Writing
On this page and within the blog you will find more about the books, articles and stories I have written, and about my current writing project, Billy Tuesday.
I always wanted to write but only really got down to it after we moved to Scotland in 2005. Previously there had been some shaky starts, a lack of confidence, perhaps I was too much in awe of writers I admired. I had attempted a children’s book and written some dodgy poetry but lacked consistency.
In 2005 I signed up for Ray Ross’s Find Your Voice creative writing group at Edinburgh University and from this the bones of Giselle and Mr Memphis emerged. I began to find a voice through the simple device of creating an imaginary friend. In 2008-9 I studied for an MA Screenwriting at Napier University and this had a great influence on visualization and short scenes within the novel. The story of how I developed Giselle and Mr Memphis can be found in the q and a and the piece about the making of Giselle and Mr Memphis I wrote for Vagabond Voices.
Whilst waiting to find a publisher I continued to write, poems, short stories and screenplays and in 2010 a group of fellow MA students and I got together to make a short film of a screenplay I had written – Release. All his was made possible under the guidance of my good friend Hugh Farrell. You can view the film on the Release page.
I dive in and out of writing and painting with occasional fallow periods. I like to journal and some of these musings and descriptions appear in Billy Tuesday. There will be extracts on the blog.
A special mention for Alan McMunnigall and Thi Wurd… when recovering from colon cancer and coming out of Covid lock down I joined the Thi Wurd online creative writing classes. I really benefited from critiques by other writers and in particular from the man himself. I like his style and am a keen supporter of what Thi Wurd does for writers in Scotland and internatonally. I was delighted to have Angels included in the latest anthology, Earthly Rewards.
Links :
Vagabond Voices https://www.vagabondvoices.co.uk/vagabonds/giselle-and-mr-memphis
The Making of Giselle and MrMemphis : Click here to read
Q and A for the Big Bearded Bookseller : Click here to read
Release (Honeygreen Films) : Click here to watch
Thi Wurd https://www.thi-wurd.com/
Published writing is listed below-
Giselle and Mr Memphis (short extract) Gutter Magazine 07 (2012)
A letter To Joan Eardley (All Becomes Art Part 1) Speculative Books, Glasgow 2022
Giselle and Mr Memphis Vagabond Voices, Glasgow 2022
Gone – poetry pamphlet, Hickathrift Press , 2022
Angels – short story in Earthly Rewards, Anthology, Thi Wurd, Glasgow 2024