This was a tricky book to write. I started it in the summer of 2020, and, as the book was to be set around Christmas, my initial instinct was to set it in 2019 to avoid any mention of the coronavirus pandemic. At that point there was little clarity about how events would develop, and I was concerned about creating hostages to fortune. But as I began writing I realised that the pandemic would provide an ideal backdrop for both the tone and the plot of the book. So I decided to take a risk and set it around the forthcoming Christmas period instead.
That meant that, although on publication the book would be set in the recent past, I was writing a book set in the very near, but still uncertain, future. In the event, I was fortunate in that the Highlands stayed under only relatively minor constraints for most of the rest of 2020, so little changed in the intervening period. However in mid-December, just as I was congratulating myself on my good luck and prescience, the Scottish Government announced that the whole country would move to the highest level of regulations from Boxing Day – that is, right in the middle of the timeframe of the book.
Of course, many people were affected by this decision in ways that were far more significant than my very minor inconvenience but it did mean I had to make some last-minute changes. Luckily I was still in the middle of responding to the ever-excellent input from my editor, Clare Law, so I had an opportunity to revise the book to reflect the new regulations. In the end, I hope that the book accurately reflects the way life was in this corner of the UK at the conclusion of one of the strangest years in living memory. There is one inaccuracy, though. Sadly, the white Christmas described in the book turned out to be wishful thinking (though we did have a sprinkling of snow on Christmas Eve and more afterwards). I hope readers will forgive that small piece of artistic licence.
The creation of an army of scarecrows across the Black Isle did actually happen and, as the book says, was promoted by the wonderful Groam House Museum in Rosemarkie. Groam House is devoted largely to Pictish life, art and culture, and is well worth supporting and visiting. You can find more information at https://groamhouse.org.uk/
Finally, as always thanks to Clare, Tara Lyons and everyone else at Bloodhound Books – and especially to Betsy and Fred for their continuing support for Alec McKay and his colleagues. And, of course and as ever, thanks to Helen, my first and best critic.