Sandstone Press

Onward Bound

Posted by Ron McMillan on 14th November 2009

In a little over twelve hours I’ll be airborne, initial destination the cheerless temple to duty free consumption that is the giant Dubai Airport, where the two-hour connection gap should pass quickly enough, middle of the night or not. After that comes the seven-hour leg to Bangkok, and a much delayed reunion with what is to all intents and purposes home.

What was initially meant to be a two-month spell in darkest Paisley while I sought out a couple or three writing projects somehow stretched to just over eight months; some of the delays were self-inflicted, though others were work-related, and I do return to Thailand with a plate filled with writing tasks and threatening to over-flow with yet more if the efforts of last week bear fruit.

Along with film-maker Jim Brown, I visited Shetland for the second time in six months to push forward a feature film idea we have hatched for the islands, an unashamed feel-good notion that might, if all things come to pass (and at least in some departments, my optimism is truly without restriction), do for Shetland what Bill Forsyth’s wonderful Local Hero did for Pennan in Aberdeenshire - put it on the tourist map. It’s an admirable goal, if one couched in the doubt that plagues a creative field peppered with land mines intent on stopping it in its tracks.

The visit was all about gaining local support at village and council level, as well as generating a little media buzz. In all three departments we hit the targets, as was duly reported in the local news bible, the venerable Shetland Times.

The latest I hear is that the story might be taken up later today in the even more venerable Sunday Post. If only my Grannies were still around to see that.

For now, though, it is Bangkok, one of Asia’s most vibrant cities, where the best food in the world awaits me. Oh, and a spouse and a daughter too. Isn’t life grand.