It Seemed To Him A Very Edinburgh

A Good Album Should Be More Than The Sum Of Its Parts.

I Took The First James Kelman Novel, 'the Bus Conductor Hines', Home To My Dad. I Thought, 'my Dad Will Like This; It's Written In Scots.' But My Dad Said: 'i Can't Read That.' He Was Reading James Bond And John Le Carre. That Was Part Of What Attracted Me To Crime - The Idea Of Getting A Wide Audience.

You Wouldn't Think You Could Kill An Ocean, Would You? But We'll Do It One Day. That's How Negligent We Are.

A Lot Of Writers, Especially Crime Writers, Have An Image That We Think We're Trying To Keep Up With. You've Got To Be Seen As Dark And Slightly Dangerous. But I'm Not Like That And I've Realised That I Don't Need To Put That On. People Will Buy The Books Whether They See A Photo Of You Dressed In Black Or Not.

I Started Writing Novels While An Undergraduate Student, In An Attempt To Make Sense Of The City Of Edinburgh, Using A Detective As My Protagonist. Each Book Hopefully Adds Another Piece To The Jigsaw That Is Modern Scotland, Asking Questions About The Nation's Politics, Economy, Psyche And History ... And Perhaps Pointing Towards Its Possible Future.