Ross McGregor

He looked up to see Kelly crouched in a tree, clinging to the trunk with one arm and holding a branch with the other. The blue sky behind her seemed further away than usual. Her skinny legs swayed slightly to the left and right, together and apart, as she tried to keep her balance. There were streaks of mud lining her calves. She was wearing a short grey cotton skirt.

‘Hiya', she said.

'Hiya,' said Darren.

‘Where ye goin?' She didn't make any move from the tree, just swayed there gently.

'Nowhere, just goin' for a walk.'

‘Can ah come wi' ye?'

‘Ah'm no really goin' anywhere,' said Darren. He turned away and looked around, trying to find a new route he could take.

Novel not yet titled

Biography

Ross was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire in 1975.

He has lived in Glasgow and Edinburgh and has studied publishing, linguistics, and library and information studies. He currently works as a librarian.

In 2006 Ross enrolled on a creative writing nightclass at Strathclyde University, which helped convince him to take his writing seriously. He is writing his first novel.

Ross lives in Kilmarnock with his wife, his daughter and his dog.

Comment 

"It has given me a huge confidence boost, which is so important when starting out. It really validates all of my efforts and gives me a great lift. I've always flitted between crippling doubt and wee glimmers of belief, often within the space of a sentence! I hope I can build up some momentum now in my writing and go on to complete my novel."