I had loved poetry and the theatre. Now I loved adventure more.
I didn't expect to love being online as much as I do. I've met some wonderful people and discovered that however arcane some of my interests that there are people out there who are interested too.
Books exist for me not as physical entities with pages and binding, but in the province of my mind.
An Aunt is a safe haven for a child. Someone who will keep your secrets and is always on your side.
To me, reading through old letters and journals is like treasure hunting. Somewhere in those faded, handwritten lines there is a story that has been packed away in a dusty old box for years.
While I'm frustrated at the amount I'm expected to take on in the present, the 1950s woman was frustrated by being excluded - not being allowed to take things on at all.
Today women have the rights and equality our Victorian sisters could only dream of, and with those privileges comes the responsibility of standing up and being counted.
People make interesting assumptions about the profession. The writer is a mysterious figure, wandering lonely as a cloud, fired by inspiration, or perhaps a cocktail or two.
History is full of blank spaces, but good stories, invariably, are not.
For a novelist, the gaps in a story are as intriguing as material that still exists.
I'm a library user and I just don't hoard books. To me, they're for sharing.
My father could talk about the Romany way of life and its culture. He could talk about freedom and the Scottish spirit. But that was all he could talk about. I was desperate for someone to talk to but there was just nobody there.
Often we don't notice the stringent rules to which our culture subjects us.
Like most little girls, I found the lure of grown-up accessories astonishing - lipstick, perfume, hats and gloves. When I write female characters in my historical novels, getting these details right is vital.
Writers are a product of where we come from but by looking at alternatives to the culture in which we live, we can find ways to change and hopefully improve it.
It may take a village to raise a baby, but hell! it takes an army to produce a book.
I've found myself moved by letters and diaries in archives as well as trashy, summer blockbusters. It's possible to make a connection with any kind of writing - as long as the writing is good.
I care about a lot of issues. I care about libraries, I care about healthcare, I care about homelessness and unemployment. I care about net neutrality and the steady erosion of our liberties both online and off. I care about the rich/poor divide and the rise of corporate business.
There is something particularly fascinating about seeing places you know in a piece of art - be that in a film, or a photograph or painting.
Aunts offer kids an opportunity to try out ideas that don't chime with their parents and they also demonstrate that people can get on, love each other and live together without necessarily being carbon copies.
Those who have not been stung will hardly fear a bee the same as those who have.
History at its best is a gritty, dirty business.
Scotland just isn't terribly Tory.
Scotland consistently produces world-class writers.
Something I notice speaking to writers from south of Hadrians Wall is that the culture is different. At base, I think Scotland values its creative industries differently from England.
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