When you’re close to having a book published, the online world can start to close in until it feels as if everyone is doing likewise. This can be both uplifting: ‘Wow! Look at all these great books out there, and mine is soon to be one of them!’ and dispiriting: ‘Wow. Look at all these great books out there. How will anyone ever see mine, let alone read it…’

When is a book not quite a book?

When it’s an eBook or an audiobook.

I have plenty of (second-hand) experience of eBook production watching the work of Claire Morley, author, and the whizz behind MyePublishBook.com. I can’t imagine my working and reading life without my Kindle – while nothing beats the look and feel of a ‘real’ book, the immediacy of eBook content and the convenience of being able to take an electronic pile of novels anywhere is fantastic.

In just over four months’ time, my debut novel, The Almost Truth, will be published by Legend Press. I’ve had the two-book contract for well over twelve months, but such is the world of publishing – planning ahead at least a year, more likely two – it’s only in the last few weeks that the process has started to gain momentum. First came the title. Originally, this book was called But, a title of which I was both fond and thought quite clever – one of the taglines being, ‘All life’s decisions come with a but…’ And in a great example of life imitating art, it was a good title theoretically but it didn’t fit easily on any bookshelf. It had to go. The Almost Truth was born from the fact that Alina (the protagonist’s) life is built on truth, the whole truth…and a few minor but crushing deviations of the...

Book Week Scotland – now in its twelth year – is an annual celebration of books and reading that takes place across the country in November. During Book Week, people of all ages and walks of life come together to share the joy of reading.

Back in the summer, I posted about a couple of excellent new novels from Scottish authors. This month I'm casting the net a little wider to include Ireland and England, and three newly published books from three more fantastic writers and friends: Hazel Meredith-Lloyd, Paul Soye and Sharon Black.