(PHOTO: SCOTSMAN PICTUREHOUSE IN EDINBURGH: https://scotsmanpicturehouse.co.uk/nibbles-tipples/)
Hi, it’s Jackie in the Little Writing Corner.
The thrill of an acceptance! My first “historical” short story, and it’s a special one!
Receiving an acceptance for a story is always exciting, but forgive me if I’m jumping up and down for this one!
At the turn of the year, I penned a short story set in the late 1950s loosely based around the meet-cute of my parents!
It merges music, cinema, fashion, and the news of the late 1950s into a cheerful romance story.
Not only that but I managed to include some historical detail of the factories in our town - sadly mostly now demolished. It was a long-shot to write something so particular in its setting and to submit it to a magazine that is read all over the UK and beyond. Would anyone be interested?
It appears so! My editor told me it’ll be the first “Kirkcaldy” story ever in the magazine!
All that on the week that the fair came to town.
Our annual fair is very famous across Scotland. The Links Market sets up along the mile-long seaside promenade at the Links end of the town. Travelling families come from all over to meet up at the first “market” of the season. The Showmens Guild recently worked with local organisations to place a special marker at the far starting point of “the market”. A gorgeous wooden sculpture of a Hobby Horse signifies the famous, colourful ride that has always been a staple over the years. Helter-skelters, the big wheel, the walzers, the dodgem cars, have all been taken over in recent years by higher and faster rides. The carousel with its extremely high wattage lighting and beautifully painted horses, remains the favourite though, and usually on opening day, a local dignitary will be photographed astride a brightly painted hobby horse for the local newspaper. For a whole week, that end of town will smell of fried onion, hotdogs and burgers, popcorn and candy floss, and the sweaty excitement of the children and teens who will flock there.
(Photo by Our Kirkcaldy: Casey Gardner (19) and the hobby horse she designed and painted )
Somehow, re-reading my short story with all its nostalgia for the old days, and hearing the drone of generators with their distinct smell of diesel, has brought my appreciation for Kirkcaldy into focus!
It’s so important to remember that our day to day ordinary is extraordinary to someone else. It seems this was true for my Kirkcaldy story!
As soon as I have a date of publication, I will share! (of course I will!!)
Note 1: MEET CUTE is a term used in romantic fiction to describe the first meeting of the two main characters.
Note 2: Casey Gardner (19), an apprentice painter at Persimmon Homes, training at Fife College, has lovingly designed and painted a sculpture installation of a traditional hobby horse on Kirkcaldy Esplanade ahead of the annual Links Market opening this month.
Note 3: The Links Market stretches along the promenade of Kirkcaldy and is Europe’s longest street-fair!
PS: I didn’t expect to put out a writing craft piece this week as I’d already planned to Post a piece of memoir as I’m rushed off my feet due to unexpected events at home. However, the story acceptance came my way, and this little article just fell onto paper/the screen, and here we are! x x x
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