When my pupils find out that I'm a writer, there is a general air of fascination for a while. They Google my books and ask if they can buy them on Amazon (they can, but - by and large - they don't) and want to know why I need to teach if I'm a published author. The answer is simple, of course: when I'm doing well, I break even as an author, I never make actual money. But recently I've realised that being an English teacher is something I would continue even if I had a sudden jackpot win on the lottery. I love my job. Take today for example: I got to teach Seamus Heaney's Digging to a group of S1s, held a mock trial for Dr Frankenstein with my S3s, read a chapter of The Graveyard Book with my S2s, and - perhaps best of all - began the analysis of M.R. James' A Warning to the Curious with my S4 class. Who wouldn't want that job? I think writers make great English teachers - and editors make even better ones! We are used to spotting little details here an...
There’s nothing like a global pandemic to make you appreciate the life you had before. Without the freedom to roam around Scotland, my debut book would never have happened. And I’m grateful to this day that it was done and dusted before Covid struck. The fact I’ve been unable to travel the country again to launch Craggy the Coo Wants a Place to Call Home is a trifling inconvenience in the great scheme of what we’ve all endured over the past 13 months or so. I’ve been asked how I picked the places that Craggy travels to in the course of his journey. If I’m honest, they really picked themselves, based on where I happened to be or personally chose to visit in the 18 months or so it took me to put the book together. So let’s start at the start. The first picture I ever took of Craggy on location was in the village of Rockcliffe, Dumfries and Galloway in January 2018. That stretch of the Solway coastline brings back magical memories from my childhood when, to quote one of my favourite autho...