Fiction
All conversations between authors nowadays seem to revert to the single intriguing topic of eBook or 'Indie' publishing. This is because it's becoming more and more difficult for authors to find a conventional publisher for fiction. This is especially true if a significant percentage of your readers are likely to be middle aged and older women in search of a well told story. But now, our readers have Kindles, Nooks, iPads or other e-readers.
Many writers are publishing their own novels and stories, old and new. Prices are low and you can usually try before you buy, so eBooks are an excellent way for readers to experiment with finding new authors or meeting old favourites. My novels and stories are now available in eBook form, with more to come.
Bird of Passage
'Wuthering Heights meets The Bridges of Madison County.' When young Finn O'Malley is sent from Ireland to Scotland to work at the potato harvest, he forms a close friendship with Kirsty Galbreath, the farmer's grand-daughter. Kirsty is a talented artist but her work is tied up with her love for her home and for Finn, who comes and goes like the mysterious corncrake. But he has been damaged by his traumatic childhood. What happened at the brutal Industrial School to which he was committed while still a little boy?
'He was a little boy again, back in Dublin with his mother. It was a light summer night and they were in the warm room at the top of the lodging house, with the window open. They were in bed. Snug as two bugs in a rug, his mammy said. She was in behind him, her two arms around him, her body moulded against his back. She held him close, even though it was warm and they were sweating gently. He could feel her breath against his neck and he could smell her apple blossom talcum powder. '
Dealing with the harsh realities of state-sanctioned physical abuse and its aftermath, this is a tale of cruelty, loss and obsessive love.
The Curiosity Cabinet
When Alys revisits the beautiful Hebridean island of Garve, she is captivated by an embroidered casket which belongs to Donal, her childhood playmate. It leads her to the darker tale of Henrietta Dalrymple, kidnapped by the formidable Manus McNeill and held on Garve against her will. With three hundred years separating them, the women are linked by the cabinet and its contents and by the magic of the island itself. But Garve has its secrets. Donal must learn to trust Alys and, like Henrietta before her, Alys must earn the right to belong. The Curiosity Cabinet was one of three finalists for the Dundee Book Prize and was first published by Polygon in 2005.
John Burnside called it 'a powerful story about love and obligation'
while Lorraine Kelly described it as 'heart-warming, realistic and page-turning.'
A Quiet Afternoon in the Museum of Torture
This is a trio of short stories about different kinds of love. In the title story, Ros and Davy, holidaying in Tuscany with their new baby, confront the disturbing emotional realities of parenthood. In The Butterfly Bowl, Debbie inherits a precious object, falls in love and is faced with an impossible choice. Breathe is a quirky celebration of an unsung life, and an exploration of the power of memory.
'Here are three gems of the genre - short stories written by someone in total control of the medium and which show that a story's length is no measure of its depth and resonance.' Bill Kirton.
The Amber Heart
'The Amber Heart'
Due for publication on Amazon Kindle in March 2012, this is the first novel in a series, based on my Polish family history. It's the story of a lifelong liaison between Polish noblewoman, Maryanna Diduska, and Ukrainian, Piotro Bandura. But The Amber Heart is also the tale of the pancake yellow house of Lisko, Maryanna's home, and the way in which the lives of the characters are disrupted by political turmoil in Galicia, the troubled Eastern borderland of 19th century Poland. When I set out to research my family history, it proved to be a journey of serendipitous discoveries: a remote forebear who had a scandalous love affair with her Ukrainian estate manager, an immensely attractive doctor/politician who divided his time between Galicia and Vienna, and a patriarch who outlived a string of wives and died in a riding accident, in his eighties. All of these characters began to invade my fiction and bring others with them, demanding to be heard. The result is a vivid and dramatic story of love and loyalty, set against the background of a turbulent time and place.
'Stefan took a pouch from his jacket and, with a laugh, scattered coins, as though scattering grain, watching them spread out and dive, hunting among grasses, squabbling volubly, fighting for what they could find, like so many starlings. But one of them didn't move. He was the tallest and the oldest, a boy of perhaps eleven, his hair black and matted, his face sallow under the grime, his eyes an unexpectedly bright cornflower blue. He stood still, hands hanging by his sides, fists clenched, and he stared up at Maryanna, unsmiling, unmoving. She shifted uneasily. For perhaps the first time in her life, she saw a gaze of pure resentment directed straight at herself. She turned her head into her father's jacket. 'Daddy, tell the boy not to look at me,' she whispered.
Coming throughout 2012
Stained Glass: a trio of ghost stories.
The Physic Garden: a Scottish novel about friendship, betrayal and gardening - in early nineteenth century Glasgow
The Winged Hussar: a sequel to The Amber Heart, a tale of endings and new beginnings.
