Tiny TripFiction Talking Location with Tamsin Mori

6th March 2022

To celebrate the publication of the second book in the thrilling Weather Weaver trilogy, Tiny TripFiction is thrilled to welcome Tamsin Mori to the blog to tell us all about beautiful Shetland Islands that inspired her Weather Weaver adventures.·

The Weather Weaver stories evolved out of the island myths of my childhood. Half of my family are Shetlanders and though I don’t live there, it’s the place I feel most at home.

When I first began writing, the setting emerged from memories of unaccustomed freedom. As a child, the islands offered the thrill of discovery; the alarming joy of self-reliance. My grandmother’s stories sang in my bones, imbuing the landscape with magic. The sea was home to selkies and blue men, sea monsters and water spirits. The rolling green hills and black peat banks hid trows – the small gnome-like creatures who live underground by day, but come out by night to cause mischief and magic. The liminal landscape between sea and sky is fertile ground for folklore.

While I was editing, I returned to Shetland. I spent happy hours wandering the coastline, making notes and sketches, enjoying the solitude. I discovered details that I had forgotten; the smell – salty sea breezes, the iron-dark stench of seaweed, the honey-and-herbs scent of heather; the soft bounce of mossy peat underfoot; the shining diversity of wildlife.

The sky whirled with sea birds – tirricks and tysties, bonxies and tammie norries – their Shetland names came back to me as easily as breathing. On the crossing to Mousa, Minke whales surfaced in the sound, filling my heart with wonder. The captain of the Mousa Boat said it was the seventh time in as many days that they’d been spotted – for me, it was a first.

Mousa Broch, Shetland

The Mousa Broch was every bit as mysterious and ancient as I remembered, its tall curved walls as solid and sturdy now as they have been for over 2000 years. I climbed the hidden spiral stairs, each stone tread gently cupped around centuries of passing feet. It felt like walking both forward and backward in time. The islands still hummed with magic, but now there was also a sense of rootedness – of myths linking generations, coloured anew with each new storyteller.

The weather was ever-present – mercurial and full of contrasts. A half-hour walk, from east to west, took me from a shadow world, enfolded in fog, out into bright breezy sunshine. Growing up, the fog was often my friend: settling around the airport at Sumburgh Head, grounding the flights. I would wish for it, with its promise of stolen extra days in Shetland.

Sandwiched between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Shetland sees every face of the weather. It’s a far cry from the mild, damp, temperate climate people associate with the UK. At 60° North, the main town of Lerwick is on the same latitude as St Petersburgh in Russia, Seward in Alaska, Cape Farewell in Greenland; far enough north that in summer, it’s never fully night – the simmer dim casting its soft glow across the sky. In winter, the nights are long and dark, sometimes blessed by the mirrie dancers, or northern lights.

The Shetland mainland is remote – a twelve-hour ferry-ride from Aberdeen – but my grandmother grew up on Foula, which is a further four-hour boat ride from the mainland. A stark jutting rock of an island, it’s been called the edge of the world. “Tell me about when you were my age?” was my favourite question to ask her. She was always happy to answer, spinning tales of furious thunderstorms, howling gales, joyful days of unexpected sunshine. In most stories, the weather is considered setting – a clue to the mood, perhaps – but she taught me that in Shetland, the weather is nothing short of a main character. Every time you open the door, it’s there to meet you, with a new story to tell.

Tamsin Mori

© Tamsin Mori

Tamsin Mori was born in Paris, but when she was three, her family moved to a log cabin in Scotland. They moved a lot after that too, but the place they always returned to was Shetland, her mum’s homeland. After getting a degree in Neuroscience, Tamsin realised that her brain was mainly full of stories, and went on to gain a Masters in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. She now lives in Bath with her husband, two children, one rabbit, several crows, and a badger – although she still flies home to Shetland whenever she can. For more information about Tamsin and her books website tamsinmori.com.

Catch Tamsin on Twitter @moritamsin

The Weather Weaver (2021) and A Gathering Storm (2022) are published by UCLan Publishing and out now!

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