Time flies by and it's already a week since I travelled back from Scotland. Rubha Fiola is the most beautiful place and for anyone out there who is thinking of a kayaking/abseiling/climbing/fishing experience for themselves or a group of children, it's worth checking out. We were blessed with glorious weather and the midges, for the most part, stayed away. Spectacular sunsets, dolphins, seals and rugged mountain scenery but what i liked best about it was the lack of white noise. There is no electricity on the island and at night it was pin-drop quiet. I don't think I've ever been anywhere so utterly tranquil; my inner batteries were charged in a very real way. And the drinking water - wow! ...Simple pleasures. It's piped from a well two islands away and it tasted divine. Big thank you to Torquil and all his able instructors for giving us such a great week.

I didn't do a whole lot of writing while I was away but what I did do was go through my manuscript with the help of Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass. Maass is a literary agent in New York and knows a thing or two about novel writing. It's a useful book because, for someone like me, who given half the chance wanders off plot and ends up diluting the pace with more sideways than forward motion, it reminds me of what I'm trying to achieve. There are loads of writing books out there, and at least seventy of them are on the shelves behind me, but this book is one that I go back to because it forces the writer to ask insightful questions of his characters and plot and has practical advice that, when followed, actually makes a difference to the quality of the finished product. I recommend it to anyone who wants to write fiction - literary fiction less so, perhaps, although my personal favourites in literary fiction are the ones that involve decent plotting - for example, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - thought-provoking, complex plotting and rich characterisation. Clearly, she is a writer of serious literary merit but still that novel ticks every box as far as 'commercial' story telling goes.