Robert Burns called the town of Irvine in Ayrshire, Scotland, a ‘wonderful educative place.’ 1 He’d be pleased to see it still is, especially in September every year when the Tidelines Book Festival takes place. Started by an author, a councillor and a librarian, it has gone
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If you’ve never been to one, literary festivals sound grand, intellectual events where writers parade their cleverness, readers their erudition, publicists their phones and fans shamelessly stalk their heroes. If that’s your idea of a festival, you haven’t been to Bloody Scotland, the magnificent International Crime Writing
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Are reviews the pure vital force driving book sales? Or more like a Half-blood Prince, born of ‘self-interest’ out of ‘malice’ (often masquerading as erudition) slithering from shadows to wound authors’ souls? When buying a book, like many readers, I seek more than a publisher’s blurb, often
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