I think we've all had a tough time through Covid, and that's especially true of those who work in the field of journalism of all kinds. During this time I've been plugging my books with Old Pond, particularly my Clydesdale horse book. The book was to have been shown to an audience of thousands at the top Clydesdale horse gathering in the world, which should have taken place in Scotland in 2021. Sadly like a lot of things, it was cancelled. However I hope it will be re-convened at some point and we can get the book out to a goodly audience then. 

Well it's been rather a long time since I wrote a blog post and in that time a lot has happened to me personally as well as to the world in general. Of course we've got Covid and all that living with that involves but on a personal level I lost my father. Difficult to deal with I know and so writing has taken rather a backseat. I have got a couple of things in the pipeline but all in all it's been a strange 2020. Let's hope things begin to get back on an even keel at some point.

I had a lovely surprise last weekend, we walked into a shop in Tomintoul (reputed to be the highest village in the Highlands) and there were copies of two of my books 'Spirit of Speyside' and 'A Boot Up the Speyside Way' - I really hope that visitors like them :)

I was in the Orkney Bookshop at Kirkwall recently where I signed my book 'For Love of the Clydesdale Horse'. It was great to hear from the bookseller that it sells so well on the island. Orkney is a wonderful place and has visitors from all over the world. Many come in on cruise ships before heading off to other destinations. It's amazing to think that my books may be going across the world in this way - you can see the picture in the gallery.

I've been to Orkney recently and while I was there I popped into the Orkney Bookshop in Kirkwall and signed my Clydesdale horse book. The lady bookseller was keen to tell me that the book sells really well there - perhaps not suprising as Scotland is the home of the Clydesdale horse and Orkney gets a lot of visitors from all over the world looking for a special book to remind them of their visit.

Orkney is a wonderful place to go to, very peaceful and home to some wonderful writers includung the late John Mackay Brown whose house I was lucky enough to see in Stromness. His writings and insight are powerful and still draw readers in today. Not suprising as Orkney is indeed inspiring. From its wildlife and seabirds to Neolithic and WW2 remains, this is a very special place indeed.

Great news - after an abscence of several months 'The A Team' of trainers working for Friendly Access are about to get going once more with their autism training. For those who don't know I'm part of a dynamic team that speak about autism - you can see more on my autism webpage on this site. If you'd like to know more take a look at www.friendlyaccess.org or better still book a place and come along and hear us speak :)

My word how time flies, this time last year I was working on my latest book about Clydesdale horses, now it's published and I'm rushed off my feet with newspaper and magazine work. I'm currently putting my submissions together for Farming North and working on the forthcoming Smallholder submission too.

I'm also rewriting my autism talk - this is something I've been meaning to do for a while. It's quite involved and I want to get it right. So far I've given the talk as part of a group but what I'm writing now is as a solo. It gives an idea of what it's like to living with autism, it's postitive and informative and I hope it goes down well.

To that end I've got an article coming out in the next issue of Lamplight that expores autism, I hope it opens up conversations about the condition and makes everyone more aware of just how common it is, gone are the days when it was thought that autism affected only boys, people of all ages, creeds and both sexes can be autistic, it's often overlooked, mis-diagnosed and mis-understood - time for change I think.

Great news, my new book 'For Love of the Clydesdale Horse' published by Old Pond is out now.

It's taken a while (and is the reason I've not put a blog post on for quite a long time) but it's finally out. Thanks go to Rachel Shepherd, to whom I send best wishes in her new position (sadly she's left Old Pond) and to her assistant Alessandro who put in a lot of hard work. Victoria Delahunty is promoting my book and if anyone wants any information on the book or to order copies you can contact her at Old Pond www.oldpond.com

The book is priced at £12.95 and contains photographs of Clydesdale horses at work, rest, ridden and in the public eye. It's as colourful as I could make it and shows Clydesdales in their work clothes as well as ready for show. None of the pictures are staged, all are as they happened and I hope are all the better for that. Liz Whatling designed the book in the same style as my previous two Old Pond books.

I'm going to put a few taster pictures from the book in my gallery, so you can have a little preview. I hope you enjoy it.

I'll be signing both my Appleby books this coming week at Appleby Fair in the tourist information centre on the 3rd June between 11am - 1pm and then again from 2pm - 4pm, come along and say hello, it'll be lovely to see everyone. Let's hope the sun shines :)

If you can't make it you can still buy my books via Old Pond's website www.oldpond.com 

I apologise for not having added to the blog in a while, but it's been so busy here. I've recently started contributing to Horse and Countryside magazine, it's a great read and my most recent article for them is about Appleby Horse Fair. Talking of Appleby we are trying to get some signings set up for this year's Fair, you'll have to watch this space to see if it happens. I've also just done the editorial for an equestrian feature for Scottish Provincial Press - second time I've done this and I love it. I've also just finished an equine based article for Smallholder, you'll need to pick up the next issue to see more. I'm currently working on a few things for the summer issue of Farming North and am waiting to hear when a new magazine I've been involved with will be out - exciting times :)