Novelist

The establishment, the newspapers, they try to create something called Scottish literature, but when people are actually going to write, they are not going to necessarily prescribe to that, they'll write what they feel.

Dean Owens is Scotland's most engaging and haunting singer-songwriter.

I just write the stuff I want to at the time, what feels right for me.

It's ironic that the growth of Scottish nationalism has precipitated in the English the sort of hand-wringing the Scots have always done over who they are.

Hugo Boss is my kind of label.

I've been doing a bit of screenwriting and producing, and even a bit of directing.

As soon as you've written it, you're thinking about how it can move into different mediums.

There's something about the modern era where it's very hard to transgress - we're all so online, easier to track by mobile phone - so you have people who do it on your behalf.

It's very difficult to be objective about yourself and your own circumstances, but one thing I do know about is that I grew up surrounded by storytellers.

The idea of just sitting at home on Facebook worries me. I think we should all get out more.

Before I started writing, I'd never read much fiction. I was more interested in non-fiction. I'm taking the same approach to theatre: I can operate from a position of ignorance and make up my own rules instead of being bound by customs and practice.

Music helps me immeasurably in the writing process.

People think if you're working class, there has to be some fascist element underneath.

Politicians are so... detested; they don't actually walk amongst people now.

There is nothing, really, that I wouldn't write about, and I do write about a lot of grim things.

Holy Joy were a cult '80s band led by the wonderful songwriting genius that is Johny Brown.

I've eaten ice cream from all over the world, but until you've tasted Graham's from Geneva, Illinois, you haven't had ice cream at all.

When I first started to get into writing, it was via music. I'd generate ideas for songs that would turn into stories, then they'd turn into novels. I was biased toward music.

I make out a play list for every character and buy the records they would listen to; it helps me find their personas. What they play, where they stay, who they lay, is my matrix for character development.

Everyone needs some kind of compelling drama in their life, basically.