It may take a village to raise a baby, but hell! it takes an army to produce a book.

Scotland just isn't terribly Tory.

Books exist for me not as physical entities with pages and binding, but in the province of my mind.

The new contract between writers and readers is one I'm prepared to sign up to. I've met some fascinating people at events and online. Down with the isolation of writers I say! And long live Twitter.

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.

History at its best is a gritty, dirty business.

For me, writing stories set, well, wherever they're best set, is a form of cultural curiosity that is uniquely Scottish - we're famous for travelling in search of adventure.