Tag Archives: Lumphanan Press

A review from Germany

22 Friday Apr 2016

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It’s been five months since I published ‘Shifting Sands’ and I’m delighted to say sales have gone well, both for the book (available online from Lumphanan Press (http://lumphananpress.co.uk/product/shifting-sands/) and for the ebook (available on Amazon Kindle http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shifting-Sands-Tales-Transience-Transformation-ebook/dp/B0187MJUL2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449398674&sr=8-1&keywords=shifting+sands+christine+cochrane).  There are some great, informative reviews up there on Amazon, so thanks to all who have read and commented!  If you’re travelling in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, the book is also available at

Aros Centre, Portree, Skye

Carmina Gadelica, Portree, Skye

MacGillivray’s, Balivanich, Benbecula

Kildonan Museum, South Uist

Ullapool Bookshop

and more to come!

It’s been a turbulent five months for me as I have been going through cancer treatment, but I’m coming out the other side now and enjoying the spring sunshine as well as the daily prompts for NaPoWriMo 2016 which I’ve been posting on my blog throughout April.  Thanks go to my husband Iain for dealing with a lot of the book administration when I wasn’t up to it!

Thanks also go to all the people who have kept me cheered with cards, flowers and chocolates.  The parcels are still coming!  Yesterday brought this delightful selection from Gabriele Haefs in Germany.

DSC00509_crI’m delighted to receive this signed copy of Christine Vogeley’s ‘Sternschnuppensommer’, some chocolate and the first review of ‘Shifting Sands’ in German, written by Gabriele for Folkmagazin.

And here’s the text of the review and an English translation:

Schottisches Buch: Von Christine Cochrane gibt es bisher eine Geschichte auf Deutsch (in dem Buch ‘Weibsbilder’ der Edition Narrenflug).  Es ist eine Geschichte wie eine schottische Ballade, von einer Frau, die auch Seehundsgestalt hat und die an Land kommt, um Unheil anzurichten. Diese Erzählung ist auch in Christines neuer Sammlung enthalten, die gerade auf Englisch erschienen ist.  Man koennte ja denken, sie schriebe nur solche märchenhafte Dinge, aber einige Erzählungen sind auch im Hier und Jetzt verwurzelt.  Die Personen halten sich nicht nur auf den Hebriden oder in Glasgow auf.  Auch nach Spanien und sogar nach Schwerin führt sie ihr Weg.  Und immer ist Musik im Spiel – eine alte verwirrte Dame im Altersheim erinnert sich ploetzlich an ein Lied, mit dem sie immer großen Erfolg hatte, eine junge Witwe versucht trotz allen Widerstandes ihrer Familie ein neues Leben als Sängerin anzufangen, ein älteres Ehepaar, das sich vor vielen Jahren in einem Folkclub kennengelernt hat, will den Lebensabend in Spanen verbringen – der Mann packt seine alte Gitarre aus und statt ‘Streets of London’ spielt er nun Flamenco.  Sch schoen und variert sind die Geschichten, und so lange es das Buch noch nicht in deutscher Uebersetzung gibt, empfehlen wir den massenhaften Erwerb der englischen Ausgabe über http://www.lumphananpress.co.uk

Scottish Book:  One of Christine Cochrane’s short stories has appeared in German (in the anthology ‘Weibsbilder’ from Edition Narrenflug).  It’s a story a bit like a Scottish ballad about a ‘selkie’, a seal who takes the form of a woman and who comes on land to create misfortune.  This story appears in Christine’s new collection of short stories which has just come out in English.  You might imagine that she only writes fairy-tales like this one, but the other stories are  firmly rooted in the here and now.  The characters are not just in the Hebrides or Glasgow.  She takes us to Spain and even to Schwerin in Germany.  And music is always there in the background; a confused old lady in a care home suddenly remembers a song that she once sang with great success, a young widow wants a new life as a singer despite the resistance of her family.  And there’s a middle aged couple who retire to Spain; the husband unpacks his old guitar and instead of playing ‘Streets of London’ learns flamenco.  That gives an impression of the nice variety of the stories!  It’s not yet available in German, so we recommend getting the English edition through http://www.lumphananpress.co.uk.

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Living with the unexpected

06 Sunday Dec 2015

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In January 2015 I could see the year stretching ahead of me.  I thought of the trips we’d planned to France and the Scottish Islands and the Llangollen Canal, I thought of all my musical activities and my writing, and I wondered if I’d finally get my collection of short stories published.  The good news about the stories is that I did get my act together, and that ‘Shifting Sands: Tales of Transience and Transformation’ is now available to order from http://lumphananpress.co.uk/product/shifting-sands/   And the ebook is available from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shifting-Sands-Tales-Transience-Transformation-ebook/dp/B0187MJUL2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449399217&sr=8-1&keywords=christine+cochrane+shifting+sands

And then something unexpected happened.  Something that wasn’t good.  Something that disrupted everything I took for granted.  ‘You can’t have cancer!’ a friend said.  ‘You’re too young, too healthy, too active!’  But I did.  In October I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  This is a cancer that can remain silent for a long time before the symptoms of bloating, tiredness and digestive problems make themselves felt.   I urge any woman to make herself aware of the symptoms, because these are not symptoms that immediately make you think the cells in your ovary might be misbehaving.  I thought that I couldn’t finish my meals because restaurants were serving bigger portions, and that I was slow going uphill just because I was a little bit older – but no, these are symptoms of the illness. You can read all about it on http://www.targetovariancancer.com

So I faced my three biggest fears – hospitals, cancer and chemotherapy.  As with most things, the reality has not been as bad as the anticipation.  I have a fantastic medical team supporting me and the care I have received in hospital has been first class.  I’ve had some dark moments, but I’ve also learned the power of positive thinking, and sometimes the nurses have said just the right thing at the right time to keep me going.  There’s been a bit of humour and a bit of banter, and it’s all helped.  A week ago I had my first round of chemotherapy, and after a few days of tiredness and other symptoms I am finally feeling just a little bit better than I have done for the past two months.  So the magic potions must be working.  After three rounds I will be reviewed for surgery, which could take place at the end of January if all goes well.  And after the surgery there will be three more rounds of chemotherapy.

I now feel surprisingly content, even with Storm Desmond rattling the windows and the rain hammering on the roof.  I am ill, but I have had two months of cherishing my relationships with others, of enjoying people’s visits, emails and Facebook messages, of experiencing great kindness and many offers of help.  I’d like to thank everyone who has been there for me through this difficult time, as well as all those of you who have supported me on the long journey to the publication of the book.

Getting the book on the road!

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

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We’re nearly there!  The final few weeks leading up to the publication of my short story collection have been difficult to say the least.  I have had to grapple with a surprise cancer diagnosis and the knowledge that I will be having treatment that will last quite a long time.  But I will keep positive and keep writing! My illness has slightly held me up on the publication date, but I’m still hoping that it will be out by the end of this month. Shifting Sands: Tales of Transience and Transformation will be available on Amazon and on the publisher’s website, http://www.lumphananpress.co.uk.

Kindle Front Cover

Production line

01 Thursday Oct 2015

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It’s two years since I started my writer’s blog – huge thanks to all of you who have stayed with me, followed me and encouraged me over the past two years. It has been much appreciated!

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Crystal ball reflections – floor at VW Wolfsburg

A lot has happened. My first post in September 2013 was about a visit to VW in Wolfsburg, a sparkling, perfect world of pristine production lines and workers dressed in white. Hmm. Things have certainly changed there. They’ve changed and developed for me too – but in a good way! I’ve learned a lot, completed quite a few stories and poems on a variety of themes, and met and shared ideas with some great people along the way. I’m probably a bit nearer to realising I prefer short pieces, but I haven’t ruled out The Novel at some stage in the future.

The good news is that I’ll be celebrating two years of the blog by (finally!) publishing some of my stories in English. There were a few catalysts. Mslexia rejigged their website, withdrawing competition winners’ stories, including my ‘Shifting Sands’.   This meant the German version of ‘Shifting Sands’, published by Edition Narrenflug in Kiel, was out there to read, but not the English one. Not logical. Then Edition Narrenflug asked me for a ‘long short story’ for a future German anthology. This finally gave me the impetus to complete the story version of ‘Ships That Pass’, a radio play I had done for my OU course, over the summer. It had been ‘resting’ for a while, so I seized the opportunity to be re-inspired, added a few new angles and produced a long short story or a short novella in English and German.   This gave me a substantial story to add to a few others from my OU course.

My work will be coming off the production line in November.  And they’re all good, honest stories!

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I’ve been working with Lumphanan Press, Scotland on the collection entitled ‘Shifting Sands’ about life’s surprises and gear shifts. We’ve done the cover design and discussed the layout, and I’ll be letting you know a little more about the stories in the next few weeks. It will  be out before the end of the year in book and Kindle format.