Here’s me dressed up as the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, photo taken by Kim Ayres for the Wigtown Book Festival a few years back. My favourite book of all time is The Flight of the Heron by DK Broster, the romantic adventure par excellence of the Jacobite Rising of 1745. I’m currently reading The...
The Battle of George Square – Bloody Friday 1919 in Glasgow
31st January 2019 marks the centenary of what became known as the Battle of George Square, also known as Bloody Friday. At least 60,000 people on strike from their work crammed into George Square in central Glasgow, in front of the City Chambers. The huge gathering was the culmination of a campaign to reduce...
Currently Hibernating
Over the winter there aren’t very many writing events going on. After a busy autumn giving talks, I’m staying close to home and getting on with the writing....
Book Week Scotland 2018
Along with many of my fellow wordsmiths, I was criss-crossing Scotland last week (19th to 25th November) to celebrate Book Week Scotland 2018, run by the Scottish Book Trust. The theme this year was ‘Rebel’. My first event was at the Brander Library in Huntly in Aberdeenshire, a lovely wood-panelled Victorian building, where the librarians had...
Remembering One of the Many
George McCurrach was the dominie or schoolmaster at a small village school in Aberdeenshire. He had risen from humble beginnings to eventually study at Aberdeen University. Enlisting in the Gordon Highlanders, he was then commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry. His wife Elizabeth, also a school teacher, took over...
The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women
I’m very proud to be one of many contributors to The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, just published by Edinburgh University Press. It’s a book every Scottish library should hold and make available. Over 1,000 women find their place in this book and, as the cover copy says, the Dictionary “provides a striking...
Ness Bookfest
Had a great time in lovely Inverness last Friday speaking at the Ness Book Fest about my historical novels at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery. Great audience, great organisation, thanks to the volunteers who worked so hard to make everything run so smoothly. I also got confirmation from a knowledgeable lady in...
Scottish Historical Fiction Festival, Grantown on Spey, Saturday 8th September 2018.
“It’s nae the Tudors!” So says The Bookmark in Grantown on Spey of their day-long historical fiction festival which will be held at the Pagoda, Grantown on Spey. Maggie will be speaking about her books in the afternoon session, starting from 2.15, alongside a line-up of fellow Scottish writers of historical fiction. Tickets...
Dance to the Storm Update
Robert Catto always strides into my kitchen as though he owns the place. As usual, I try to divert his attention, offering him claret or brandy in the evening, black coffee during the day. My tactics never work. Nothing gets past this man. ‘Coffee,’ he growls. ‘And, if you please, your word count for...
Dare to be Free: The Scottish Suffragettes
Dare to be Free: The Scottish Suffragettes As in other parts of the British Isles, groups demanding votes for women had been active for decades before the franchise was finally extended in 1918, a centenary just celebrated by marches through London, Cardiff, Belfast and Glasgow. In Scotland there had been women’s suffrage committees for...