We invited Maoilios Caimbeul to answer some quick fire questions!
Our quick-fire Q&A involves asking the author to pick numbers at random and we ask them the correlating question! The first set of questions asks some general questions and the second switches to book-specific ones.
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If you could describe yourself in 5 words, what would they be?
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Patient (although my wife might not agree!)
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Philosophical
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Christian
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Creative
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Hopeful
If you could hypothetically be any character from any book, who would you be?
Possibly ‘Pi’ Patel in Life of Pi. I enjoyed reading the book. Pi appeared to be on a voyage of discovery, a seeker, which I have been all my life.
What is your biggest fear?
The biggest fear I have is for the planet. What kind of world will it be for my grandchildren, what with global warming, the degradation of the environment, the loss of species, AI and the threat of nuclear war?
How long was the book in the works for you?
The book Dòrlach Sìl was a long time brewing. It’s a collection of twenty-one short stories, written over a period of thirty years although over half were written in the last 5 years.
If you were to make a film based on this book, who would you cast?
Because it’s a disparate collection of short stories, a film couldn't be made of it, but maybe. could with one of the stories such as ‘An Naidheachd who Mhàrs’. This has two main characters Cindy and Dez. For casting I would choose the Gaelic actors Iain MacRae and Debbie MacKay. They were both stars in the Gaelic series Bannan.
What do you wish you had known when starting the writing process for this book?
In the process of writing the book there was nothing that really surprised me. I was pleased that the Gaelic Books Council helped me with a writing commission to complete the collection by writing twelve new stories. And of course I was delighted when Luath Press agreed to publish it.
BONUS Question: Why did you choose the title you did?
I chose the title Dòrlach Sìl (a handful of seed) because of the resonance it has with new life. And I love the resultant image on the cover, a blackbird with a red berry in its mouth. The symbolically sums up perfectly the idea I had.
