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  Based on the initial research I have done into the lives of gypsies in the UK and fisherfolk in Auchmithie, to get a sense of their lives and challenges, I have begun to draft my early scenes in my new noval ( The Fisherwomen of Auchmithie ). I can’t wait till the museums reopen to visit the local area and the Lighthouse Museum again. Thanks to the website Auchmithie Roots , and their historians, I found mention of Auchmithie in The Country of Scott . Including the following description of the inside of one of the fisherman’s cottages. He let me take a photograph of the interior of the cottage, where a single room served for bedroom, breakfast-room, kitchen, and numerous other purposes. (p.157) So not adding much information to what I had already guessed or discovered, though I'd love to chat to an expert in working-class women's lives in the early 1800s. The text also mentions policemen referred to as constables and ‘a picturesque old fishwife’: A picturesque old fis...

  On conducting research for my current book The Fisherwomen of Auchmithie , it’s been tough going finding information on the lives of fisherfolk in the 19th century. I began to read The Antiquary ( Walter Scott ), as cited on some websites. However there is but one description of the inside of a fisherman’s cottage. So from his descriptions I have learnt about the humble Scottish fisherman’s cottage that ·       * there is a fireplace/hearth inside (possibly coal lit, but this was from other description in another class of housing so might be incorrect) which is for heat, light and cooking ·       * wooden trenchers are used to prepare food ·       * which is fried, broiled and smoked fish, plus bannocks [Scottish cake made from oatmeal] and car-cakes [crumpets] ·        * mugs of beer [other sources mention ale] ·       * grandmother is found...

 I felt inspired by this quote today from K.Welsh: "When I was querying agents with The Wages of Sin , I posted the opening chapters to my website on the off-chance someone might see it, and Laura Macdougall, who was then commissioning editor at Hodder & Stoughton, fell for my cunning ploy and emailed me asking if she could read the whole thing. She was planning on switching to being a literary agent and, once she’d sent me back a hand-edited first draft with a box of chocolates, I knew I’d found the perfect agent!" Well, why not, I've been showing my first pages to beta-readers over the past few weeks to get feedback and thought I would share the same opening scene here too. I had more rewriting to do than planned because of my current book A Friendship of Thistles being set during the time period 2019 to 2020. If you've read any of my other posts you already know that then lockdown happened and I began to rewrite the book.  So here it is ... scene one.   ...