Jacqueline Sheehan

I am writing from Hawthornden Castle in Scotland. As unbelievable as it seems, I am living in a castle that was built around 1400 and it looks every bit of it. I'm part of a group of fortunate writers who have been awarded a 4 week fellowship.
The strangest thing so far is the vast assortment of keys that abound in the Castle. To get to the "Keep", which we've been told is a building where things are kept, one needs a massive skeleton key. To lock the door to the toilet, there is another sort of skeleton key on the inside that must be rattled around until a latch finally moves. And there are no fewer than 3 barriers to the castle entrance including an electronic iron gate at the end of the road, a massive wooden door at the garden entrance that is braced with a formidable beam at night, and finally the great door itself.
But it is the good company that I look forward to each morning and evening. We are sworn to silence each day from 9:30 until 6:30 so that we can concentrate on our writing, but at 6:31, you can't stop us from talking.
My new book is taking shape.