My review of Witch Light by Susan Fletcher

Seen through the eyes of Corrag, a young girl imprisoned for being a witch and awaiting execution by burning, Witch Light tells the story of the Glen Coe massacre of 1692. Corrag relates her story to Charles Leslie, a churchman, as she sits in her wintery cell, waiting for the snow to clear before being tied to the stake.

Based on real events, this book is beautifully written. The descriptions transport you to a different time and place where you can smell the heather and see the snow covered mountains (a cliché, I know, but apt). Corrag’s story tugs at the heartstrings; her life, and the injustices heaped upon her, are the driving force of the book, which culminates in the bloody massacre on a cold February night. She is both innocent and world weary, naïve and wise and all she wants to do is to live her life; but the tragic circumstances which drove her away from home are always in her mind. She thought she had found sanctuary in Glen Coe, and for a short time she had – but only for a short time.

Without doubt this is a little gem of a book, hauntingly beautiful and evocative, and one that I would highly recommend!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witch-Light-Susan-Fletcher/dp/0007321600

An update on Scooters Yard

Seeing as I’ve not been around so much recently, I thought I would give you an update on how Scooters Yard, the second Gornstock novel, is going.

 Well, it’s going through the appraisal stage. I’ve sent it out to a few people who are at this moment giving judgement on storyline, plot, general writing, to see whether it works as I meant it to. I’m certainly not going to press them to get on with it, I’m just sitting back and waiting for their opinions to come in.

I’ve also got my cover designer looking at it and he’s scratching his head to come up with some ideas for me to go through. If you’ve seen what he did with Banker’s Draft, you know that something special is in the pipeline!

What I don’t know is where all the time has gone. The problem with writing in your spare time, as I’m sure everyone knows, is trying to juggle loads of balls (i.e. projects, family, work etc) at the same time. This book is late in coming out, I regret to say, but I hope my readers will appreciate that I’ve taken my time in order to do it properly.

Watch this space because when I am finally ready to press the publish button I will be offering a few people the chance to read a pre-publication copy free of charge, gratis and for nothing - ain’t I the generous one!

I'm still here!

I’m still around for those who’ve er…missed my incisive posts – ahem!

Been busy and still am, doing various things; including editing etc.

I’m now wondering whether to try for an agent again regarding my new book, Scooters Yard. Although Gornstock again, it is/will be a standalone novel which can be read without reading Banker’s Draft. Many of the same characters are there, and getting into some serious and not so serious trouble, with a sideways looks at life and love in general. Lots of beer is being drunk and one or two rucks thrown in for good measure; oh, and it has a plot too. The police force is modernising!