Okay, so I am Swedish. I am a woman privileged enough to live and work in a country that has bent over backwards since the 1960’s to make it possible for women to combine children and professional ambitions, ergo good, state-funded childcare. long parental leaves and a legislation that in general is supportive to parents. […]
Sometimes, I wish I was Chinese. Especially when we approach New Year, I really, really wish I could have a New Year’s celebration like theirs, complete with those magnificent Chinese dragons. Then, of course, there’s the added benefit of Chinese tea – cha. This is a people that fully understands just how relevant tea is
A pivotal role in my third book, The Prodigal Son, is played by Sandy Peden, the charismatic minister that has Matthew Graham risking life and limbs by his steadfast support of the Covenanter cause. While Matthew is a purely fictional character, Sandy Peden is not – and anyone familiar with the history of the Covenanters and
With the vocation of being a burr up the English backside Read More »
We all have our particular favourites among historical people. Quite often, the people we idolise will be vilified by others – history, just like pretty much everything in life, is a matter of perception and opinion. After all, none of us knew the people who took central stage during the preceding centuries. (Well; I would
… I write. What I mean is that when it no longer suffices to sit and dream about travelling to other times, other places, I write about them instead. A most economical and safe form of time travel. When I was a child, I ran around with a wooden shield and sword, pretending to be
… is of course impossible. But in general we seem to think we can save time, sort of like putting it in a bank for later use. In particular, we put off trying to realise our dreams. “When I retire I will…” (paint masterpieces, write novels, walk around the Black Sea, learn to play the
“When I was just a little girl…” I desperately wanted to be a boy. Most of my friends were boys, my favourite pursuits were football and rugnby, and I just hated it when I had to do needlework at school. Or deportment classes. I don’t know if any of you, dear readers, have been subjected
I’ve had the flu for well over a week. This may explain why I am not my normal alert (hmm) self. I sincerely hope it explains why my nights have been haunted by dreams of purple flower pots! For three nights running I’ve been dreaming of huge purple flower pots, so heavy they’re almost impossible
Purple flower pots and other weird and wonderful things Read More »
I should be dead. At least according to the lines criss-crossing my palm… Okay, so I’m not a palmist, but when the lifeline starts shrinking that sort of makes you think “oops”. I discovered this disturbing new development by chance some hours ago, and have since then poured over my palms, turning them this way
Fortune’s Favourite – a reflection on fate and fortune-tellers Read More »
No sooner have we celebrated the fact that we’ve all survived the end of the world as predicted by the Maya calendar (which, BTW, seems to have been a TOTAL misunderstanding as the Mayans mainly concluded one cycle of time would end on the 21 of December 2012 and be replaced by a new one)