http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/ The Sandstone Blog en webmaster@sandstonepress.com Copyright 2012 2012-01-24T12:07:44+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/the_kitchies_reviews_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/the_kitchies_reviews_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb/ The Red Tentacle has published this review of Jane Rogers’ The Testament of Jessie Lamb prior to the judging of The Kitchies. You can read the original here: http://bit.ly/wYVHFN One of the great pleasures of adulthood is learning to enjoy anticipation. As a kid, waiting sucks. Remember Christmas, and how you would go to sleep under the tree every night because you just couldn’t wait for the morning you’d wake up surrounded by presents? (Or was that just me?) Waiting takes on yottagrams of angst-filled misery when you’re a teenager, though. Thought waiting sucked as a kid?… 2012-01-24T12:07:44+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/a_snarling_teeth-baring_rip-snorter_called_the_jaguar_mike_downey_reviews_i/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/a_snarling_teeth-baring_rip-snorter_called_the_jaguar_mike_downey_reviews_i/ Mike Downey has contributed this stellar review of T. Jefferson Parker’s The Jaguar (published by Dutton in the United States) to the Los Angeles Times along with the latest from Elmore Leonard. You can read the original here: http://lat.ms/zWiAvm Sandstone Press will be publishing this book in May and look forward to a long association with the author. A fine writer, his work is exciting, indeed gripping, and speaks of important matters in page turning fashion. You can visit Jeff’s web site from our Links and view the NEW VIDEO, or simply by clicking here: http://bit.ly/yTFwd1 … 2012-01-20T08:13:36+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_has_been_shortlisted_for_a_kitchie/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_has_been_shortlisted_for_a_kitchie/ To the delight of us all here at Sandstone Press, Jane Rogers’ The Testament of Jessie Lamb has been shortlisted for a Red Tentacle Award under the general banner of The Kitchies. To learn more of this tremendous new initiative please read the Guardian article below. You can check out the original here: http://bit.ly/w9yf9s One thing the science fiction and fantasy genre is not short of is awards. There’s the Hugo, the Nebula, the Arthur C Clarke, the British Fantasy, the British Science Fiction Awards (shortlist out next week), the John W Campbell … check out this… 2012-01-15T12:03:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/scott_hames_reviews_the_red_cockatoo_in_the_scotsman/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/scott_hames_reviews_the_red_cockatoo_in_the_scotsman/ This superb, thoughtful and knowledgable appreciation by Prof Scott Hames of the University of Stirling of Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger’s THE RED COCKATOO: James Kelman and the art of commitment appeared in The Scotsman of 7th January. We are delighted to see the debate being carried forward so well. You can read the original Scotsman posting here: http://bit.ly/zfv4X7 IN 1999 a newspaper asked Edwin Morgan for his pick of Scottish literary quotations to be carved into the façade of the new parliament. As the discussion turned to living writers, he executed a skillful parry: “With Kelman… 2012-01-08T11:26:22+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/brian_canfer_praises_leslie_symons_to_ride_the_mountain_winds_in_on_the_hil/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/brian_canfer_praises_leslie_symons_to_ride_the_mountain_winds_in_on_the_hil/ Brian Canfer of the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service contributed this appreciation of Leslie Symons’ wonderful To Ride the Mountain Winds to the RAFMR magazine, On the Hill. We are delighted to receive it but note with sadness and sympathy the death of Sqn Ldr Ant Downing, formerly of RAF Kinloss MRT, in Afghanistan at the end of 2011, which Brian told us of in his covering letter. If you think you know all about the history of SAR in the mountains then this IS the book for you – it will either confirm your suspicions or,… 2012-01-04T10:47:59+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/chris_ross_reviews_ever_fallen_in_love_in_the_guardian/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2012/chris_ross_reviews_ever_fallen_in_love_in_the_guardian/ Continuing this amazing book’s increasing momentum, the Guardian Review has posted this appreciation by Chris Ross. It will appear in print on Saturday 7th January. You can read the original here: http://bit.ly/uo1JQE  Despite the Buzzcocks-era title, Strachan’s third novel is set firmly in the early 1990s, just before student grants were axed and the likelihood of two working-class lads attending an unnamed university remarkably like St Andrews started to recede into the distance. That said, the fit is not comfortable: gay but straitlaced Richard has the misfortune to fall under the spell of bad boy Luke,… 2012-01-03T15:54:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/guest_blog_colin_ferguson_and_the_magic_of_mulanje/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/guest_blog_colin_ferguson_and_the_magic_of_mulanje/ Given the season, and Sandstone’s commitment both to our locale and to internationalism, we are running this article from Colin Ferguson, former Headmaster of Alness Academy, who is closely involved with the Mufoto Project. ‘Mufoto’ stands for ‘Mulanje Fortrose Together’. Mulanje is a town in Malawi. Fortrose is a town in Highland Scotland, specifically the Black Isle. As ever the children lead. Please do explore their web site here: http://bit.ly/toKweP Colin visited quite recently and this is his report. Between that and the web site we think you will be as impressed as we are. This guest blog… 2011-12-23T13:26:45+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/a_novelist_of_national_importance._egremont_today_reviews_frederick_lightfo/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/a_novelist_of_national_importance._egremont_today_reviews_frederick_lightfo/ This review of Frederick Lightfoot’s My Name is E speaks not only of the author’s past achievements but also achievements yet to come. At Sandstone Press we agree that Frederick Lightfoot is ‘a novelist of national importance’. In ‘My Name Is E’, Frederick Lightfoot revisits the geographical and human landscape of his earlier novel, ‘Immigrants’, setting it in his native West Cumbria, his home village of Beckermet, and the coal flecked sand and rocks of local beaches. Like ‘Immigrants’ it explores the family feuds of descendants of the families that were victims of the potato famine. He also… 2011-12-23T11:39:57+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/the_munros_in_winter_reviewed_on_undiscovered_scotland/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/the_munros_in_winter_reviewed_on_undiscovered_scotland/ Ken Lussey at Undiscovered Scotland has posted this review of Martin Moran’s brilliant, inspiring The Munros in Winter. The Munros in Winter by Martin Moran is a magnificent and inspirational book that should be read by anyone who has ever climbed an Munro, or who has ever sat in an armchair and dreamed about climbing one. It was first published in 1986 and is an account of Martin Moran’s climb of every Munro - all 277 of them as set out in the definitive listing of the time - in the 83 days between 21 December 1984 and… 2011-12-19T10:48:13+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/yin_yang_tattoo_penetrates_the_democratic_peoples_republic_of_north_korea_w/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/yin_yang_tattoo_penetrates_the_democratic_peoples_republic_of_north_korea_w/ Ron McMillan’s powerful Asia Noir thriller has evidently reached parts that other thrillers do not normally reach. We have received this press release from an address somewhere in Thailand. All we can add is that the name of the company has been taken in vain; we know nothing of all this and can only wish for a speedy retribution to be visited on the perpetrator. The publishers and directors of Sandstone Press would like to take the opportunity to steal credit for the demise of President Kim, Jong-il of North Korea, whom it has recently been disclosed died… 2011-12-19T09:23:51+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/ron_strickland_legendary_american_outdoorsman_anticipates_chris_townsends_g/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/ron_strickland_legendary_american_outdoorsman_anticipates_chris_townsends_g/ When Ron Strickland, legendary American outdoorsman, originator of the Pacific Northwest Trail and author of its seminal guidebook, took a look at our blurb for Chris Townsend’s ‘Grizzly Bears and Razor Clams’ he decided that it just didn’t quite tell enough of the story. An outpouring of lyrical creativity followed and the brief but eloquent approbation below is the result. Sandstone Press is delighted to reproduce it in its entirety. Perhaps there will be an American launch. It would be wonderful to meet the great man. By the way, we have also put a short extract on the GB&RC book… 2011-12-18T17:59:33+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/it_could_happen_to_me_by_chris_mcivor/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/it_could_happen_to_me_by_chris_mcivor/ In this latest essay, Chris McIvor recalls the effects of gambling in South Africa and Haiti. Nelspruit is a large town in the far north-eastern corner of South Africa. Three hour’s drive from Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, it hosts an army of visitors from that country every weekend, most in search of the first world luxuries of a developed economy: the TV sets, DVD players, fashionable clothes and pet food that are difficult to find back home. I never cease to be amazed at the almost instantaneous transition between the two neighbours. The landscape of southern Mozambique is dry… 2011-12-15T10:30:07+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/cairns_media_magazine_in_hong_kong_brilliantly_reviews_the_fan_tan_players/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/cairns_media_magazine_in_hong_kong_brilliantly_reviews_the_fan_tan_players/ ‘satisfaction, even joy’ heralds the discovery of a great new storyteller for Hong Kong Based arts magazine Cairns Magazine http://bit.ly/uSJhaf This article presents a warm welcome indeed, and one that should whet the appetites of many for Julian Lees’ epic adventure. Satisfaction, even joy, accompanies the discovery of a new author, one previously unfamiliar, who proves his ability within a few pages and then tells an exciting tale. That’s how it goes with Julian Lees and his Asia-based novel, The Fan Tan Players (2010, Sandstone Press, Scotland, 375 pages). Often Lees builds passages so vivid and intensely… 2011-12-06T09:35:52+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/boswells_bus_pass_receives_this_tremendous_accolade_in_northwords_now/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/boswells_bus_pass_receives_this_tremendous_accolade_in_northwords_now/ Stephen Keeler, Scandinavian traveller and Dr Johnson buff, read and loved Stuart Campbell’s ‘Boswell’s Bus Pass’. Here is the review he has published in the latest issue of Northwords Now, and here is a link to this excellent magazine’s web site: http://bit.ly/cgyfuz This is a terrific story before it even starts. Campbell readily concedes that recreating Johnson and Boswell’s journey to the Western Isles is ‘a well-established literary indulgence’, but, he asserts, no one has yet done it by bus. He speculates at the outset whether what will follow will be a guide to modern Scotland, a… 2011-12-03T12:57:06+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/mandy_haggith_reviews_ever_fallen_in_love_in_northwords_now/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2011/mandy_haggith_reviews_ever_fallen_in_love_in_northwords_now/ Mandy Haggith, prizewinning author of ‘The Last Bear’, has contributed this perceptive review of Zoe Strachan’s ‘Ever Fallen in Love’ to the latest issue of the excellent literary magazine Northwords Now, which you can visit here: http://bit.ly/cgyfuz Ostensibly a story about a software developer in a remote highland village, to whom not a lot happens, this novel has an illuminating second narrative hiding within. Richard is a youngish gay man, living a quiet life in Achiltibuie, working remotely as part of a computer game development team. His teenage sister Stephie comes to stay. They are visited by… 2011-12-03T12:47:59+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/zoe_strachan_interviewed_by_the_london_festival_fringe/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/zoe_strachan_interviewed_by_the_london_festival_fringe/ London Book award nomination Zoe Strachan: ‘.. could there be a single moment in which one person could coax another into doing absolutely anything.’ 23 hrs COMMENTS 0 VIEWS 9 SHARE 23 HRS BOOK Zoe Strachan has been nominated for the London Book Awards with her Sandstone Press novel Ever Fallen In Love. We are delighted to reproduce this interview from London Festival Fringe web site, which you can visit here: http://bit.ly/rNBT7S Q: When working on your novels, how do you create the mind space for such large projects, and what… 2011-11-17T08:16:02+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/edinburgh_book_review_appreciates_at_frederick_lightfoots_my_name_is_e/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/edinburgh_book_review_appreciates_at_frederick_lightfoots_my_name_is_e/ This excellent, indeed sensitive, review of Frederick Lightfoot’s My Name is E comes from The Edinburgh Book Review which can be visited here: http://bit.ly/pyaJa4 The reviewer writes simply as ‘Isla’. This is a story about deafness, but not only about deafness. As with Frederick Lightfoot’s other work, he writes about some challenging issues, but in multi-layered ways. ‘My Name is E’, in fact, covers several complex but universal themes: childhood, womanhood, family, rejection, discrimination, abuse, alienation. And no character, not even the victim, Abby, whom we come to love, is entirely guiltless; nor are her abusers without… 2011-11-07T10:50:03+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/a_worthy_addition_to_the_viking_invasion_calum_macleod_tells_shots_about_dr/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/a_worthy_addition_to_the_viking_invasion_calum_macleod_tells_shots_about_dr/ Calum MacLeod is a reporter for the Inverness Courier and had been writing for SHOTS, the crime and thriller ezine, since its early days. In 2009 the Highland and Islands Media Awards’ judging panel awarded him “Highly Commended Feature Writer of the Year”. Most recently he has posted this review of Jorn Lier Horst’s Dregs. For a fairly law abiding part of the world, Scandinavia does seen to have an awful lot of detectives. Nice knitwear (watch Iceland’s “Jar City” or Denmark’s “The Killing” for confirmation), but not a lot of laughs (see above and pretty much everyone… 2011-11-04T13:17:37+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/owen_dudley_edwards_on_james_mcgonigals_beyond_the_last_dragon_in_the_drout/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/owen_dudley_edwards_on_james_mcgonigals_beyond_the_last_dragon_in_the_drout/ This piece is taken from a longer article of Owen Dudley Edwards’ in the latest issue of The Drouth and is reproduced by permission. The author reflects on a conversation with the late poet Edwin Morgan and on James McGonigal’s acclaimed biography, Beyond the Last Dragon. Since so much of the best work in The Edinburgh Companion to Scottish Romanticism comes from Glasgow, the nightmare thought that twinkles ‘an Edinburgh Companion to Glasgow’? Robert Louis Stevenson talked of producing one, having written the best of all Edinburgh Companions to Edinburgh. I had the best of all companions to Glasgow late… 2011-11-03T17:38:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/bookblogger_cornflower_takes_18_bookshops_to_her_heart/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/bookblogger_cornflower_takes_18_bookshops_to_her_heart/ Bookblogger Cornflower has given this tremendous appreciation of Anne Scott’s 18 Bookshops on her web site. To read the original, and penetrating reviews of many other titles, visit here: http://bit.ly/RvClW This follows hard on the heels of Alan Pattullo’s equally appreciative SoS review. Word is getting round, is it not? ‘All pace slackened to a page’s turn.’ Anne Scott’s 18 Bookshops is one of those rare books that is both personal and universal - it speaks of one woman’s experience, but in a way that so many lovers of books and bookshops will identify with, and on… 2011-11-03T16:47:38+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/no_finer_love_song._alan_pattullo_reviews_anne_scotts_18_bookshops_for_scot/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2011/no_finer_love_song._alan_pattullo_reviews_anne_scotts_18_bookshops_for_scot/ Alan Pattullo has published the following delightful review of Anne Scott’s 18 Bookshops in Scotland on Sunday http://bit.ly/uVVHg2 It is indeed a beautiful book. In a DM tweet to @sandstonepress only yesterday (2nd November 2011) a book blogger remarked that when she had completed her first reading of 18 Bookshops she could think of nothing better to do but to start again. We think you will agree. AS ANNE Scott explains in the opening paragraphs, this book, her first at the age of 70-something, has been a long time in the writing. Its genesis dates back to… 2011-11-03T09:01:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/success_for_loch_croispol_bookshop_and_sandstone_press/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/success_for_loch_croispol_bookshop_and_sandstone_press/ As previously announced on this web site Sandstone Press has enjoyed a novel and, we believe, rather groundbreaking partnership with the innovative Loch Croispol Bookshop at Balnakiel, near Cape Wrath. Now the bookshop has been short-listed for the area’s Best Supplier Partnership. We are jointly chuffed! If you ever find yourself up at the top left hand corner of the British mainland don’t fail to drop in. Here is the article from The Northern Times http://bit.ly/nVY18N Sutherland to fore in tourism awards shortlist Sutherland features well in this year’s Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards’ short list, being… 2011-10-14T08:14:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/julian_lees_presents_the_fan_tan_players_in_macao/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/julian_lees_presents_the_fan_tan_players_in_macao/ Julian Lees is straying from his home base in Kuala Lumpur at the moment, gadding about the Pacific Rim. Recently he appeared at the Portuguese Bookshop in Macao (location for The Fan Tan Players). This is how the Macao Daily Times http://bit.ly/qpc09Q covered the event. FAN TAN FICTION AT PORTUGUESE BOOK SHOP Julian Lees, author of ‘The Fan Tan Players’ – a book listed for the Asia Man Book Prize 2010 and set in Macau in the 30’s – will be visiting the Portuguese Bookshop tomorrow, at 6:30 pm. ‘The Fan Tan Players’ is an opulent… 2011-10-13T06:59:07+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/unbearable_tension_niall_harrison_reviews_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_for_/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/unbearable_tension_niall_harrison_reviews_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_for_/ Jane Rogers’ The Testament of Jessie Lamb is one of those remarkable books which sit comfortably within several genres. Perhaps I should write ‘uncomfortably’. Taking the sci-fi look, Niall Harrison has published this fabulous review on Strange Horizons http://bit.ly/qC3ZRD We begin in Jessie Lamb’s head, present-tense. She is locked in a room. A man has just left. Her legs are chained with bike locks. He’s left her with cheese sandwiches and orange juice, and a bucket, and a pencil and paper. Look on the bright side, find the dark humour: “At least there’s space for my own… 2011-10-11T06:55:17+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/cyprus_well_interviews_jorn_lier_horst/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/cyprus_well_interviews_jorn_lier_horst/ Plymouth’s Cyprus Well web site http://bit.ly/ks7zkX has made Dregs its Book of the Month and posted this fascinating interview with Jorn Lier Horst. Jørn was born on 27th February 1970, in Bamble, Telemark, Norway. He has worked as a policeman in Larvik since 1995. His debut novel, Key Witness was published in in 2004, and is based on true murder story. This was the first in the William Wisting novel series which also includes Disappearance of Felicia (2005), When the Sea Calms (2006), The Only One (2007), The Night Man (2009) and Dregs (2011). Jørn has also… 2011-10-07T12:04:56+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/a_wonderfully_realistic_and_violent_denouement_nordic_booklog_reviews_dregs/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/a_wonderfully_realistic_and_violent_denouement_nordic_booklog_reviews_dregs/ Nordic Bookblog is ‘primarily about Scandinavian literature. It will mainly present reviews of books, information about authors, and literary news from Scandinavia. The blog focuses on current literature, primarily fiction (mostly crime fiction), thrillers, and mystery books, without being limited to these categories.’ Do visit: http://bit.ly/mUtSfZ In the idyllic, quiet and mellow small town of Stavern, close to Larvik, on the South-Eastern coast of Norway, a cut-off left foot in a training shoe is found on a beach. This macabre finding turns out to be the first in a series. Soon, another left foot is found. And… 2011-10-07T11:27:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/beautifully_written_and_expertly_constructed._crime_fiction_lover_on_the_se/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2011/beautifully_written_and_expertly_constructed._crime_fiction_lover_on_the_se/ The web site Crime Fiction Lover http://bit.ly/qroK2c  has given yet another roundly positive review to Mark Douglas-Home’s The Sea Detective. Crime Fiction Lover is increasingly the ‘go to’ place for greatr crime novels. Mark Douglas-Home is a writer of outstanding reputation. As a journalist he has garnered the kind of status that most hacks dream of, culminating in a tenure as editor of Scotland’s Herald newspaper. The Sea Detective is his first foray in to crime fiction, and yet his journalistic skills are used as a strong conduit for the original and intricate plot that he explores. The story… 2011-10-03T13:48:12+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/.deserves_the_widest_possible_audience_andy_hedgecock_reviews_jessie_lamb_i/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/.deserves_the_widest_possible_audience_andy_hedgecock_reviews_jessie_lamb_i/ Science fiction magazine Interzone has published this enthusiastic appreciation of The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers. The reviewer is Andy Hedgecock. Jane’s wonderful book continues to cross boundaries and to be appreciated by the widest possible variety of readers. In Jane Rogers’ eighth novel a near future dystopia is created through an act of biological terrorism.  Her portrayal of a society in crisis, in which social cohesion is collapsing, established values are corroding and personal freedoms are under threat, has already drawn comparisons with Attwood’s The Handmaids Tale, P.D. James’ The Children of Men and Ishiguro’s… 2011-09-28T09:02:02+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/the_difference_it_makes/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/the_difference_it_makes/ Publishing web site Book Brunch asked Sandstone’s Robert Davidson to discuss the difference to the company made by Jane Rogers’ success with the longlisting of her novel, The Testament of Jessie Lamb, in the Man Booker Prize 2011. Some foregrounding would be required, he was told, and some kind of projection into the future. The article is on their web site now and so can be reproduced here (with permission). You might wish to visit Book Brunch to learn much more about what is going on in British publishing. If so, visit here: http://bit.ly/KEWHR If you have a feeling… 2011-09-28T07:52:36+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/it_is_outstanding_indian_express_on_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/it_is_outstanding_indian_express_on_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb/ ‘Moms to the slaughter’ is how IndianExpress.comhttp://bit.ly/qaLckC headed their review of Jane Rogers’ Man Booker longlisted ‘The Testament of Jessie Lamb. The best solution that science can come up with is to sacrifice young women (“Sleeping Beauties”) — implanting them with embryos on the understanding that the women will die. The religious groups think this is wonderful; the feminists think it’s barbaric – and Jessie is tempted by the prospect of saving the species. At this point it becomes clear why the book is prefaced with a quote from Euripedes’ Iphegenia at Aulis. Jessie’s name also begins to seem ominous… 2011-09-26T07:53:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/the_stirling_observer_appreciates_zoe_strachans_ever_fallen_in_love/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/the_stirling_observer_appreciates_zoe_strachans_ever_fallen_in_love/ The Stirling Observer http://bit.ly/rglc1F  has contributed this review by Gregor White to the intensifying debate on Zoe Strachan’s brilliant novel Ever Fallen in Love A DECISION to swap the bus for the train on his way to start university is what first brings Richard into contact with Luke, sitting on opposite sides of the same table. Striking up polite conversation it’s once they get to the institution, however, that they really find something to bond over. While most of what makes up Luke remains shadowy throughout there are enough hints and half stories to suggest he originates… 2011-09-24T10:58:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/astute_intelligent_convincing_tom_adair_appreciates_ever_fallen_in_love/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/astute_intelligent_convincing_tom_adair_appreciates_ever_fallen_in_love/ Distinguished critic, Tom Adair, has published this in depth review of Zoe Strachan’s Ever Fallen in Love in The Scotsman http://bit.ly/qlVdTj The sad thing about having the time of your life is that you don’t necessarily recognise it when it’s happening. Three pages away from its ending this novel galvanises that truth when Richard, its 30-year-old protagonist, remembers a quotation he’s recently read about the Great War: “I lived my whole life between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one,” remarks an old soldier. “The rest,” he adds, “is the credits.” Richard understands this reflection. He feels its… 2011-09-24T10:52:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/the_big_issue_likes_ever_fallen_in_love/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/the_big_issue_likes_ever_fallen_in_love/ The splendid magazine The Big Issue http://bit.ly/nbWr  has published this brief but appreciative Review of Zoe Strachen’s Ever Fallen in Love. Buzzcocks fans will recognise the title, hinting that this is a dark tale of love, tragedy and betrayal. Written in Strachan’s typically lucid, honest style, it tells of lovers Richard and Luke and their wild student adventures, which come back to haunt Richard in his Highland village retreat ten years later. Strachan’s real strength is her psychological insight into her character. 2011-09-24T07:11:10+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/i_loved_everythng_about_this_book._petrona_reads_dregs/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/i_loved_everythng_about_this_book._petrona_reads_dregs/ Crime fiction blogger Petrona has posted this enthusiastic review of Jorn Lier Horst’s ‘Dregs’http://bit.ly/oLrdxj Petrona has posted elsewhere, as have others, how she looks forward to more in this series. We hope to have an announcement on that soon. We also hope to add a little something to answer the many reviewers and readers who want to know more about William Wisting’s backstory. Dregs is a very enjoyable, classic police-procedural novel featuring Chief Inspector William Wisting who lives and works in Stavern, a town on the coast south of Oslo. As the novel opens we are plunged straight… 2011-09-20T08:01:30+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/coming_soon_the_red_cockatoo/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/coming_soon_the_red_cockatoo/ ‘It will rigorously strengthen Scottish self-understanding, will be a bracing challenge to diffident academic dismissals of Kelman’s politics, and will render recent developments in Scottish culture that bit more exciting and edgy. ‘ Simon Kovesi, author of the monograph James Kelman, MUP The Red Cockatoo is the first full length study of the work of James Kelman to take full cognisance of the author’s political commitments and activism throughout his career. This book is published in partnership with The Drouth Magazine and traces the history and details of Kelman’s political writing and activism. Besides numerous novels Kelman… 2011-09-19T14:07:52+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/from_small_acorns/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/from_small_acorns/ Sandstone Press takes no political stands. It is a publishing company and, as we have said often, its commitment is to freedom of expression if it is to anything. Our authors are different, of course, and might take any religious, national or ideological stance they choose without interference from Sandstone editors except to make it a good read. Views, opinions, stances taken by Sandstone authors are, by definition, not of the company. Sometimes our managing director, Robert Davidson, who is also an author, finds himself in a betwixt and between position which is usually resolved on the side of saying… 2011-09-15T11:41:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/a_beautifully_written_book_about_an_entirely_unbeautiful_period_simon_varwe/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/a_beautifully_written_book_about_an_entirely_unbeautiful_period_simon_varwe/ Simon Varwell has blogged http://bit.ly/ocgYOK on The Long Bridge by Urszula Muskus, inadvertantly (perhaps) underscoring a problem of which all publishers are only too aware - getting the news out about great books. Here is what he has to say on this important title. I probably wouldn’t have known about it were it not for the fact that it was published by my publisher, Sandstone Press, nor have bought it had I not happened to be in Edinburgh and have a free evening when it was launched a few months ago.  Though I have enjoyed (if that… 2011-09-14T09:06:44+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/lucy_scholes_reviews_zoe_strachan_in_the_sunday_times/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/lucy_scholes_reviews_zoe_strachan_in_the_sunday_times/ Lucy Scholes published this strongly positive review of Zoe Strachan’s Ever Fallen in Love in The Sunday Times A quietly unsettling take on the coming-of-age genre, Strachan’s third novel doesn’t disappoint Leaving his working-class, Scottish small-town roots behind him, Richard sets off for university at St Andrews, eager for a new life of intellectual stimulation and sexual experimentation, his homosexuality “ready to be published and, with any luck, peer-reviewed”. The first person he meets is Luke, “all edgy allure, in his drainpipes and Sonic Youth T-shirt”. They find themselves living in the same subsidised accommodation,… 2011-09-12T11:09:19+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/location_location_says_crime_fiction_lover_of_yin_yang_tattoo/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/location_location_says_crime_fiction_lover_of_yin_yang_tattoo/ The Crime Fiction Lover space is steadily making a reputation for itself among book blogspots. Jorn Lier Horst’s Dregs has already received their appreciative attention and now it is the turn of Yin Yang Tattoo by Ron McMillan Location, location, location. An interesting setting is a key constituent in a good crime novel, and since we started Crime Fiction Lover our reading has taken us to all kinds of places. We visited Ystad, Edinburgh and Miami a few weeks ago when we talked about our favourite story locations, and have been from London to Phoenix in our recent… 2011-09-12T07:01:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/book_blogger_rooftrouser_enjoys_love_revenge_buttered_scones/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/book_blogger_rooftrouser_enjoys_love_revenge_buttered_scones/ Just finished this and I’m happy to be able to report that I enjoyed it. Happy because I know that Bobbie Darbyshire is a GoodReads author but also because I met her at a book signing and she it was that talked me into reading it. Well to be fair she wasn’t as pushy as that sounds but she did describe it in a way that I felt interested in trying it. She is under the impression I think, that I decided not to buy it but had a change of heart and returned. In fact it was more that… 2011-09-12T06:48:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/man_booker_short_list_press_announcement/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/man_booker_short_list_press_announcement/ PRESS STATEMENT : MAN BOOKER SHORT LIST Tuesday, September 6 2011 Robert Davidson, Managing Director, Sandstone Press:- “Sandstone Press is very proud to be the publisher of Jane Rogers and her novel The Testament of Jessie Lamb, long-listed for this year’s Man Booker Prize. With the announcement of the short list it is apparent that our journey with the competition is at an end for this year. Both the Booker Prize Foundation and its Agency, Colman Getty, have been superbly efficient throughout and a pleasure to work with. Jane Rogers’ long-listing has given Sandstone Press… 2011-09-06T10:15:20+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/the_perfect_book_for_the_times_we_live_in._dog_ear_discs_loves_the_testamen/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/the_perfect_book_for_the_times_we_live_in._dog_ear_discs_loves_the_testamen/ The modernistas at Dog Ear Discs http://bit.ly/nP0rn2 have their ears close to the ground in all matters current and apocryphal. On the eve of this year’s Man Booker Short List announcement they have given Jane Rogers title this high appreciation. There’s always constant criticism levelled at Booker for not giving genre fiction a nod, but this year literary fans have been given a slice of Sci-Fi from Jane Rogers on indie label, Sandstone. The Testament of Jessie Lamb reads like a graphic novel, or TV serial and steps on serious political issues and rebellion, leaving the reader… 2011-09-05T12:29:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/indias_the_sip_of_life_interviews_robert_davidson/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/indias_the_sip_of_life_interviews_robert_davidson/ Indian (and international) web site The Sip of Life http://thesipoflife.com/ asked Sandstone’s Robert Davidson for an interview quite recently. This delightfully presented article (which you can see by clicking on the link) is the result. On the day before the announcement of the Man Booker Short List we send our greetings to Amit Roy and his team and thank them for their good wishes and prayers. 1. Robert, we would first of all like to know a little about you and how and when you set up the Sandstone Press? Thank you, but first of all let… 2011-09-05T06:48:26+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/scottish_islands_explorer_admires_jonny_muirs_isles_at_the_edge_of_the_sea/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/scottish_islands_explorer_admires_jonny_muirs_isles_at_the_edge_of_the_sea/ The new magazine Scotland’s Island Explorer (The UK’s only magazine devoted to exploring the islands of Scotland) have published this admiring review of Jonny Muir’s ‘Isles at the Edge of the Sea’. As we would have expected, it is right up their street, but they rightly point to the author’s narrative gifts which take the book well into the interest of general readers. You can visit the magazine’s fascinating web site here: http://bit.ly/gDL7pF ‘Isles at the Edge of the Sea’ by Jonny Muir is a remarkable book in charting how resolutions can be life changing and fulfilling.… 2011-09-05T05:58:24+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/crime_fiction_lover_checks_out_jorn_lier_horsts_dregs/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2011/crime_fiction_lover_checks_out_jorn_lier_horsts_dregs/ New web site Crime Fiction Lover http://bit.ly/oZivoM is already establishing quite a reputation for itself with readers whose tastes tend to the darker, richer hues in the literature spectrum. We welcome the team into the scene, especially now they have so enthusiastically reviewed Jorn Lier Horst’s Dregs. The book’s first critique in English is warm and appreciative and, best of all, accurately notes how this author differs from other Scandinavian crime writers, in pace, penetration and the authority which comes from his direct experience of police work in Norway. Like Crime Fiction Lover, we believe that both Jorn and… 2011-09-02T06:30:37+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/novelists_need_publishers_jane_rogers_tells_the_guardian/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/novelists_need_publishers_jane_rogers_tells_the_guardian/ In this article contributed to the Guardian (27th August 2011 http://bit.ly/oFFoQ1 ) Jane Rogers tells of how writing for radio altered her approach to the completion of her Man Booker longlisted novel, The Testament of Jessie Lamb. In passing she mentions her relationship with Sandstone Press and in particular praises our Marketing and Publicity woman, Eilidh Smith. It’s quite easy for a mainstream novelist to vanish. Poor sales for one novel are enough to make bookshops reluctant to stock the next: low sales figures combined with the writer ungraciously insisting on writing the book she wants… 2011-08-28T09:00:14+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/the_inverness_courier_pronounces_positively_on_the_sea_detective/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/the_inverness_courier_pronounces_positively_on_the_sea_detective/ The Inverness Courier, an excellent Highland Scotland paper, is taking increasing notice of Sandstone Press books these days. This is very welcome. Our first locale of interest is our own, but readers will remember how James Joyce located himself in his early writings. Remember, the boy at his desk writing, Cork, Ireland, Europe, the world, the . . . Was that how it went? Calum MacLeod of the Courier is a good judge of books and authors in any company, as his many reviews in many journals bear ample witness. Here he is on The Sea Detective and Mark Douglas-Home.… 2011-08-26T11:59:09+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/site_works_an_appreciation_from_katherine_stewart/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/site_works_an_appreciation_from_katherine_stewart/ Readers who live in Scotland can hardly be unaware of the author Katherine Stewart. Readers from other countires may require some introduction. Katherine and her late husband, Jim, arrived in Highland Scotland in the years after the Second World War, settling on a croft in the hill village of Abriachan above Loch Ness. Shortly afterwards she started writing and was a regular contributor to The Scots Magazine. Her first book, A Croft in the Hills, accurately and lyrically records the hardships of their lives, which were the hardships of everyone’s lives in those post-war years, accentuated by rural poverty and… 2011-08-23T09:41:21+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/_Lovers_of_Nordic_Noir_Needed/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/_Lovers_of_Nordic_Noir_Needed/ Sandstone seek book group keen to try out new Norwegian Crime novel Dregs. “a crime thriller and a consideration of appropriate punishment which echoes questions society must ask itself today” This Tuesday, August 16, acclaimed Norwegian crime writer Jørn Lier Horst will be launching the first of his novels to be translated into English in Edinburgh. Dregs centres on the disappearance of four individuals and the appearance of severed body parts along the Norwegian coastline. As well as following the investigation with the detailed attention of an active police officer (author Jørn Lier Horst has worked with… 2011-08-14T15:17:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/a_hard_boiled_book_and_it_pulls_no_punches_alice_thompsons_srb_review_of_ev/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/a_hard_boiled_book_and_it_pulls_no_punches_alice_thompsons_srb_review_of_ev/ In the summer 2011 issue of Scottish Review of Books http://bit.ly/mXUBp0 Zoe Strachan’s wonderful new novel is reviewed by Alice Thompson, author of The Existential Detective which was published by our colleagues Two Ravens Press http://bit.ly/9PAJE3 This is the story of two working class young men – Richard, ‘the nervy lad from the ex-mining town’ and Luke, ‘the prickly youth from the city scheme’ – who become close friends at an elite Scottish university. As Richard says in his typically clear, defeatist voice that dominates the book, ‘It must have been fate that brought us together,… 2011-08-13T06:39:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/morag_lindsay_reviews_isles_at_the_edge_of_the_in_the_press_and_journal/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/morag_lindsay_reviews_isles_at_the_edge_of_the_in_the_press_and_journal/ Morag Lindsay’s previous review of a Sandstone Press title was Leslie Symons’ To Ride the Mountain Winds. It seems she likes the fresh air because she has written a similarly warm appreciation of Isles at the Edge of the Sea by Jonny Muir, who shared an empoyer with her for a brief eighteen months. HERE’S a name that will be familiar to long-time readers of the Press and Journal. For 18 months, Jonny Muir worked as a reporter in our Inverness office, writing regularly about Sabbath sailings, sea eagles and community buyouts with only the vaguest notions… 2011-08-08T19:26:22+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/undiscovered_scotland_loves_boswells_bus_pass_by_stuart_campbell/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/undiscovered_scotland_loves_boswells_bus_pass_by_stuart_campbell/ The entertaining web site Undiscovered Scotland http://bit.ly/nKS1UY has posted this review of Stuart Campbell’s Boswell’s Bus Pass. Boswell’s Bus Pass by Stuart Campbell is a really great idea for a book, beautifully and entertainingly executed. At first the idea seems pretty simple. Between the middle of August and the beginning of November 1773, James Boswell and Samuel Johnson undertook a tour of Scotland. They each subsequently published accounts of their journey which resulted in the two becoming the best known early tourists to the country. Stuart Campbell decided to undertake the same journey 238 years later, using… 2011-08-04T13:45:24+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/nothing_short_of_revelatory.alan_bissett_reviews_robert_davidsons_site_work/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/nothing_short_of_revelatory.alan_bissett_reviews_robert_davidsons_site_work/ Northwords Now, the free literary magazine of the North http://bit.ly/cgyfuz grows to new heights under the inspired leadership of editor Chris Powici. In the Summer 2011 issue (now available) the remarkable novelist, playright, scriptwriter and much else, Alan Bissett http://bit.ly/qf2JP6 reviews Robert Davidson’s Site Works. This is the first review of length for what is coming to be seen as a unique and original work. Like Jim Gaitens and Ken MacLeod, who discussed the book at its two launch events, Alan Bissett looks from the Left to produce this perceptive analysis. Alan’s fourth novel, Pack Man http://amzn.to/nthbGL… 2011-08-03T08:34:38+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/gutter_magazine_reviews_zoe_strachans_ever_fallen_in_love/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/08/2011/gutter_magazine_reviews_zoe_strachans_ever_fallen_in_love/ Gutter Magazine, one of the most progressive magazines in the UK, has published this superb review of Zoe Strachan’s Ever Fallen In Love. You can visit the magazine’s web site here: http://bit.ly/134PoO Zoe Strachan’s eagerly awaited third novel, Ever Fallen In Love, resonates with themes of identity and sexuality that have come to characterize not only her own writing, but that of the new wave of Scottish novelists who have emerged in recent years. The dual narrative, with one half set in the remote village of Leckie and the other half in an unnamed Scottish university town,… 2011-08-01T14:09:43+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/jen_bowden_reviews_the_sea_detective_for_the_scotsman/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/jen_bowden_reviews_the_sea_detective_for_the_scotsman/ Jen Bowden has published this enthusiastic review of The Sea Detective in The Scotsman. In addition to an appreciation of the novel itself, the reviewer looks forward to a successful series and welcomes a fine new crime writer in Mark Douglas-Home. THERE comes a time when a novel raises the bar for a particular genre, and Mark Douglas-Home’s debut The Sea Detective does just that for Scottish crime fiction. Elegantly written and compelling, it introduces a new, thoroughly modern hero into the crime-fighting canon. Cal McGill is a PhD oceanography student with more than a passing interest… 2011-07-26T12:36:21+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/the_daily_mail_investigates_stuart_campbell_and_boswells_bus_pass/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/the_daily_mail_investigates_stuart_campbell_and_boswells_bus_pass/ This entertaining introduction to Stuart Campbell and his new, illustrated title Boswell’s Bus Pass is written by journalist Jim McBeth and appeared in the Daily Mail of Thursday 21st July 2011. You can access the paper’s web site here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk MY TRAVELS, BY THE BUS PASS BOSWELL Jim McBeth STUART Campbell thought it a pity that his B&B landlady for the evening had not been born in an earlier age. Her Fawltyesque approach to customer care would have endeared her to the bumptious, supercilious 18th century literary genius James Boswell in whose footsteps he was following. ‘She was… 2011-07-24T09:51:24+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/two_new_reviews_of_mark_douglas-homes_the_sea_detective/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/two_new_reviews_of_mark_douglas-homes_the_sea_detective/ Clamorously positive reviews are coming thick and fast for Mark Douglas-Home and The Sea Detective. The first of these two is from the Southern Reporter in Scotland’s border country, which you can access here: http://bit.ly/or9uml  The second is from popular internet reviewer Clover Hill Books which you can access here: http://bit.ly/rm6uYa More are on the way! from the Southern Reporter Summer is the best time to throw yourself into a good mystery – ideally, you want intelligent writing, vivid believable characters and a storyline that you didn’t see coming. It’s also great to discover a new writing voice.… 2011-07-23T15:41:16+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/booksfromscotland_interviews_jonny_muir_on_his_exciting_new_title_isles_at_/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/booksfromscotland_interviews_jonny_muir_on_his_exciting_new_title_isles_at_/ Following their in depth interview with Robert Davidson on his novel, Site Works, BooksfromScotland has published an equally fascinating interview with Jonny Muir. Here the author discusses his attitude to the outdoors and to challenge, puts his journey into a historical perspective and evokes the emotional pull of the Hebrides. Q: You start the book explaining that as a journalist for the Aberdeen Press & Journal, you were writing about islands and places you had never seen. But not content to just visit these islands – you had to run up them, cycle round them and climb their… 2011-07-13T09:57:44+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/grough_magazine_reviews_isles_at_the_edge_of_the_sea/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/07/2011/grough_magazine_reviews_isles_at_the_edge_of_the_sea/ Grough Magazine (the inside view of the outdoor world) has published this super review of Jonny Muir’s Isles at the Edge of the Sea. Thanks to editor Bob Smith and all concerned. In 1773, Samuel Johnson joined his Scots friend James Boswell in a tour of the Hebrides that would produce not one but two accounts of the journey through the Highlands to the islands. Almost 240 years after the pair set out on their journey of discovery of the wild lands of Scotland, journalist-turned-teacher Jonny Muir made his own island-hopping trip of the magical archipelago and the… 2011-07-07T08:23:11+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/mouth_londons_highly_favourable_review_of_the_sea_detective/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/mouth_londons_highly_favourable_review_of_the_sea_detective/ The entertaining Mouth London, ‘online and print magazine for young people (and the young at heart) living and working in London’, has this to say about Mark Douglas-Home’s increasingly popular ‘The Sea Detective’. ML highlights: ‘…all the elements slowly combining to create a diverse and multi-layered story.’ We are very pleased to be associated with Mouth London. More reviews are on the way from this prestigious magazine. Cal McGill, the believable hero of Mark Douglas-Home’s debut novel, The Sea Detective, is an oceanographer who uses his unusual knowledge of ocean currents and wind speeds to track oil spills.… 2011-06-30T11:35:31+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/the_ross-sire_journal_reviews_site_works/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/the_ross-sire_journal_reviews_site_works/ Sandstone Press is inordinately fond of the two main Highland blacktops, The Ross-shire Journal and Inverness Courier, and our colleagues working in both editorial and print. In the review below the Ross-shire presents a keen appreciation of Robert Davidson’s Site Works while also nodding in the direction of this company’s progress. Like Sandstone Press our local papers have both a Highland base and international outreach. The Ross-shire travels all over the world especially, now, in the internet era. You can visit the paper’s web site here: http://bit.ly/iCCFsT The Ross-shire reads Site Works THE rising profile of Ross-shire… 2011-06-26T09:12:51+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/comments_list_for_the_long_bridge_by_urszula_muskus/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/comments_list_for_the_long_bridge_by_urszula_muskus/ Urszula Muskus’s nephew, Peter, who has carried her story forward so brilliantly, has assembled this list of impressive comments on her amazing gulag memoir, The Long Bridge. ‘This book is truly inspirational reading. I have never been so deeply moved by any book. I couldn’t put it down.’ Donald Wilson - journalist/writer. ‘The Long Bridge is a wonderful book, much more than another retelling of the horrors of the gulag. It is, of course, a historical document, but it is also a psychological study, a development of a philosophy, and an inspiration. I recommend it highly.’ Irene Tomaszewski… 2011-06-13T06:59:34+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/a_terrific_book_helicopter_life_reviews_to_ride_the_mountain_winds/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/a_terrific_book_helicopter_life_reviews_to_ride_the_mountain_winds/ This radiant review of Leslie Symons’ To Ride the Mountain Winds has appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of Helicopter Life magazine. You can visit their web site here: http://bit.ly/9BVn72 To Ride the Mountain Winds Leslie Symons Published in April, this book is the first to examine the co-development of mountain rescue and aviation. Covering the period from the 18th century right up to the present day and illustrated with pictures from 1900 until today, Leslie Symons’ book is an insight into the brave and bold designers, the heroic rescuers and engineers who have developed the craft and… 2011-06-10T11:55:38+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/morag_lindsay_reviews_to_ride_the_mountain_winds_in_the_press_and_journal/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/morag_lindsay_reviews_to_ride_the_mountain_winds_in_the_press_and_journal/ Aberdeen’s Press and Journal is the newspaper of choice for many people in the north of Scotland. Here is a link to the P&J web site http://bit.ly/7kZUkv As such it also finds its way about the world of Aberdonian exiles wherever they are. Books editor Morag Lindsay liked Leslie Symons’ epic description of aircraft and mountains a lot. Here is what she had to say. To Ride The Mountain Winds Leslie Symons IN SEPTEMBER 1908 – four years after the Wright brothers in America made man’s first sustained flight in an aircraft – a lesser-known… 2011-06-09T18:11:29+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/bobbies_whirl_lorna_fergusson_interviews_bobbie_darbyshire_for_literascribe/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/06/2011/bobbies_whirl_lorna_fergusson_interviews_bobbie_darbyshire_for_literascribe/ In this interview Lorna Fergusson asks Bobbie Darbyshire about her writing history and her success in handselling her titles. Lorna has much more on Literascribe which you can visit here http://bit.ly/nKctq I met writer and human dynamo Bobbie Darbyshire at the Writers’ Conference at Winchester last June: she had taken a stand at the book fair there and with the help of a staunch friend she was hand-selling her two novels, Truth Games and Love, Revenge and Buttered Scones, with a compelling mixture of friendly charm and commercial relentlessness! I came away, feeling slightly shell-shocked to be honest, having… 2011-06-05T11:47:47+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/robert_davidsons_site_works_reviewed_in_the_herald/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/robert_davidsons_site_works_reviewed_in_the_herald/ The first two reviews of Robert Davidson’s Site Works have appeared within three weeks of publication. FROM THE HERALD This appreciation by Alastair Mabbott appears in The Herald of 21st May 2011. Necessarily brief it constructs a sound gateway into the book. ‘Mud-encrusted, soaking wet, freezing cold and treated like dirt by the bosses. Construction is a gruelling trade, a hard life for hard men. Robert Davidson’s former career as a civil engineer has given him an encyclopaedic knowledge of a world that fiction forgot. The downtrodden guys in this novel are building a sewage drainage… 2011-05-21T09:48:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/chris_dolan_reviews_the_sea_detective_for_the_herald/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/chris_dolan_reviews_the_sea_detective_for_the_herald/ Award winning author, poet and playright, Chris Dolan contributed this glowing review of Mark Douglas-Home’s The Sea Detective to The Herald of Saturday 21st May 2011. Chris is the author of Ascension Day (1998) and has written for television series Taggart and River City. He is a former winner of The Macallan/Scotland on Sunday Short Story Competition. Are we approaching crime fiction Armageddon? What will happen when our irresistible hunger for new sleuths finally collides with a market so crowded and dense it’s surely going to blow? There are a number of hurdles a new writer has to… 2011-05-20T20:22:02+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/lucy_dallas_reviews_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_in_the_times_literary_supp/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/lucy_dallas_reviews_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_in_the_times_literary_supp/ Lucy Dallas contributed this perceptive review to the Times Literary Supplement, which was published on Friday 6th may 2011. SOCIAL SACRIFICES Lucy Dallas Jessie Lamb is a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl who lives in Britain with her parents, hangs around with her best friend, Sal, and has her eye on a boy called Baz. This ordinary life begins to unravel as a virus, Maternal Death Syndrome, spreads rapidly around the world, a splicing of the AIDS virus and the prion disease CJD. Every woman who becomes pregnant dies shortly after the pregnancy has become established. At first, Jessie does not take… 2011-05-11T11:25:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/john_mannings_review_of_hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_tgo_magazine/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/john_mannings_review_of_hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_tgo_magazine/ John Manning contributes this review of Hamish’s Groats End Walk to that wonderful magazine The Great Outdoors in the June 2011 issue. For much more visit: http://www.tgomagazine.co.uk/ Of all the challenges that lure a walker, that of travelling from one end of his or her home nation to the other is surely one of the most tempting. Hamish Brown trod his “end-to-end” in 1979, with this account published two years later as the second in a trilogy bookended by Hamish’s Mountain Walk, about his 1974 traverse of all the Munros, and 1988’s Climbing the Corbetts. Hamish’s end-to-end… 2011-05-03T13:49:52+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/rory_syme_reviews_hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_the_john_muir_trust_journal/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/05/2011/rory_syme_reviews_hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_the_john_muir_trust_journal/ Rory Syme is Press Officer for the John Muir Trust, based at the Pitlochry office. Deeply read in outdoor literature and a fine writer himself, Rory has contributed this affectionate review to the John Muir Trust Journal, surely one of the finest magazines to be produced by any outdoor charity. You can visit the equally fine John Muir Trust web site here http://www.jmt.org/ Hamish Brown comes across as an inspiring travelling companion. He is knowledgeable about the landscape he is walking through, good-humoured, and keenly conscious of the need for conservation. He also has a stubborn refusal… 2011-05-03T06:15:01+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/04/2011/chris_townsend_reviews_cairngorm_john/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/04/2011/chris_townsend_reviews_cairngorm_john/ Long distance trecker, also gear correspondent with TGO magazine, Chris Townsend recently posted this review on his web site http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com Chris’s web site is worth visiting for the photographs alone. This is a book I’ve been meaning to read since it was first published last year, partly because of the many good reviews it received (it was short listed for the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature) but also because it’s about mountain rescue in the Cairngorms, my home mountains. John Allen was a member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue team for 35 years and team leader… 2011-04-15T08:36:08+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/04/2011/caroline_standring_reviews_the_weekend_fix_in_the_john_muir_trust_journal/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/04/2011/caroline_standring_reviews_the_weekend_fix_in_the_john_muir_trust_journal/ “It was a long wet slog and, on the summit ridge, a wet, battered crawl thanks to the wind and stinging, ferocious rain . . . what was I doing wasting my time climbing some random hill, miles from anywhere, in appalling weather?” There may be many of you who have asked yourself this same question. But how many of you also have a favourite OS map, have slept in freezing car parks to be closer to the hill or driven with your head sticking out of the window because the windscreen has frozen over in the remote parts of… 2011-04-01T09:35:51+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/03/2011/irene_tomaszewski_reviews_the_long_bridge_for_the_cosmopolian_review_canada/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/03/2011/irene_tomaszewski_reviews_the_long_bridge_for_the_cosmopolian_review_canada/ Irene Tomaszewski is a writer, contributing editor at CR, founding president of the Montreal-based Canadian Foundation for Polish Studies and program director of Poland in the Rockies. She is the author of “Inside a Gestapo Prison 1942-44: The Letters of Krystyna Wituska” and “Codename Żegota: The Most Dangerous Conspiracy in Occupied Europe,” co-authored with Tecia Werbowski, published by Praeger in Spring 2010. In February of 2011 she received the Lech Wałęsa Media Award at the Polonaise Ball in Miami, Florida. This glorious review has been published in The Cosmopolitan Review in Canada. THE LONG BRIDGE: Out of the gulags Whereas… 2011-03-30T13:54:45+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/03/2011/rob_fletchers_5_star_review_of_hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_scottish_field/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/03/2011/rob_fletchers_5_star_review_of_hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_scottish_field/ In the April issue of Scottish Field, well known commentator on all things with fresh air blowing through them, Rob Fletcher, gives Hamish’s Groats End Walk four stars and this glowing endorsement. ‘Never a man to shirk a challenge, the Scottish wanderer didn’t elect to do the walk directly, but opted instead to travel between mainland Britain’s furthest extremities via some of its most beautiful and rugged terrain. This results in a six-month odyssey during which he meanders up 33 Munros, paddles form the source of the Forth to the sea and even takes a dog leg through Ireland to… 2011-03-15T08:29:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/youll_be_blown_away_katy_guest_reviews_jessie_lamb_in_the_independent/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/youll_be_blown_away_katy_guest_reviews_jessie_lamb_in_the_independent/ With Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go having hit the big screen, this is set to be a good year for literary dystopias that pack an emotional punch. With that adaptation, it’s a case of if you like the film, you’ll love the book, but – if you can take any more bleakness – you’ll be blown away by this new novel by Jane Rogers. The Testament of Jessie Lamb is set in a not-so-different near future, but one in which pregnant women are dying of an incurable disease, and the usual protest groups – feminists, environmentalists, anti-vivisectionists – can’t… 2011-02-28T15:13:06+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/the_weekend_fix_reviewed_by_carey_davies_in_tgo/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/the_weekend_fix_reviewed_by_carey_davies_in_tgo/ Review by Carey Davies from The Great Outdoors magazine March 2011 With thanks to TGO editor Emily Rodway ON the surface of things, this is a book about hill-bagging. It assumes the guise of around a hundred short stories, each recounting a walk on a particular hill, with the height and co-ordinates of the starring hill given. There is also a hand-drawn map at the start of each of the six chapters, giving the hills’ locations. All of this might fool you into thinking this is a book about the outdoors – which it is, and a very… 2011-02-21T10:22:44+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/herald_review_of_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_by_alastair_mabbott/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/herald_review_of_the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_by_alastair_mabbott/ PAPERBACK OF THE WEEK A little like The Handmaid’s Tale colliding with Children Of Men, Jane Rogers’s eighth novel offers a variation on one of the most chilling apocalyptic scenarios. In the near future, every woman in the world has been infected by some kind of airborne contaminant which causes maternal death syndrome (MDS). Anyone who becomes pregnant will automatically develop a form of CJD which ultimately kills them. With pregnancy equalling death, the end of the human race is nigh. And the ones who seem to be getting angriest about it are the teenagers, such as Jessie Lamb. She… 2011-02-15T12:56:38+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/review_of_the_weekend_fix_from_the_scottish_mountaineering_club_journal_by_/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/review_of_the_weekend_fix_from_the_scottish_mountaineering_club_journal_by_/ When I first picked up this book I expected the worst: the expanded diaries of a rabid hill bagger with little engaging prose and not much going on, apart from reaching another obscure cairn on an even obscurer list. And how pleasantly surprised I was when I settled down to read it. It is very much a young person’s account of his engagement with the hills. From his first outings close to his home in Helensburgh, his burgeoning obsession is facilitated by his membership of the GUM club. Escapes to the mountains become more necessary as time goes on, to… 2011-02-15T09:10:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/profile_of_ron_mcmillan_by_david_simmons_of_the_asia_times_online/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/profile_of_ron_mcmillan_by_david_simmons_of_the_asia_times_online/ Where few men have gone before Direct Link: http://bit.ly/fX1PCg Text Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online BANGKOK - In April 1989, Ron McMillan was standing on the main railway platform in Pyongyang. It was abuzz with rumors that something was afoot in Beijing in the wake of the death of discredited former Communist Party heavyweight Hu Yaobang. McMillan, a Scottish photojournalist who had been covering China and Korea since the run-up to the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games, headed to Beijing, where indeed student protesters were gathering in Tiananmen Square demanding reforms. Unable to raise the funds needed… 2011-02-04T09:42:37+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/david_simmons_in_the_asia_times_online_on_yin_yang_tattoo_by_ron_mcmillan/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/02/2011/david_simmons_in_the_asia_times_online_on_yin_yang_tattoo_by_ron_mcmillan/ One Man’s War Direct Link: http://bit.ly/fBtgfk Text Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online’ Every expatriate in Asia has a story to tell: What brought them here, what made them stay, how do they survive in an alien culture? Whom have they met, whom have they loved, whom have they hurt, and who has hurt them? Some write their stories down, and even publish novels. Generally, we’d prefer that they didn’t. There are, however, notable exceptions, and Ron McMillan’s debut novel Yin Yang Tattoo joins that small but happy rank. “It’s not great literature,” said McMillan, an amiable… 2011-02-04T09:36:59+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/ronmcmillan/01/2011/north_korea_revisited/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/ronmcmillan/01/2011/north_korea_revisited/ I was recently asked to write a short piece looking back on my trips to North Korea for Groove Korea Magazine (an ex-pat monthly in South Korea that reviewed Yin Yang Tattoo in its August 2010 issue). The piece will appear in the magazine soon (with accompanying photographs), but for now, we play the Internet card and release it as a blog.                           Memories of North Korea for Groove Korea Magazine As a writer of crime fiction set in the Koreas, I am all… 2011-01-19T08:53:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2011/richard_lords_review_of_yin_yang_tattoo_in_hohg_kongs_sunday_morning_post/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/01/2011/richard_lords_review_of_yin_yang_tattoo_in_hohg_kongs_sunday_morning_post/ Richard Lord’s review of Yin Yang Tattoo in Hong Kong’s Sunday Morning Post Western stereotypes of Asia are slippery things. In his debut novel Yin Yang Tattoo, Ron McMillan repeatedly slips and slides across the line separating worn clichés from ironic commentary on those worn clichés, and usually just about manages to stay on the right side of it. Near-bankrupt Alec Brodie, a Scottish photographer – much like the author – is summoned to Seoul, where he used to live, to undertake a lucrative job for K-N Group, a major Korean corporation. There he runs into an old adversary –… 2011-01-12T08:40:49+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2010/MAKO-MERE/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2010/MAKO-MERE/ Jane Rogers (author of The Testament of Jessie Lamb: Feb 2011) has returned from her radio/community project in Uganda and sent us this report. MAKO-MERE The Radio Mifumi (Uganda) project has now produced 10 episodes of a ready-to-air soap opera, Mako-mere (Making Friends). We had to put the whole thing together in a month, and its strengths and weaknesses reflect that urgency: it was an extraordinary and completely absorbing experience. For the first two weeks the writing team were at work: six of us staying in a house near the Mifumi village, about 45 mins drive along bumpy dirt roads… 2010-12-14T16:06:23+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2010/war_comes_to_pooks_hill/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/12/2010/war_comes_to_pooks_hill/ ‘There are fairies at the bottom of our garden, Daddie!’ ‘Now, Richard’, Mama called from the drawing room. ‘Let your father settle before you start telling him your stories. Fairies!’ ‘That’s all right, darling’, Daddie said mildly, ruffling his son’s hair. ‘Fairies, little man? Are you sure?’ ‘Yes, Daddie! Oh, do please believe me. No one ever believes me.’ ‘I believe you, little man. Fairies. Gad!’ Richard watched his parents from the drawing room door as they exchanged a kiss. ‘Does Nannie put these ideas in his head, darling? If so, she’ll have to go.’ Mama pressed him down into… 2010-12-03T11:28:43+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2010/amazon_reviews_the_long_bridge/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2010/amazon_reviews_the_long_bridge/ Urszula Muskus’s remarkable book is beginning to receive the recognition it deserves. We thank the two reviewers who have unsolicitedly contributed these reviews to Urszula’s Amazon book page, and believe that what they have to say is worth a wider reading. To that end we repeat them here. Review of Urszula Muskus’s THE LONG BRIDGE by MS Urszula Muskus’s The Long Bridge is both her testimony of a great evil endured and a deeply affecting affirmation of life. With the book’s posthumous publication this year another strong and eloquent voice is added to the great chorus that shouted from the… 2010-11-25T10:13:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2010/the_highland_literary_salon_by_guest_blogger_krisin_pedroja/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2010/the_highland_literary_salon_by_guest_blogger_krisin_pedroja/ For writers, the Highlands can be a lonely place. Writing is inherently solitary, and though a few oases exist – bookshops, short courses, and book festivals – many writers desire more human contact with others who share their passions. The Highland Literary Salon was founded in October 2009 to help connect writers throughout the Highlands, and the response so far has been remarkable. People from as far as Skye, Duffus, Ullapool, and Kingussie converge in Inverness once a month to share their interest in writing and literature. The grand tradition of literary salons dates back to 16th-century China, soon finding… 2010-11-22T12:30:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2010/michael_gardner_review_of_beyond_the_last_dragon_from_the_current_scottish_/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2010/michael_gardner_review_of_beyond_the_last_dragon_from_the_current_scottish_/ This excellent review by Michael Gardner of BEYOND THE LAST DRAGON: A life of Edwin Morgan by James McGonigal has appeared in the current issue of Scottish Review of Books. Michael Gardner brings a particular historical context to his reading and also an important slant on Edwin Morgan’s political standpoint. The review appears here without a title as it does in the SRB. *** ** A concentration on the 1920s and 1930s Renaissance in Scottish culture has tended to eclipse the significance of later events. The period of the late 1950s to 1960s has been particularly underappreciated, although it… 2010-11-18T14:07:31+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2010/guest_blog_by_bobbie_darbyshire_-_clapham_author_passes_waterstones_milesto/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/11/2010/guest_blog_by_bobbie_darbyshire_-_clapham_author_passes_waterstones_milesto/ Bobbie Darbyshire, who really is ‘the woman on the Clapham omnibus’ recently passed a remarkable milestone and this press release has been sent out to mark her achievement. All we would add is that this kind of remarkable effort is required by almost all new authors whoever their publisher is and whatever size. We also think that Bobbie is too modest about her own storytelling and writing abilities. After the big push those are the qualities which gurantee a future, and the woman on the Clapham omnibus certainly has one of those. *** ** Clapham writer, Bobbie Darbyshire, has… 2010-11-07T18:59:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2010/the_radio_mifumi_womens_writing_project_by_guest_blogger_jane_rogers/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2010/the_radio_mifumi_womens_writing_project_by_guest_blogger_jane_rogers/ Author of the forthcoming The Testamant of Jessie Lamb, Jane Rogers, recently mentioned to us that she will soon be heading for Uganda on a very special project. On hearing how fascinating and positive it is we immediately requested a guest blog. Here it is below. The Radio Mifumi Project Atuki Turner is Director of a charity called Mifumi based in a rural district east of Kampala, near Tororo. This charity works particularly with women, addressing issues such as domestic violence and problems arising out of Bride Price customs. They also run a school and healthcare facility. They have… 2010-10-25T07:47:03+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2010/canada_geese/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2010/canada_geese/ The greylag geese are back and it seems like only yesterday that I was writing of them and of WS Graham. I had reason to recall Sydney Graham at last Monday’s (18th October 2010) Beyond the Last Dragon event at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. Bookended by readings from author James McGonigal, Moira Forsyth chaired an open talk between him, Jim Carruth of Glitterball Poets, Robyn Marsack, current Director of the Scottish Poetry Library, Alan Riach who, along with much else, has edited all of Carcanet’s MacDiarmid output, and a lively audience of about fifty. Among these I was delighted… 2010-10-23T07:52:14+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2010/edwin_morgan_a_life_of_poetry_by_guest_blogger_james_mcgonigal/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/10/2010/edwin_morgan_a_life_of_poetry_by_guest_blogger_james_mcgonigal/ This article by James McGonigal appears on the Poetry Book Society web site and can be viewed in its original colourful presentation here http://bit.ly/bRyuRI The same site has a review of Edwin Morgan’s final Collection, Dreams and Other Nightmares, and much else that is interesting and waiting to be explored. *** ** The death of a poet is seldom recognised as a national loss. Attending the recent funeral of Edwin Morgan, however, were the First Minister of Scotland, politicians, friends, academics, writers, artists, students, and the media. Flurries of activity on Facebook and blogs attested to the 90… 2010-10-13T14:42:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/heroes/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/heroes/ The internet provides new opportunities for chance encounters. In fact, that is one of its great marketing and social assets. The other day I stumbled, if my ethereal self can stumble, on an interview with an old friend. This is part of what he had to say when asked who his heroes are. ‘I’ve realised that there are very few people who do not have feet of clay, I think I would simply say that I have now accepted that everyone has different talents from everybody else. Hero worship is a form of envy and it is not a good… 2010-09-29T07:59:38+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_14/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_14/ This group of poems is dedicated in gratitude and appreciation to the composer William Gilmour. Searching around for a theme I once noticed the scores of a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas resting in the back of his car. It happens that I like this music too, although the notion of me playing it is just an impossible dream. What better linkage to Willie though, who can and does? This led to a consideration not only of Mozart’s music but also his titles and K numbers. What might rise from a concentrated, meditative focus? It turned out to be an… 2010-09-17T15:03:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_13/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_13/ This group of poems is dedicated in gratitude and appreciation to the composer William Gilmour. Searching around for a theme I once noticed the scores of a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas resting in the back of his car. It happens that I like this music too, although the notion of me playing it is just an impossible dream. What better linkage to Willie though, who can and does? This led to a consideration not only of Mozart’s music but also his titles and K numbers. What might rise from a concentrated, meditative focus? It turned out to be an… 2010-09-15T05:16:33+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_12/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_12/ This group of poems is dedicated in gratitude and appreciation to the composer William Gilmour. Searching around for a theme I once noticed the scores of a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas resting in the back of his car. It happens that I like this music too, although the notion of me playing it is just an impossible dream. What better linkage to Willie though, who can and does? This led to a consideration not only of Mozart’s music but also his titles and K numbers. What might rise from a concentrated, meditative focus? It turned out to be an… 2010-09-12T07:42:28+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_11/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_11/ This group of poems is dedicated in gratitude and appreciation to the composer William Gilmour. Searching around for a theme I once noticed the scores of a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas resting in the back of his car. It happens that I like this music too, although the notion of me playing it is just an impossible dream. What better linkage to Willie though, who can and does? This led to a consideration not only of Mozart’s music but also his titles and K numbers. What might rise from a concentrated, meditative focus? It turned out to be an… 2010-09-10T09:55:19+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_10/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_10/ This group of poems is dedicated in gratitude and appreciation to the composer William Gilmour. Searching around for a theme I once noticed the scores of a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas resting in the back of his car. It happens that I like this music too, although the notion of me playing it is just an impossible dream. What better linkage to Willie though, who can and does? This led to a consideration not only of Mozart’s music but also his titles and K numbers. What might rise from a concentrated, meditative focus? It turned out to be an… 2010-09-08T09:12:51+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_9/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_9/ This group of poems is dedicated in gratitude and appreciation to the composer William Gilmour. Searching around for a theme I once noticed the scores of a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas resting in the back of his car. It happens that I like this music too, although the notion of me playing it is just an impossible dream. What better linkage to Willie though, who can and does? This led to a consideration not only of Mozart’s music but also his titles and K numbers. What might rise from a concentrated, meditative focus? It turned out to be an… 2010-09-06T06:50:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_8/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_8/ This group of poems is dedicated in gratitude and appreciation to the composer William Gilmour. Searching around for a theme I once noticed the scores of a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas resting in the back of his car. It happens that I like this music too, although the notion of me playing it is just an impossible dream. What better linkage to Willie though, who can and does? This led to a consideration not only of Mozart’s music but also his titles and K numbers. What might rise from a concentrated, meditative focus? It turned out to be an… 2010-09-04T08:39:56+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_7/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/blogs/sandstonepress/09/2010/sonnets_to_mozart_7/ This group of poems is dedicated in gratitude and appreciation to the composer William Gilmour. Searching around for a theme I once noticed the scores of a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas resting in the back of his car. It happens that I like this music too, although the notion of me playing it is just an impossible dream. What better linkage to Willie though, who can and does? This led to a consideration not only of Mozart’s music but also his titles and K numbers. What might rise from a concentrated, meditative focus? It turned out to be an… 2010-09-02T08:12:32+00:00