The fire in the cave

Earlier this week I spent two days helping run storytelling workshops for the senior leaders of a well-known high street retailer. They’re about to launch a new business plan and they have a lot of information to get across to … Continue reading

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Down the rabbit hole

I’ve been walking round the river at the end of a long day, wondering what to write about. It’s a still, clear evening and the water’s low for the time of year. Normally we’d be expecting the stormy weather that … Continue reading

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Small nation

I sat next to our local MSP at a dinner on Wednesday night. It was a fund-raiser for the upkeep of Dunkeld Cathedral, just across the river from where I live. The MSP happens to be John Swinney, Scotland’s Finance … Continue reading

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The stories we tell

It shouldn’t have worked but it did – 14 writers spending a weekend together with the goal of planning a collective novel. There may not even be any precedent for it. Common sense says that, if not actual fisticuffs, there … Continue reading

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Spit and polish

Today we’re setting off to Balavil, a large house in the Highlands, on our maddest Dark Angels adventure to date – an attempt by 15 writers to produce a collective novel (I’ve mentioned it in previous posts). We obviously won’t … Continue reading

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Tennis elbow

This is a bit of an experiment. I’ve got mild tennis elbow and I’m trying to give my arm a rest, so I’m dictating via the voice recognition software that I’ve used over the last few years when writing books. … Continue reading

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Music and silence

I have two piles of books beside my bed. On top of one is A Book of Silence. On top of the other is The Big Music. I’m reading the first, the second has just arrived. Their juxtaposition is serendipitous, … Continue reading

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Holding back

I was ready to be moved to tears at the Dunfermline Crematorium, but I wasn’t expecting Steely Dan. Beloved of musical anoraks for their technical precision, and of anyone else with any pretensions to being cool for the two fingers … Continue reading

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Valentine

It was Saint Valentine’s Day yesterday. There was only one thing I could possibly write about. But first, the man. I looked him up. No one is entirely sure but the consensus seems to be that he was a Roman … Continue reading

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Chicken soup

Having a daughter at home and in need of money during the first two weeks of January I had my office redecorated, a long overdue project. Now it has ochre walls and black-painted floorboards to match the furniture I’ve accumulated … Continue reading

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