I had hoped to be celebrating the publication of Hare House on January 6th in the traditional way, with a few drinks and some readings and a chance to catch up with some of the local literary gossip. Sadly, it’s not looking possible with the current COVID situation so I’ll be marking publication day differently, and hope that people will still be able to join me in some fashion.

Hare House was inspired by the landscape of Dumfries and Galloway, and especially as I’ve experienced it by bike. So it seems fitting that I should take to my bike to mark its publication in two ways. First, I’m going to put together a short film that visits some of the places that have fed into my writing, directly and indirectly. That will go live on the 6th January so please watch this space. I’m not a brilliant film maker or editor, so it won’t be a very finished product but I hope it will give some of the flavour of the place for those of you not lucky enough to know it yourselves.

The other half of my ‘launch’ is a bit more off beat. I didn’t want to miss the experience of signing the very first copies, or indeed, all the local literary gossip. So as I can’t bring all my friends and fellow writers together for the launch, I’m taking the launch to them. If you’ve ordered a copy of Hare House in time for publication day (or very close thereafter) – and you can find all the links you need to do so here if you can’t get to a local bookshop – and you live within cycling distance of Dumfries, then I will come to you and sign your book for you! I’ll try and put together a little tour of the region, and catch up with as many people as I can, so please let me know if you’re up for it (you can reach me on sallyhinchcliffe AT gmail DOT com).

And if you’re not local, I’m thinking about spreading my launch a little further afield – still by bicycle, I hope. Come the summer, and pandemic permitting, I’m planning on putting together a tour around Scotland of anyone who wants their copy signed. I may well come to regret this, but I’m always up for a bike ride, so if nothing else I will get some exercise and experience some more of my adopted homeland. It might even inspire another book, you never know. Watch this space for more details.