✍️ Writing in Lockdown ✍️

The writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh (wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh) said “Travel Far, Pay No Fare... a book can take you anywhere.”
Well; I've certainly been doing a lot of (virtual) travelling during lockdown, both for research and in continuing to write. So it seems as good a time as any to update everyone on the stage I've reached and what you can expect from me once lockdown is over. And, be warned, I've been busy!
Firstly, I've completed a follow up to The River Runs Red. This book will feature 20 tales from Perthshire's dark past. This time I've expanded the book to cover different parts of the county and picked a particular - and very dark - theme for the stories! There are some amazing and interesting stories here that readers will really enjoy. It's my favourite so far :)

Also nearing completion is a rewrite and update of a book my dad wrote and published in 2001. 'The Old Lady On The Hill' told the story of Christ Church in Swindon, and was written to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the church. I've been busy writing and researching this update, which will, not only, include the story of the last 20 years but will also add some extra information, research and photographs from earlier years too. This will be an extremely comprehensive study and, I hope, a worthwhile addition for anyone interested in the church and the history of Swindon. Although the Covid-19 crisis has restricted my research severely I hope we can see this in print either later this year, or early next year.

Before lockdown I had begun to write my first novel, set in the community of Kinlochleven in Lochaber. I'd made great progress, spending lots of time researching the background to what will be an historical novel, based on true events. Unfortunately the restrictions have made it impossible for me to travel and continue with my research. I've completed about 15,000 words so far, but can't really continue until I can get back out there again and revisit places I need to describe in the telling of the story. The whole plot is sitting impatiently in my head though, bursting to jump out!

Finally, I'm busy writing a biography about a rather interesting character called Francis Metcalfe. For those of you who have read The River Runs Red, you may remember Francis Metcalfe featuring in one of the chapters within that book. His story is one of the most remarkable I have ever heard and it deserves a wider audience. I'm also simultaneously working on a TV/Film treatment too, in the hope it can be developed into a TV series. Although I can't visit many of places I'd like to, in researching this story, I've been working with his surviving family, corresponding with institutions all over the country and the world, piecing together his amazing life. So far I've been helped by Sinn Fein in Ireland, France's most notorious prison, the Imperial War Museum, the Canadian Army, the executors of the estate of Ernest Shackleton and Vera Brittain, and the owners of the original location for MacBeth! And there are many, many more. About 45,000 words written so far.

I have a few other ideas too, but that's enough to keep me going for now!

In the meantime I've attached a few photos as teasers for the upcoming books (sorry, no clues!), which might pique your interest. And, as a reminder, my books are all currently available on Amazon and, in bookshops again very soon I hope. Thank you.

CLICK HERE :- https://www.amazon.co.uk/s…