnection with the people and the land I had loved and left. It brought strength and pleasure, and a little sadness.

Synchronous kittiwakes flowed past us in blissful formation and I called John to watch a trio of puffins clatter by, all frantic wing beats and clownish looks. In my case, “home” was a moveable feast. Born on the island of Lewis, many miles to the north, I spent much of my childhood and adolescence in Oban, a fishing town in the county of Argyll. My friendship with Colin McKay changed that focus. He came from the island of Jura and was a boarder at the high school when I met him. We spent weekends and holidays on Jura and his parents were a second mother and father to me. The island and the seas around it became ours.

Craighouse is situated at the south end of the big bite taken out of Jura low down on its east side and is partly protected by a string of islets called The Small Isles. We doused the sails and motored in through the southern passage between the mainland and the first islet. As we came into the bay we could see, from our left: a big wooden jetty with a couple of fishing boats moored alongside; the Isle of Jura Hotel with the distillery behind; the little landing jetty with the island store just by it and the houses of the village strung out along the shore. In the foreground, several boats were moored to red metal buoys. Behind it all, the bulk of the Paps, slopes darkening as the sun retreated to the west, quartzite summits glowing. 

Finally, here is an extract from the sequel to TBATB, called Flight of the Butterfly. The sense of place here comes entirely from intimate personal knowledge, acquired over many years of attending meetings in the City Chambers in Edinburgh.

Marion McInnes crushed another unsuspecting sheet of paper in her hand and decided that she hated the picture of Nelson Mandela hanging on the wall opposite her desk. As the pale scrumple described an arc to join its fellow travellers in the waste bin, she became convinced that the great man’s expression had gradually changed over the years, from serene wisdom to naked disapproval.

She could hardly blame him. He had been witness to a slide in moral standing unprecedented even for local politics in the City of Edinburgh. Marion well understood the part she had played in that. Her robust defence of the leadership she had carved out amidst financial and social collapse was based on pragmatism. The wily old politician turned shark. Sunk from the down and dirty predictability of politics to dealing with mobsters, gang leaders, community militia and criminals of all colours. She knew that she was more than a match for her fellow inmates in the council chambers, whether they were for her or agin’ her, but these other forces were a different matter. Some days, she could feel the city slipping between her fingers.

Marion looked down at her hands, resting on the old oak desk. Fleshy hands, with the blotchy stains of freckles inherited from her mother and the stubby fingers from her father, the left ring one still with its pale indentation.

She opened her laptop, realised the futility. The power was out, the office lit only by the thin January light from the old sash windows. She sighed and stood up. The room was an overblown manifestation of Victoriana: overwrought woodwork, over-piled carpet, humourless furniture. Marion felt the ambiguity of it: raddled familiarity versus anachronistic stuffiness.

She walked to the window, gazed out over the gap-toothed canopy of Waverley Station. Beyond, the grimy flounces and fripperies of the Balmoral Hotel. The snow of past days had melted and frozen on buildings and streets and pavements, a translucent carapace. She pulled her wool coat around her and shivered.

So. There you have it. A sense of plaice. To give your novel real sole.