A Landmark and a Billboard

Walking Mountain has apparently been featured on a billboard at Haymarket Station, Edinburgh, this month - and here is photographic proof courtesy of Lori from BC Books!

Too bad I only found out about it the weekend it came down, but hey! I've been billboarded!  That's a landmark and no mistake!

Lighthouse on My Mind

There is a lighthouse at the centre of the book I'm writing, AND it's raining again today, so it seems appropriate to give you some J.M.W. Turner -

Bell Rock Lighthouse 1819

Long Ship's Lighthouse, Lands End  circa 1834-1835

The Beacon Light circa 1840

And to recommend Bella Bathurst's excellent book The Lighthouse Stevensons.  And now I better get on with the writing.

"Here is a promise and a fact"

I came across this video by Caitlin Moran on Facebook and wanted to share it, though, since it's not obvious to my technically-challenged brain how to imbed the thing, I'm just including the link:

"Here is a promise and a fact"

Good to listen to "when you cannot remember why you were happy at 12 and cannot imagine being happy at 21" or, equally, between any other ages.

Inescapable Me

There's no getting away from me lately ...

There's the podcast with Kristian Kerr and Vikki Reilly from Birlinn in their Hitchhiker's Guide to Scottish Literature series - my bit starts around 31:00.

My letter - S, as it happens - has gone live on the 26 Writers in Residence website.  Another collaboration with the talented Thomas!

And my long short scifi story In Search Of gets a new lease of life on Robert Topps' excellent resource Read Me a Story, Ink.

London buses, eh?

Win a Walking Mountain!

Scottish Book Trust have kindly put Walking Mountain forward as Teens' Book of the Month with 5 chances to win a copy!  Have a go here.

And good luck!

Last Images (Perthshire 3)

Today my week is over and I go home again, so here a few last images to say good-bye -

Big Beauty, Little Beauty (Perthshire 2)

From eyes up, to eyes down -

I wish I could share the soundscape - the silence and the wind and the busyness of the birds and the calling sheep.

A Desk with a View (Perthshire 1)

Due to the kind generosity of a member of Scottish PEN, I am one of the lucky writers who have been given the opportunity to spend a week writing in an exquisitely designed studio in the beautiful Perthshire hills.  And when I say "beautiful" I am being strictly accurate.

Writing at a desk with views like these has been a gift.  My book and I are very, very grateful.