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 in 1975. His dad worked in the local factory, Glacier Metal, and his mum worked as an auxiliary at Kirklandside Hospital. In 1987 he attended Kilmarnock Academy. His sister, who was in 5th year at the time, gave him the books she was reading and so the first books he can really remember are: The Outsiders, Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Then he got into Ray Bradbury. It was also at this time that he started to get a kick out of writing. The first time he remembers writing anything that gave him a real buzz was for Higher English, he got an A. He also started writing for his school magazine, The Goldberry.
Ross studied publishing at Napier University. He wrote sporadically while a student but spent most of the time reading Vidal, Vonnegut, Mann, Poe and Maupassant amongst others. He graduated in 1997 and after a few months on the dole got a job as Library Assistant at Strathclyde University. He then enrolled on the PG Dip Library course at Robert Gordon University, distance learning, completing the course while working at Strathclyde. After he graduated Ross took a post as Librarian at James Hamilton Academy, where he still works.
In 2006 Ross enrolled in his first writing class after deciding that he had to do something to push on with his ambitions to write ‘properly'.
He currently lives in Kilmarnock with his wife, baby daughter, and 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."
