Category Archives: Friendship

Altchroskie

I first met my friend Pete Clark almost 25 years ago, shortly after we had moved into our house in Strathardle, one of Perthshire’s least known and prettiest glens. The house was called Altchroskie (‘alt’ means stream or burn in … Continue reading

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The stories we tell

Here is a story. Fifteen years ago, Catherine Lockerbie, then the literary editor of The Scotsman, was appointed director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. For several years I had regularly written book reviews for her. We had also sat … Continue reading

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Company of angels

I love Moniack Mhor, the Scottish writers’ centre near Inverness. I’ve often written about it here. Some of our most memorable Dark Angels experiences have taken place there, though none quite so memorable as last weekend. To start at the … Continue reading

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Summer in Scotland

There are times when writing this blog feels beyond me. No matter how much I promise myself that I’ll start mid-afternoon on Thursday, it’s invariably 5.00 pm before I get going and then, on a normal Thursday, I’ll go for … Continue reading

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A vote for kindness

I posted last week from Northumberland on Thursday, election eve, unaware of what was going to happen the next day. By the time I left to drive home on Saturday morning, the political landscape in Scotland had changed beyond recognition. … Continue reading

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Careless

I took a long time to get started in adult life. After university and a false start in London I took off and travelled in South America. I was 23. When I came back, a year later, I was rich … Continue reading

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Magic in the air

Sometimes there’s just a little bit of magic in the air. So it has seemed these last 10 days. I can’t really explain it, but it feels as if maybe the planets have been particularly well aligned – or something … Continue reading

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The Angels’ Share

Has there ever before been a fifteen-author book signing? Unbound, publishers of the Dark Angels collective novel Keeping Mum, have just posted photographs of this unusual, probably unique event on Facebook. It preceded our 10th anniversary dinner last week at … Continue reading

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A place at table

Commensality. I first came across the word a few years ago when I wrote an appeal for a community of monks. It means the act of sitting at table together (remember that famous first declension Latin noun, mensa?). Commensality was … Continue reading

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Movies and Moghuls

There was a small tsunami of encouragement following my last week’s post about the possible film of The Witness. So much so, in fact, that I wondered whether some people might have taken it as a fait accompli – which … Continue reading

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