Swanston

[anteros_lmc]

Earlier this week I spent three days doing a book sprint with a some of my work colleagues. A book sprint is basically a short facilitated writing retreat that aims to produce a book from scratch in five intensive days. However we only had half that time and to add to the challenge one of our team was called away on jury service :} As it was, three of us managed to write a 20,000 word book in two and a half days, which is not bad going. It was an interesting experience, and the technique seemed to work well for collaborative technical publications, though I am curious as to whether it would be suitable for creative writing.

We stayed in some converted farm steadings at Swanston on the outskirts of Edinburgh, close by Swanston Village where Robert Louis Stevenson spent some of his youth. Years later on Samoa, shortly before his death, Stevenson wrote of his longing to see the hills around Swanston one last time.

The tropics vanish and meseems that I, from Halkerside, from topmost Allermuir or steep Caerketton, dreaming, gaze again.

It's a pretty spot right enough...

Comments

[aletheiafelinea.livejournal.com]

*inability for coherent commenting in the face of too stunning commentable material*

*on the afterthought* Only defect of such a workplace is the fact that one has to work there... *g*

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Heh, yes it was a bit of a distraction :} Luckily the weather was terrible most of the time we were there, (thunder, lightning, hail, torrential rain!) so that made it easier to stay in doors and write.

[aletheiafelinea.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it made a thunderous literature. ;D

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

ROFL! If only!

[lady-branwyn.livejournal.com]

Beautiful setting, though I think it would distract me from writing.. But why did Stevenson end up in Samoa, of all places?

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Beautiful setting, though I think it would distract me from writing..
Just a bit :} The weather was terrible though, so we weren't so inclined to go out!

zBut why did Stevenson end up in Samoa, of all places?
I'm glad eglantine_br answered that because I was just about to suggest asking katriona_s when she got back!

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

I know the answer to that one! I spent yesterday with Katriona. She is an RLS expert! (And she has been to Samoa, herself to see his house there.)

Short answer is: he had TB and he thought the climate of Samoa would help his chest. I do not know if it did or not-- poor man died in his 40's. I learned that yesterday along with much much more.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Thank you for that :) I briefly studied RLS at Uni when I did Scottish Literature but I am quite sure you learned more about him in a single day with katriona_s than I did in a whole term's worth of lectures!