A.S. Thomson

  • D is for Doon The Watter

    There can’t be any schoolchildren of my generation who don’t remember a school day trip ‘doon the watter’ on the Waverly paddle steamer. We would board at Broomielaw with our school-provided packed lunch (white bread sandwiches, weak orange juice and a Penguin biscuit) and, depending on the weather, jostle for a place above or below…

  • Iain Banks

    I’ll never forget how I felt when I turned the last page of The Wasp Factory. I was stunned. Stunned by the talent, the story telling, the words I had just read. Iain had take me to a strange, troubled and disturbing world from where I didn’t want to leave. And I still don’t. Although I’m not…

  • C is for Closes

    In Glasgow, a close is a communal stairwell of a tenement off which individual flats may be accessed. The best kind of close was the ‘wally (to rhyme with galley) close’. These were closes whose walls were tiled with glossy ceramic tiles, usually in dark reds and greens, and often with a decorative tile border…

  • B is for Barlinnie

    We didn’t live too far from Barlinnie prison in Glasgow. There was always someone whose “da had gone up to the big hoose” while the younger members of the family went to the local borstal. The prison was a big part of east end life. We even had a wee song we used to sing…

  • A is for Annette

    Annette was a popular name in the 50s and 60s thanks to the pre-Britney Disney Princess Annette Funicello. Mum says I was named after the actress, dad said it was after his sister, Annie. Whichever was true, my middle name came from a character on mum’s favourite TV show, “77 Sunset Strip” called Suzanne Fabray…

  • A to Z Challenge

    Against my better judgement, I’ve decided to have a bash at the A to Z Challenge again this year. Last year I chose a movies theme and got as far as G for “George of The Jungle.” This year I’m going to blog about growing up in Glasgow in the 60s and 70s. Expect dialect…

  • Face To Face: Portraits of the Human Spirit by Alison Wright

    Alison Wright’s personal story is very moving. Her survival in an horrific bus crash and ensuing long recovery make for difficult – if interesting – reading. Her brush with death and subsequent appreciation of life clearly informs her work in this collection of portraiture from her travels. Each photograph has a story behind it, a…

  • It’s not the winning, is it?

    Several years ago, a writing group colleague and I held a writing competition for children. It was a huge success and we were able to offer wonderful prizes for the kids who won. But my goodness, it was hard work. We made loads of mistakes but we learned loads too. And when we ran it…

  • Super Dooper Bestest Ever Blog Post™

    It doesn’t seem a year since the rubbish poem I wrote to celebrate my 50th birthday, but here we are, March 15th and I’m 51. Fifty-one. Good Gawd Almighty! How did that happen? I know they say time passes quickly when you’re having fun, but I haven’t laughed that much, even if the increase in…

  • Automatic Woman by Nathan L Yocum

    If you can imagine Sherlock Holmes written by Micky Spillane and set against a steampunk alternative Victorian London, you’d maybe begin to understand the fascinating universe in which Nathan L Yocum’s book, Automatic Woman, takes place. Jolly, a rotund detective from the Bow Street Firm, finds himself drawn into a very strange case when an…

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