Daynote - Thu 11 Sep

Off into town today. It's sunny, though the forecast is for wind and rain later. But I'm in the office for the day, so only a bit of writing on the train. Perhaps more later.

I got a really lovely message from a reader yesterday, saying that they'd been inspired by the writing I do on the blog about writing and publishing and the whole messy business of putting words on paper and they'd successfully had a piece published in a magazine for the first time as a result.

It's really, really great to hear that people are reading the blog and getting something from it, and even better to hear that someone has got something published for the first time. But, as I said to this reader (and now published writer), while inspiration and encouragement is important, it's the effort and persistence that pay off, and that was all them.

Also woke up to discover myself at the top of an article on Bloody Scotland in the Scotsman!

ON DECK: 121 words so far on the train, but there's at least one more train journey later, plus possibly a bit more on my lunch break. We'll see how it goes.

Then, of course, it's packing time for Bloody Scotland! I've been at a high pitch of excitement about it for weeks now and I can't wait. And tomorrow night we'll find out who has won the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, after which I'll be able to relax (well, until my panel on Saturday), catch up with my editor, meet friends for drinks and food, go to some panels and meet lots and lots and lots of readers, new writers and the incredible festival team. It's going to be amazing.

LISTENING: I listened to the last of the Debut Prize shortlist mini-series on the In My Good Books podcast this morning, which is Foday Mannah, author of THE SEARCH FOR OTHELLA SAVAGE. Another cracker and a great finisher for the series. Huge thanks to Susie from the podcast who has done an amazing job recording and putting out this mini-series.

WATCHING: We didn't watch KING & CONQUEROR last night, instead we watched ALIEN: EARTH, followed by BAKE OFF, which is a good shot/chaser combination, given the former is extremely squicky and body-horror-ish and the latter is lovely low-drama fluff.

READING: More of NO ONE TO HOLD THE DISTANT DEAD yesterday. It's fantastic. An intriguing narrative setup, gorgeous prose and vibes off the charts. Loving it.

LINK: Still one or two tickets (though nearly sold out, I'm reliably informed) for my panel with Kim Sherwood, DB John and Vaseem Khan on Saturday. Grab yourself a ticket here.

UP NEXT: A Bloody Scotland-heavy update today, but that's because it starts tomorrow. Just one more sleep! We'll be off to Stirling in the morning and I'll be celebrating a full year of being a published author (look out for a post on that mid-morning). Then a full weekend of events and catching up with folks.

Next week, back to the DRIFT draft! Onward!