I am so excited to share this episode, I was so excited when Peter said yes to come on the podcast. Peter has been my favourite Scottish crime author since I started really getting into reading.  Peter has sold over more than 4 million copies of his books worldwide. He is best known for his acclaimed “Lewis Trilogy“, set in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

His books have been a lovely companion in many different stages of my life, from living in Orkney to studying for my masters in England. His books reminded me of home, even though many of them are set out with Scotland, there is something familiar about them, they have wee cultural nods to Scotland. 

This conversation was wide-ranging. Like all of my conversations. We talked about I could believe how quickly time went by. I remember looking at the clock for the first time before I asked the last question and was sooo surprised it was over 1hr 30mins. 

• Peters history and life experiences 
• The lack of Scottish writer role models when Peter was a young aspiring author
• The change wonderful change in Scottish literature over the last few years- more Scottish authors sharing their lived experience 
• The impact of writing/art on mental health and well-being: from understanding yourself and processing emotions to having a creative space to share your ideas
• The challenges Peter faced getting his books published. 
• The impact of that adversity and how it motivated and pushed Peter on to become an accomplished author... "his career advisor at school laughed when he shared he wanted to be a writer" picture Glasgow in the 70s... Wonderful stories
• The difference of life when an author is promoting and touring a book vs writing a book 
• Peters creative process and how he sets up his life/day when he writes
• He also describes art and creativity in such an important way that like it could be a promotional clip for the government to pour more money into supporting creativity for mental health and well-being... which is happening, but society sometimes underestimates the true impact of creativity on the writer and the reader/ the person and the audience of the art
• The impact of London representing the UK and the push back authors had authors used and still have getting books that represent the Scottish culture especially the accent/language
• Publishing houses wanting "mainstream" stories that they though would sell more to larger audiences, instead of unique stories...which impacted aspiring authors in a significant way, from lack of role models etc 
• The importance in self-belief 
• The balance between hard work and magic in the creative process- i.e. showing up and allowing the ideas to come

I hope you enjoy this episode and go on to read a few of Peter May's books. A have many, so send me a wee message if you want a borrow. My top three The Critic, The Runner, and the Black House... they are all amazing though in my subjective opinion.