Wednesday March 1 Confessions of a Novice Motorcycle Guide Book Writer with J.G.Fergusson  Selkirk Arms High Street 2pm £5

J.G. Fergusson is a former BBC Scotland journalist/producer and author of several walking guides for the ‘Pocket Mountain’ series. Born in the Rhins of Galloway, and now living in Moffat, he has been riding motorbikes since the 1970s. A lifetime’s love of Scotland, her landscape, highways and history led to the publication of The Motorcyclist’s Guide to Scotland in 2018, a guide book aimed at bikers.

In this illustrated talk, he shares some of his amusing and alarming adventures and answers the question ‘what does it take to produce a successful guidebook?’

In JG Fergusson’s case, it took two years of research, countless hours on the road (and many more on the internet), help from friends, kindness from strangers, more midge bites than he cares to remember and a couple of near death experiences he’s trying hard to forget. The result has been widely praised, not only by motorcyclists but also by car drivers seeking to explore some of the less well known corners of the country. In this talk, the author shares his adventures on the road while researching the book –  from the hair raising to the humiliating – and provides an insight into the processes and pitfalls of publishing a book for the first time.