A December Day

Barbara Henderson Guest Blog

It was the beginning of December 2021.

The train rattled south towards my destination: Edinburgh. Excitement bubbled through me. After seemingly endless lockdowns and restrictions, I felt a giddy sense of freedom. I was going somewhere.

On my own.

The trip was dual in purpose. Firstly, as an early birthday treat to myself, I had scheduled to see Holyrood Palace, St Giles Cathedral and a couple of other venues in research for my current work in progress, an adventure story set during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots.

But I had also dropped the team at Luath Press an email: 

Hi lovely folks at Luath. I'll be on Edinburgh's Royal Mile next week in case you actually fancy meeting in real life. 

Luath had published my non-fiction book Scottish by Inclination the previous year. I had recently sent them an unpublished Jacobite manuscript for children on spec, but I wasn't holding my breath. It was a long shot. 

Let's meet, they answered.

We duly did, sipping coffee outside on Victoria Terrace and chatting about our plans for Scottish by Inclination. Edinburgh sported a very fetching look of Christmas lights and frosted sunshine.

Coward that I am, I dodged the subject of the children's book.

'Right, it's probably time I headed for the Palace,' I eventually said with regret. They were an affable lot and I was enjoying their company. Deep breath. 'And just let me know your thoughts about the Jacobite book when you get a...'

'Ah, about that,' Luath's Gavin grinned.

He handed me an envelope.

A contract.

I screamed. And, embarrassingly, danced a little. I practically bounced down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood, a broad smile chiselled onto my face for the entire week.

If Carlsberg made December days...

- Barbara Henderson