A Year in Review with Our Authors

Blogmas Day 12

As we reach the final day of our Blogmas series, we wanted to close out the year by celebrating the voices and creativity of the talented authors who have made 2024 such a memorable year. This holiday season, we're taking a moment to reflect on the journeys, milestones and moments that have shaped their writing this year.

From personal triumphs to exciting new projects, we've asked our authors to share their reflections on 2024 and what they're looking forward to in the year ahead. So grab a cosy cup of tea, settle in and join us as we dive into the heartwarming stories and inspirations behind the words of our incredible authors.

Those who participated are Alasdair Hutton, Richard Clubley, Barbara Henderson, Rab Wilson, Douglas Watt, Julie McNeill and Hugh McMillan.

Keep reading to the end for an exclusive discount, available until Christmas Eve!

What’s one accomplishment this year that you’re most proud of?

Alasdair: Getting The Good Witch of Abbotsford in the shops.
Richard: Having my new book The Sea All Around published by Luath.
Barbara: I am extremely proud of recording an audio story for the BBC - a first for me!
Rab: Being given the Janet Paisley Lifetime Services Award to Scots Language
Douglas: Publication of A Case of Desecration in the West, the sixth John MacKenzie historical thriller.
Julie: We Are Scottish Football appearing in the Herald Best of Scotland magazine with a beautiful write up. Also - holding the book in my hands for the first time.
Hugh: I enjoyed the Fringe shows based on Whit If. That was a first for me.

Richard: Being invited to write concert reviews for The Orcadian newspaper. Also to read my book Orkney – A Special Place to make a CD for visually impaired people in Orkney
Barbara: One of my books, Rivet Boy, seems to have found its way into the Australian school curriculum. That was a huge surprise - and now I have a good few school events scheduled for the middle of the night - via Zoom or Teams, regrettably!
Rab: Being hijacked and heckled by (I assume...) a disgruntled ex-miner at a launch of my Collier Laddie buik at Mitchell Library, Glasgow. He sat through my whole talk/reading, then stuid up an announced that he thocht evrithing ah'd said wis 'complete hypocrisy'! Then left... I've no idea yet as tae whit hud sae upset him...
Douglas: Seeing a new edition of The Price of Scotland published in 2024. Originally published in 2007 by Luath Press.
Julie: Taking football poetry to new places: prisons, schools, bowling clubs, libraries and stadiums. The whole year has been an unexpected joy.
Hugh: Reading at the belladrum Festival in Inverness.

Alasdair: Gathering my short stories together and seeing if anyone thinks they are worth publishing.
Richard: To complete my collaboration with artist, Liz Thomson, to have Luath publish a book of the drawings she did to illustrate my books.
Barbara: I feel very lucky - I have two new projects lined up with Luath Press, both of which need to be finalised in the coming year. There is nothing better than the thud of a publication contract on the mat!
Rab: Thinkin aboot a 'New and Selected' collection o ma poetry...
Douglas: Looking to write somethig a wee bit different in 2025 - an historical apocalyptic horror fantasy.
Julie: I’m busy editing my first full collection Love Goes North and writing a pamphlet about the Paisley Mill Workers.
Hugh: Yes I'm hoping to pursue my stalking of John Keats through Scotland.

How do you like to unwind during the holiday season?

Alasdair: Reading humorous stories and poetry.
Richard: I’m a retired schoolteacher, living in Orkney, so I’m almost always unwound. Really intense moments happen when I get back here after being south. I take a deep breath.
Barbara: I grew up in Germany, so at this time of the year I go full-on expat. I bake the biscuits, sing the German carols, get out the wooden decorations, candles everywhere...
Rab: Relaxin wi ma faimily...
Douglas: Watch TV and drink the odd glass of whisky.
Julie: Unwind? What is this word you speak of? Life is busy with two children excited for Santa and writing and work but there’s always time for nice meals and large glasses of wine with my favourite people.
Hugh: Drinking wine, listening to the wind and rain and wishing.

What’s your favourite holiday tradition or memory?

Alasdair: spending Christmas alone in Shetland editing a recording of the widow of Shetland poet Vagaland talking about his work.
Richard: Bev’s Christmas cake and mince pies.
Barbara: My family had a steep bit of land that was not much use. My ever-enterprising dad decided to plant Christmas trees when I was around five, so much of my teenage-hood December was spent outside, saw in hand, frozen rigid and making small-talk with bargain-hunting neighbours.
Rab: Family Christmas dinner oan Christmas Day.
Douglas: A family Christmas music playlist - everyone chooses 5 songs from a diiferent year. 
Julie: I’m a sucker for the tree - all our decorations are sentimental - things the children have made or memories from my own childhood. The tree is a riot but I love it. We always get a real tree and I love the smell and sight of it in the house.
Hugh: Having both girls home and loving Christmas.

What’s your go-to holiday read, or do you have a book you like to revisit during the season?

Alasdair: Any of the collections of whimsical and always highly original Beachcomber articles.
Richard: Anything about Scottish history or travel, especially the islands. The same stories crop up but always with a new angle or emphasis. It is like a comfort blanket – easy to understand because it all slots into a mind-scape I already have.
Barbara: I do tend to read A Christmas Carol, and this year I have treated myself to an anthology of festive readings too. 
Rab: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.... Either the buik version... or the MANY film versions (Alastair Sim perhaps the best!!!) .... the redemption o 'Scrooge' aye brings a smile and a tear tae yer ee...
Douglas: The Collected Poems of Norman MacCaig or The Lord of the Rings.
Julie: We always read the Night Before Christmas and watch Christmas Chronicals, Scrooge and - my personal favourite - Arthur Christmas! I love the downtime, time to read and watch films in the afternoon with nowhere to be! Bliss!
Hugh: I read a bit of Dickens, some ghost stories by John Buchan and that brilliant short story by Richmal Crompton where Just William pretends to be Santa and visits the home of an ex-prisoner bearing the whole of his rich family's Christmas meal.

What was your favourite memory from 2024?

Alasdair: Finally holding a copy of The Good Witch of Abbotsford and sending copies to my grandchildren.
Richard: With Bev, visiting Normandy to see the beaches and pay our respects. Also a local church in my home town closed and gave me the bishop’s chair my dad made in 1960.
Barbara: I had the world's most fantastic book launch for The Boy, the Witch and the Queen of Scots in April. The book is part-set at Huntly Castle, so I contacted the Historic Scotland guys with a dream scenario - could I have a book launch at the castle, with an audience of local school kids, and maybe a falconry display? The said yes to all of it, to my astonishment!
Rab: The buik launch fir Collier Laddie at the National Mining Museum of Scotland at Newtongrange... a verra special event.
Douglas: Very chilled cruise to Norway with my wife Julie.
Julie: The launch of We Are Scottish Football at the Hall of Fame in Hampden Park, Hunter and McMustard playing Sexy Book launch Party and fabulous poets and friends there to cheer us on. It was such a joyful night.
Hugh: There are literary ones and personal ones. Sometimes they cross. Hope 2025 is as exciting and vibrant.

Your Exclusive Blogmas Discount!

We’re delighted to offer a 5% discount on all new releases from these authors this year when you shop with us before midnight on Christmas Eve. Use the code BLOGMAS5 at checkout to claim your discount.

Wishing you a literary Christmas filled with stories to cherish and share.