It was great to meet up with so many writers at the recent conference. Let's face it, writing is a solitary game so it's good to be reminded there are other oddities like me out there beavering away! This year, I decided to enter lots of the writing competitions associated with the conference - including formats I had never tried before. These included humour, flash fiction and monologues. I thought I would share some of the feedback and a few examples of what I wrote. This week I'm going to concentrate on what went well but in my next post I'm going to share some of the more critical comments ..read more

I'm just back from France where the family were celebrating my father's ninetieth birthday. I am well aware how lucky I am to still have my Dad as I approach sixty. He remains as healthy and dogmatic as ever, still driving, taking regular exercise and, of course, insisting on an annual skiing holiday - yes! Once again, he took to the slopes, albeit with a few falls, and has not entirely ruled out returning next year. As we drove home with my eldest niece, there was a ninety year old, a near sixty year old and a thirty year old in the car. Not surprisingly, I have been thinking about age recent ..read more

I was pleased to see a new review appear at the start of 2024 for Rescuing Richard, the third instalment of The Richard Davey Chronicles. If you haven't read it yet, why not start the new year with an escape into the nineteenth century? If you have read it, then please consider leaving a review online. It is the single most effective way you can support an author - and it only takes a minute or two! If you would like to see what thetablereadmagazine.co.uk thought of my historical adventure with a hint of time travel, then you can read the review here: https://t.co/Uxnk7qEx0x ..read more

Just a short message to wish everyone Season's Greetings and confess I finally got around to watching Napoleon at the cinema here on Skye. I was no clearer what Ridley Scott wanted me to think of Napoleon at the end of the film than at the beginning. I am all for leaving interpretation up to the viewer (or reader) but for all the chronological approach of the film, and the undeniably impressive visual impact, I found myself checking my watch little more than half way through. Far from obsessing about little errors of detail, I found the sweep of the film grating. Inevitably, trying to cram a l ..read more

I couldn't let the recent release of Ridley Scott's film Napoleon pass without some comment. Firstly, I haven't seen it yet but I still have something to say on the matter! Why do so many reviewers feel obligated to gripe at historical inaccuracies - it's a movie, a form of entertainment, an interpretation. Napoleon is an emotive character - I get that. The Hitler of his day or the founder of modern Europe? I have my views but I'm not getting drawn in to a 'good or evil' debate. If you want a sense of what I think, you could visit my Shepherd's List - The best books for getting inside Napoleon ..read more

I'm just back from a weekend at Angus BookFest: Celebrating Literature and Culture where I took part in their Local Myths, Legends and Folklore evening. I was a bit of a ringer coming from the west coast to perform in Montrose but nobody seemed to mind! I read an edited version of an article I wrote for The Historical Times Magazine https://amzn.eu/d/diRT7Rh on the Myths and Legends of Skye in the first half of the evening. After the break, I shared a myth set on Skye which I wrote specially for Angus Book Fest. I thought I would share it with all of you here (any suggestions for a title would ..read more

So what made me pitch an idea to Historical Writers Forum for their Masterworks anthology of historical short fiction inspired by works of art? It all started when I was reading about the reopening of the National Portrait Gallery in London after a major renovation and Covid. I was excited. I love this gallery and found myself reflecting on some of my favourite portraits. As an historian, it wasn't long before I was researching how these works of art found their way into the collection. I was drawn to the Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare as it was one of the very first works to be acqu ..read more

I am delighted to announce this anthology based on works of art. I was chosen to write one of the short stories and I think it is one of the best things I have written. Available on Kindle and as a paperback, it would make an affordable and stimulating Christmas read/present. I am scheduled to blog in more detail about this release on the 10th of November - so watch out for my next post if you want to know more. Here is the order link for the UK: https://amzn.eu/d/iC8CEY7 Here is an extract from the very first review posted on Amazon: out of all these excellent tales, the one that will stick i ..read more

I was asked for my favourite three reads of 2023 so far by Ben Fox of shepherd.com - an excellent website for discovering new books (fiction and non-fiction) by area of interest. I was delighted to submit my list and you can find it here: Gareth Williams' 3 favorite reads in 2023 (shepherd.com) This has been a productive reading year for me so I hope my choices prove of interest. You might also like to view what all the authors asked came up with - this can be accessed here: 884 Authors & Super Readers Pick the 100 Best Books of 2023 (shepherd.com) Discover the best books ..read more

Yesterday I drove along the coast from home in Sconser to Dunvegan. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the mountains stood out sharply. The Isle of Skye looked magnificent. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and stopped to take some photos. But that was not the purpose of my outing. I was fulfilling a long-standing invitation to speak about my novels to the Dunvegan Ladies' Group. Diane, who helps run the group, has the only other Pyrenean Mountain dog I am aware of on the island. As a result, we always have plenty to talk about! I spoke for a little under an hour, answered questions and ..read more