- The #AtoZ of my Books #atozbloggingchallenge
- Coming in April 2021
- A is for Almost….
- B is for Black Monday #atozchallenge
- C is for Cantrips
- D is for Darkness PD
- E is for Edinburgh (Alt-Edinburgh) #atozchallenge
- G is for Garrett #atozchallenge
- M is for ‘mistake?’
I’ve been writing about Edinburgh from my perspective from a very long time, but with some subtle differences.
Some of it is to do with convenience, some of it to do with memory.
Mostly though…
Mostly, I think I change Edinburgh, because if I don’t write it differently, I might write something that’s not – exactly – right anyway.
While the city changes slowly, since I’ve moved away, every time I go back, something massive has changed. And if I’m noticing those things every time I return home, then I can’t imagine that my readers might not notice.
So, I’m when I’m writing about Edinburgh, it’s the alternative version.
I thought I’d share some of the places that are especially precious to me, and I’ve definitely taken liberties with.
Goddess Falls and more…
Colinton Dell has a small grotto, with a waterfall behind it – it’s often referred to in most of my short stories, if I’m not talking about Crickley Hill or the Arboretum locally because I see them more. But, when I talk about a lot of the stories I write about Goddess Falls, I’m talking about there.
Beautiful, and important and sacred to me, I love it there, and try to convey that when I write.
There’s one other place that I write about…
There’s a bit of dual carriageway between Fountain Bridge, and Lothian Road that appeared in Banshee. But it’s not quite the way I describe it (moreso now that they’re building more and more around that area), but for more reasons than just the changes in buildings. As is illustrated in the link above, there’s a tunnel in Colinton Dell – I often use my memories of that tunnel, when it was dark.
There’s so much more about Edinburgh that I’ve written about, but these are two areas that I’ve written on recently.
Do you rewrite parts of the world you live in so you can use it?
Edinburgh is such a great place for setting stories, so much history, especially in the Old Town.
https://iainkellywriting.com/2021/04/06/the-state-trilogy-a-z-guide-e/
I’m an Edi native, so I used to giggle at the subtle changes Ian Rankin made, because I could spot them, but I do it for a different reason. There are secret places I talk about that I want to share with people, but don’t want them to go to, because they’ll change, they’ll be ruined, in a way. It’s a touch selfish, but I do share some really important places (my temple being one), but people don’t see a temple, they see a folly, so that’s ok. (and yeah, I know there’s a whole significance to the fact that I see something and what it’s called. If I was keeping going, I’d be talking about that.)
Thanks for commenting, I’ve been reading your blog, but I’m shy 😉