Recent Writing
The Listies 6D (Twice as Good as 3D)
- The List
- 08 August 2016
Gut-achingly funny; a show full of slap-stick sketches that all the family will enjoy
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Why life isn't always a fairytale
- The Scotsman
- 05 August 2016
“ONLY the bravest souls will survive the trail,” warns Alnwick Castle’s guide to its fairy tale-themed garden. Never a truer word, I think, wobbling as I stand on the gravel path watching a guide remove the cover from a mobility scooter.
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How jellyfish tackles the stigma of depression
- The List
- 01 August 2016
A six-foot jellyfish stretches out its tentacles to touch a young boy and his family as it dances and glides around the stage. The puppet turns out to be an unwelcome guest in the home of a children's book writer and his son.
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The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare
- The List
- 01 August 2016
The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare promises a spirited romp through Shakespeare's life and 37 plays, in just 60 minutes. Specially created to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, this is not a conventional account of the Bard, who is played by a woman.
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Interview: Nick Cope – 'It’s not all about poo'
- The List
- 01 August 2016
'It's not just for children,' says singer Nick Cope of Family Songbook, explaining that his show is intended to live up to its name by appealing to a wide range of different ages. 'It's for grown-ups, too.'
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Determined to enjoy school holidays despite MS
- The Scotsman
- 19 July 2016
IT’S the first day of the school holidays. I am determined to mark it by doing something special with my kids despite – or because of – my Multiple Sclerosis (MS). As we leave Edinburgh, fields of canola open up like patches of sunshine.
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Learning to live in the moment
- The Scotsman
- 30 June 2016
Spikes of buckthorn branches catch at my sleeve, scratching my arm. We are following other families as we slowly make our way along the dusty, sandy path. Nettles jostle at my legs, hogweed plants tower above us. Salt air catches in my throat, filling my lungs.
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Happiness is still possible, even with MS
- The Scotsman
- 14 June 2016
I’m stood outside in the courtyard at Dhanakosa, surrounded by around thirty other people on the retreat too. I’m wearing my baggy trousers from Nepal, the ones I acquired a couple of days earlier. Swallows swoop and dip around us. It’s still early morning; the hills beyond Loch Voil remain swathed in low-lying cloud.
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MS makes it hard to judge my movements
- The Scotsman
- 09 June 2016
Loch Loyne is glinting in the June sunshine as we gaze at the hundreds of triangular-shaped cairns dotted all around us. The tiny pyramids stretch out over the large, flat area, each made of small rocks that passing walkers and day-trippers have placed on top of one another.
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Leaving MS behind at home
- The Scotsman
- 12 May 2016
The aroma of basil, garlic and rosemary tells us as soon as we arrive that we’re in a different country now. We left the other one behind when we stepped through the blue doorway on the Dalry Road into Locanda de Gusti.
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Struggle for happiness as I live daily with MS
- Scottish Daily Mail
- 03 May 2016
I’M sitting on the grass watching my elder daughter learn to play tennis. As the lesson ends she begins skipping over to where I’m enjoying the early summer sunshine. I get up to go and meet her. I try to walk down the sloping path. I...can't...do...it...
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MS turns ordinary into extraordinary
- The Scotsman
- 26 April 2016
My two daughters are racing down the hotel corridor, giggling and skipping as they go. The hallway stretches ahead, like we’re stood inside a train looking down a line of carriages. It feels like we might even be aboard the Flying Scotsman itself.
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