Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th November, 11am – 4pm approx there will be storytelling sessions with various authors in the big marquee   Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.  I will be there with Hamish and friends telling stories from 1.30-2 and 3.00-3.30 on Saturday and 1.30-2 and 2.30-3pm on Sunday Come and meet me and say hello to Hamish, Jeannie, Angus and Rupert!. There will also be storytelling during the day with Aileen Paterson, Lari Don and Joan Lingard.

NOVEMBER is here already and the weather has turned seasonally cold and bright!

I have a lot of exciting things coming up so come back very soon to find out about some of the exciting plans I have for next year!

‘Spider is on his last warning. If he is caught joyriding agian he will be sent down, no questions asked. He’s trying to stick to the straight and narrow but his girlfriend Deanna and mate Andy reckon he should risk one last RUN.

Spider is an adrenaline-fuelled ride - a compelling glimpse into a life spinning out of control’

Be one of the first to see the COVER of my latest teenage novel SPIDER (published at the end of September 2008) You can see it on the BOOK page under NEW BOOKS

Look on the MY EVENTS page to see where I am appearing in the next few months.

Have a look at http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com and read some of the ramblings of some scattered authors

Summer is in full swing and once again it is almost time for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Charlotte square in Edinburgh is one of my favourite places to be during August, just to wander around the book tents, or meeting friends and the chance to meet and listen to lots of authors speak about the books they have written and are passionate about.

For more information about my Book Festival events look on the MY EVENTS page.

At the beginning of September I will ne on the Isle of Islay for the Book Festival there and at the end of September I will be visiting the Wigtown Book Festival In October I will be at the North Lanarkshire Festival of Words.

I will also be reading from the latest Hamish McHaggis book with classes from Atholl Prep and Craigdhu Primary, in the morning .

BALMORAL Launch for new Hamish McHaggis book

Sally and I have just returned from a lovely trip to Aberdeen where we were at Balmoral Castle for a launch event for Hamish McHaggis and the Lost Prince. Classes from Braemar, Ballater and Crathie Primary Schols came along and a great time was had by all.

While we were in Aberdeen we also visited Skene Square Primary School and the lovely staff at Waterstones accompanied us to Albyn School to meet the children there.

Sally and I were in Haddington Library (photo below) for the launch of the latest Hamish book, Hamish McHaggis and the Lost Prince, on 16th May

and on the following Tuesday, 20th May, I was taking part in the West Dumbartonshire Festival of Words.Have a look on the link below for some photos of my talks in Alexandria and Dalmiur Libraries.

Some of the children filled in postcards with their impressions of the visits. You can see these here, too.

http://www.wdcweb.info/onlinestories/literature-festival/report-linda-strachan.htm

Haddington Library launch of Hamish McHaggis and the Lost Prince

Here are some photos of the launch event in Haddington Library on 16th May.

Click on the photos to get a bigger version

Today I saw the first preview copy of the latest Hamish book, Hamish McHaggis and the Lost Prince. Sally and I am preparing for a few events to launch the book and the first in HADDINGTON LIBRARY on the day the book comes out Friday 16th May. It is a free family event so if you are in the area do come along at 2.30pm. Sally and I are also going to be in Borders FORT KINNAIRD Edinburgh on Saturday 24th May at 12.00 and 2pm. I will be reading the new story and Sally will be showing how she draws Hamish. For news of this and other upcoming events come back int he next few days and look on my EVENTS page.

Just before the trip I had been fulfilling an ambition to take part in a musical. It was with the SMYCMS, a lovely group of very talented people from all walks of life, and the show (RED HOT and COLE a Cole Porter biopic with many of his wonderful songs) ran for 5 days in the Churchill Theatre in Edinburgh and was very well received (and reviewed!)

I also managed to fit in a visit to Mayfield Primary school in Midlothian in April and I was asked back to Aberdeen to visit Cults Primary school for the day, to start off a week of book celebrations that culminated in the opening of their lovely new library.

The following week I was in Macdonald Road Library in Edinburgh as part of the Scottish Book Trust’s Children’s Festival speaking to children from Abbeyhill Primary School.

Later that day I travelled up to Aberdeen to spend the next three days in the city where I Spent a day on the READING BUS at Don Bank Primary school followed by a visit to Gilcomstoun Primary, Kittybrewster Primary school and finally at St Joseph’s which is now a primary school but more than a few years ago it was called Queen’s Cross and that was my first boarding school. It was strange to see all the changes that had been made to the school.

The following day I went deep into the beautiful Aberdeenshire countryside to spend the day visiting Finzean Primary School which is set in the middle of the rolling hills.

I was only home for a couple of days before I set off again, this time to the lovely south coast of Wales to Pwill Primary School. Pwll is close to Swansea and quite delightful. I had a wonderful time there and swapped a few words of Welsh for some Scots phrases!

It is quite an exciting time because I have also been thinking about my next book , a novel for older children. I have only had odd moments to scribble down ideas so far but now I want to get down to doing some research and building up the characters.

I was in North Ayrshire last week where I was running a CPD workshop with Primary school teachers. we worked on ideas for stimulating creative writing in the classroom.

I have also been organising some of the many events that I have coming up in the next few months and also later in the year. It takes quote a lot of time to organise dates and all the details, and of course the travel arrangements, but I enjoy travelling around, seeing new places and meeting new people.