St Andrew's Day in Scotland

November 30^th is St Andrew’s Day up here, a celebration of the patron saint of Scotland. Although it is not generally a national holiday, there are a few events going on around the country.

St Andrew is very well integrated into our culture. He was said to have been crucified on a diagonal cross, depicted on our flag, the saltire, as the white cross of St Andrew on a blue background. The ancient historic university town of St Andrews on the east coast was named in honour of the saint whose final resting place is supposedly here.

Known as a fair and generous man who desired to help those less fortunate, he has often inspired such generosity of spirit and friendliness amongst Scots over the years. This year on St Andrews Day, we are being encouraged to #BeLikeStAndrew by sharing an act of kindness with someone. Perhaps I could get away with mine being today (29^th) when I bought coffee and chocolate for a homeless man in Glasgow!

If you’re around any of the venues on November 30^th mentioned on the Scotland.org site, you’re guaranteed a great time.

And if you’d like to read a Scottish novel, two of mine are set around the beautiful west coast and are available on Amazon!

Rosemary

St Andrew's Day

Along with the distinctive Saltire, our national flag, our patron saint St Andrew gives Scotland part of its identity. He's also the patron saint of several other countries, such as Greece and Russia, but St Andrew is celebrated in Scotland on the 30th November each year with his own saint's day.

I have to say I've never attended any actual celebrations on this day but it's a holiday here in Scotland, which means a day off work for many people! However, according to the Official Gateway to Scotland site, there will be plenty to celebrate in different parts of the country.

I'm very pleased to be taking part in a virtual celebration this year - over on the Celtic Connexions blog of Canadian Melanie Robertson-King. Melanie's roots partly lie in Scotland so it's an honour to be asked to join in the fun on her blog today. If you have time, come over and enjoy some virtual Scottish goodies and some great music.

Rosemary

The Highland Lass Scottish Setting in Print

I've been so excited the last couple of days when I found out that The Highland Lass is now in print! This is a dream come true for this book of my heart and even though e-books are hugely popular now, and I read that way myself at night, I particularly wanted this novel to be available for those who still prefer an old-fashioned book.

I'm also delighted my publisher, Crooked Cat, has used a print company that makes books available in shops and libraries, as well as being available from Amazon UK and Amazon US. That means any library and shop (hopefully) should be able to order it in for customers. Yesterday, I was speaking to a group of lovely people who wanted to hear about my writing life and two of them said they were going to tell their library about me.

Now I have to decide if I should organise a reading or two - I'm so used to online promotion that this is a new area for me! I've already checked and the ISBN number (1910510505) is showing up in the Gardners catalogue. Haven't checked Ingrams yet but it should also be there and both of these supply most of the bookshops.

It seems a happy coincidence that I'm featured on American writer Lois Winston's Anastasia Pollock blog today, where I've written about Scotland as a setting and the areas mentioned in The Highland Lass, along with a few photos. You can find the article here.

Now to come down to earth and get on with the novella I'm supposed to be finishing!

Rosemary