My debut as a film director 😉 and other news  including reviews of The Other Side of Stone and forthcoming events.

My latest fiction, ‘The Other Side of Stone’ is officially launched next week on Wednesday 31^st March with a Zoom event hosted by the Aberfeldy Watermill Bookshop. You are cordially invited to join me and Patrick Jamieson from Taproot Press for chat about the book and to raise a toast. You will find the link here for 7 PM (don't be surprised when it says that it is Mike somebody's meeting - it is the right link!). The book can be ordered from your local independent bookshop or directly from the publishers.

For International Women's Day on 8th March 'Books From Scotland' featured my background story of the book, why it took twenty years from first words to publication and the suffragette history that I was surprised by in Highland Perthshire when I first started writing it.

I'll be in conversation with nature writer Jim Crumley for a Moniack Mhor event to celebrate books in the Highland book prize longlist this year. Jim's candidate book is his fourth in the seasonal tetralogy 'The Nature of Summer' and will help us dream of warm toes, flowers, and long sunny evenings. All can attend virtually. 11 AM Thursday 18 February. Register here.

My new work of fiction, The Other Side of Stone, spans three centuries in an intimate study of lives connected to a Perthshire woollen mill. It is now available for pre-order from Taproot Press. Learn more here.

Following characters as diverse as a 19th century stone mason and rural suffragette, each story is interwoven to create a haunting tale that explores the struggle for women’s rights, and the long-term impact of industrialisation upon rural Scotland with a backdrop of Perthshire’s woollen industry.

Susan Sontag's advice for writing was: 'Love words, agonise over sentences and pay attention to the world'. Taking the first part of this, I'm offering a series of four workshops on Thursday evenings in January for anyone who'd like to play with words In Zoom company. You don't need to be a wordsmith or a would-be writer, you might use words in your work, or just want to have a bit of fun, re-boot yourself creatively and explore what's possible with some prompts. The cost will be £60 and booking by messaging me on a first-come first-served basis. I'll reserve two places at £15 only for people facing financial constraints, so please spread the word. 

‘Making up Truths’ with me at the Garsdale Retreat. This five-day fiction-writing workshop will definitely go ahead in some form, May 10th to 15th. Not only is this a beautiful place in the Dales, but it's fully (and sumptuously) catered and the group numbers are kept small – so book soon! The wondrous Tania Hershman will be visiting midweek. Her stories, poetry and teaching have taken intriguing routes. If unable to meet in person the course will be virtual.

I'm delighted to announce the publication of my next work of fiction, 'The Other Side of Stone', from new publisher, Taproot Press, which explores lives linked to a Perthshire woollen Mill over three centuries. I'll be dropping news about it into the usual places over the next few months but you can read more here. Taproot have an interesting three book offer for December here.

Delighted to say you can once again get my book Doubling Back:Ten paths trodden in memory in paperback. Find it here for £8.99. 

Described by Brian Morton here: 

'... the journeys she takes – barefoot in Kenya, booted in Spain and Scotland, weighed down with both pack and narrative in Norway – are always in the footsteps of another. This isn’t just another poetic outdoors book meant to convey the feel of remote places to armchair climbers, but a meditation on memory and on the complex intertwining of place, person and the act of recording.'

And it's become topical again partly due to being the focus of a chapter in a marvellous history of women walkers published this week, Wanderers by Kerri Andrews.