I am taking time off from writing but never can get entirely away from thinking about the Elspeth Duff books. Today I was in Edinburgh looking at art at the national galleries but will eventually go up to Perthshire where many of my books take place. Today I had lunch under typical Scottish skies but a break in the clouds meant I could sit outside and sketch overlooking the Walter Scott monument and the wonderful Scottish gothic Balmoral Hotel, which will turn into a Kennington hotel in a future Elspeth novel when Elspeth and Richard are stranded there in a snow storm. Of course there is a murder. But that will have to wait until 2025 or 2026.