A quick hello!

Hello. I'm Ross.

Let Me Tell You Why I'm Here.

I've spent the best part of twenty years helping organisations tell their stories. No need for detail but they’re the kind of places where the story matters as much as the product. Somehow, I got an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and a Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, which I’m certain must be something sort of clerical error. Regardless, it is a formal way of saying I've spent a very long time thinking about how people connect with ideas, with places, and with each other.

But, honestly? This blog isn't really about any of that.

Growing up, I was completely in awe of writers. Roald Dahl in particular. That ability to create entire worlds out of words. Creating places that children disappear into completely, always felt like something close to magic. Writing was never something I took lightly. It still isn't.

Then I had children. Later in life, as it turned out. And somewhere in among the chaos and the joy of it, reading together became one of the most sacred parts of our day. Every night, without fail. Watching my son and daughter discover the books they loved, the ones they'd ask for again and again, the ones that became genuinely theirs, that's quite something to witness.

My first book started out of pure necessity. I was trying to find something funny about toilet training. Something silly enough that my kids would enjoy it but something I could actually refer to (in those important moments). I couldn't find quite what I wanted, so I wrote it myself. That was Dick Turdin the Pooping Highwayman, and it remains a firm favourite in our house.

From there it became a bit of an addiction. Six books later, here we are.

I live in Madrid now with my family… and our ever-decreasing collection of Scottish snacks (if there’s anyone reading from Tunnock’s, feel free to get in touch). When I'm not writing or working on brand strategy for clients, you'll find me learning Spanish at a pace that my neighbours find pathetic, visiting the Prado, or watching the (sometimes) beautiful game at the Bernabéu. Edinburgh is home in my bones but Madrid is home in my daily life.

Anyway, that’s enough scene-setting. This blog is where I'll share updates on the books, things I've discovered along the way, and the occasional thought from twenty years of thinking about how stories connect with people. The kind of thing where you read it and think "ahhh, that actually makes sense." If any of it is useful to even one person, that's worth writing down.

Which is, when you think about it, exactly how I feel about the books. If there's one child somewhere who enjoys one single page of anything I've created, every hour in front of a keyboard was worth it.

Thanks for being here and speak soon.

Ross