Daynote - Fri 17 Apr 2026

My office at home doesn't look like this, but after a week and a half of working on laptops, at kitchen tables and on couches and on hotdesks, in trains and cafes, my home setup feels like this. It's a very, very nice feeling to a) be at home with a comfortable office chair and two large monitors and b) have a Writing Day ahead of me.

No walk yet today (I spent all day in town yesterday so I'm taking the morning off walking) but I'll get out for a run later I think. I had a lovely evening at Edinburgh Sparks, which was well-attended and a lot of fun, with a whole range of writers reading their work aloud. I did a short reading myself (the opening chapter of SOLITARY AGENTS) and then was excellently interviewed by Alessandro Valenzisi, who is a former Napier creative writing MA student and did an excellent pitch at Bloody Scotland's Pitch Perfect last year. If you're a prose writer in Edinburgh, I highly recommend you head along to their next event.

ON DECK: I'm staring down the barrel of just fifteen remaining scenes in this book, and a day ahead of me in which to write them. It sounds like a lot, but I'd guess the average length of those scenes is going to be 300-500 words, with a few a little longer. So it's... doable. But I've got to focus. Which probably means finishing this post and cracking on.

LISTENING: Greatly enjoyed this episode of Print Run, talking about the recent Helen DeWitt kerfuffle. It's a great discussion about the expectations placed on authors now and the impact it has on both the writers themselves and the art they create. Consistently one of the best industry/craft/culture podcasts there is. Love it.

READING: Didn't read a word yesterday, forgot my book and I got home late. But today I'm going to finish NO WAY OUT by Max Connor (aka Neil Lancaster, Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon), once I've finished writing my book.

KIT: I recently got a Traveler's Notebook from a brilliant wee company called 'All Things Analogue' who are based down in Eastbourne in England. Yes, it's a very expensive notebook cover. But the refills are a) cheap, relative to a whole notebook and b) just about exactly the right length, for me, for working on brainstorming and notes for a single project.

So I can have a modular notebook with a catch-all insert for quotes and idea capture and noodling about, plus one or two single-project inserts for the books I'm actively writing or planning. So far, it's working out very well, and the notebooks are a dream to work in - they're tall and thin so there's space for timelines and sketching and lots of notes, but also a nice, readable line-length.

Shout out to All Things Analogue too, who were one of the few places who actually had these in stock in the larger size, and who sent me everything beautifully packaged with a handwritten card. If you're looking to buy something nice to write with, give them a look.

LINK: A really interesting interview on The Honest Editor about Book PR, with Emily Souders from Riot Communications. Having worked in marketing for years and worked with a lot of PR people over that time, I find the intangibles of it absolutely fascinating.

UP NEXT: Maybe? The end? Of this book? But yeah, seriously, time to get typing my friend.

Onward!