Tom is lean. He runs a lot, an awful lot. He has a runner’s body with thick, strong legs and a torso that doesn’t carry much fat. His hair is cropped short. It’s a no fuss haircut that’s also setting himself up for the time when there won’t be that much hair to play with. He’s what a lot of people would call good looking. Not head turning handsome but he has well defined features and warm eyes. He...

Wiping the blood from her finger, Maggie cursed the swine who’d invited the design of the corned beef tin. The blasted wee key that always seemed to tear the tin apart left a razor-sharp edge to the metal. She read that the tins were designed so that soldiers during the war could have their corned beef and use what was left of the tin to keep the rest of it fresh.

It was still a novelty having co...

It was the afternoon that was going to change everything. The pitch would be the difference between our company surviving and dying. More than that it was a chance to take us into the league with the big boys and if this show took off in the way the head of the channel predicted, then we’d all be looking at a massive payday five years down the line.

We were attempting to convince the country’s big...

It began somewhere deep inside her barrell-like chest and emerged stuttering at first- a bit like an old fashioned car in winter that just won’t start. It was a low pitched sound, rasping and croaking that got higher and higher as her enjoyment of the joke grew. By the time the punchline was delivered she was inhaling huge breaths, braying like a donkey and almost choking on her own merriment. Her...

The voices all around me laughing and bawling over the repetitive dull thud from under our feet. It makes me think we are on the floor above a club of the kind I haven’t been in for nearly two decades.

The screws on the walls which hold the corrugated metal panels in place are buzzing loudly in time to the music. It’s a harsh tinny sound like an annoying alarm and I long to reach over and switch ...

Look into my eyes, you will see what you mean to me

I’m not lying, that’s just the other Bryan

Expressing his loyalty

I’m tangled in you like a well-tied knot

I have faith in your ability, we have a collective responsibility

No matter what

I mostly warm to your point of view

I hope you’ll give credence, to my pledge of allegiance

To always stand by you...

I’d never seen a more lavish or appetising feast than the one which lined the entire wall of the ballroom. But I suppose it’s only appetising if you actually have an appetite.

There were gasps from around the room and people were just wandering around saying “oh my god” and “wow” over and over again. They looked dazed and overwhelmed by the sight of so much food.

We’d asked them to come hungry a...

I’m sitting by the window and it’s a wet and uninspiring morning in Glasgow. I have a blanket over my knees, my shoes are off and I have a new book in my hands. I feel the same way I do when I’m in my seat in the auditorium of a theatre minutes before curtain up. Or perhaps it’s like being buckled in and getting ready to take off on a long flight.

Other people’s stories give us the chance to find ...

I didn’t realise she was going to tell me something so personal, and now that I had that information I was clueless as to what do to with it.

Four hours earlier…

The red light blinked and I turned the microphone towards her. She was still someone who could turn heads when she walked into a room. Even people who were too young to remember her from the days when Arnage Place was the most-watched s...

It’s almost like a superpower

this special gift I’ve found

to make myself invisible

whenever you’re around

Even a brief acknowledgement

make you notice who I am

to be part of your inner circle

a member of your gang

I always try and catch your eye

when I pass you on the stair

I wonder if you’d notice

If I wasn’t even there....