Fear not, dear friends: this is not me fessing up to an alcohol problem. No, in fact, it is simply to say that I’m taking part in Gutter magazine‘s “A Night in the Gutter” cabaret evening at Wigtown Book Festival. The other readers will be Rodge Glass — whom I met for the first time only the other day — braw Shetland poet Christie Williamson, Joe McInnes and Frances Corr, so it should be an excellent night.

I’m quite excited: although I’ve been to Wigtownshire before, I’ve never made it to the book festival. There’s lots of good stuff on the programme, and it runs for a good 10 days, so I’ll only have a small sample of the delights on offer, but I’m thoroughly looking forward to it. Hope to see of you there!