Scottish crime author JD Kirk

It's a difficult one because there are so many nice places and I feel like I should say, because I'm based in Fort William in the Highlands, and I feel I should say Fort William, but I'm not going to say Fort William because it's too, it's too obvious.

So, a few years ago, I think maybe about five years ago, I write crime fiction now, but in a sort of previous life. I was a children's author, and I wrote for HarperCollins and Penguin and various other publishers, and one year I was invited to the Islay Book Festival on the, the Isle of Islay, which is sort of southernmost in the inner Hebrides and the islands.

So I went over there for a few days. I took the ferry over, drove down, took the ferry over, really gorgeous sunny day, managed to get a bit of work done, sat there and was just type of looking out and, and looking at the sunshine and the waves and all that lovely stuff.

And then got to Islay and I had my car because I'd just taken it on the car ferry. And when I was driving, I had to kind of head to the south of the island, near the Lagavulin distillery actually. I was heading down there where the sort of festival was centered.

I thought there was something wrong with my car, first of all, because everyone kept flashing their lights and waving at me.

So I stopped and got out and checked. There was nothing wrong with the car.

And it turned out that's just what people on Islay do. They're like so friendly to people. They just go, oh, there's another car. I'll flash the lights and wave at them. So just like a from every single other driver on the road.

I went to a school where I did a sort of public event, and that was great. But, that evening, all the authors were staying in a big sort of house together.

It was a guest house, and they put on the greatest meal that I have ever had in my entire life and I often think about that food in my darker moments. It is like a beacon of light that that lifts me up remembering that meal.

But Islay in general was just such a stunning, beautiful place and such a, you know, you had all the kind of rugged coastal bits and just lovely.

Everything about it was just lovely. And it felt like such a nice way of life.

Living there or just being there and everyone was, and they say people in Scotland are friendly and we are by and large, but something about just being there on Islay was, it seemed like the friendliest place on earth.

It seemed almost like a sort of Brigadoon type place, you know, you like, you can't half expect people to just to break into dancing, but thankfully they didn't because that would have been terrifying.

But yeah, lovely, lovely place. If you haven't been to the Isle of Islay, you must check it out. 

JD Kirk, aka Barry Hutchison is a prolific author having published more than 100 titles for both children and adults.