7 days in the life of... David R Ross, the motorcycling Scottish

Monday

BLOODY rain. Bloody snow - and me with a motorbike too. It's not that I wimp out from the wet and cold, it's just that I stay in East Kilbride which is famous for its permafrost, and in winter the roads are so bad motorcycling can result in broken legs. It means using the car. I don't mind cars, but a bike is a man's steed in a John Wayne sort of sense. So I spend the day answering mail. For every 500 books I sell in Scotland, someone writes to me, but I seem to get one letter for every 10 books sold in the States. I'm not sure what that says ...

Tuesday Up early and through to Edinburgh to meet Gavin from Luath Press (who publish my books) and we have meetings with various people in tourism who are talking about me going to North America to "promote Scotland abroad". Some of the Highland Games over there get 70,000 attending - impressive or what! I do a lot of snippets on Scottish history for US telly - but not many here. Perhaps I'm too radical in my vehemence for Scotland and it is seen as being a bit politically biased but I'm not pro-politics - I'm pro-Scotland. They don't mind that in the US though. I don't understand them too well, but at least they seem to understand the concept of freedom. It's just unfortunate they also equate that with the right to carry a firearm.

Wednesday I get to the gym at least three days a week, and a good three hours was hammered out first thing today. Davie who I train with is 16 years my senior, but regularly knocks the living daylights out of me. The banter is tremendous. I had never really thought a lot about the fact that a "bum" in west central Scotland is somebody who tells tall tales - as in: "Ach, he's just bumming." One of the boys was talking about a mutual acquaintance who is known for being somewhat liberal with the truth. Completely straight-faced, he announced that: "He's a bigger bummer than 10 arses." I can be a terrible bummer myself at times, but I don't mean that in the Crossmyloof sense.

Thursday It's Thursday - so it must be Bannockburn. Met up with Dr Fiona Watson from Stirling Yoony. We went for a stroll about the battlefield. I do my history on the hoof - using the landscape of Scotland itself. Fiona is an academic and works from manuscripts, but we both seem to have reached the same conclusions. Bannockburn High School marks the site of the main action. Actually had a journalist from the gutter press phone me once and ask if the battle site was unknown because the Scots were so pished on the day, they forgot where the battle had been. I made him a promise there and then. Perhaps all that working out will have its uses.

Friday Gym first. I am often asked why I train so hard. No idea, but I usually come back with something along the lines of "When the revolution comes I need to be ready" or some such nonsense. Wrote the newsletter for the Society of William Wallace. I really care about Scotland and its history. We need the past to know what our destination is. We need to learn from our mistakes. Nigel Tranter once said: "The Scots are like a nation which has lost its memory. How do you know where you're going if you don't know where you left from?"

Weekend Out on the ran-dan on Saturday and nullified all my hard work in the gym this week. Need to get the self discipline back and start my next book. I have done a little tourist glossy in the interim called Heroic Wallace and Bruce to be released by the summer. Sunday, I plan on visiting the Imax in Glasgow, to see Blue Planet - a film of Earth shot mostly from space. Well impressive. It brings home the fragility of life on Earth and how we all depend on each other. Doesn't stop me wanting autonomy for my own people though. How can you help anyone else when you have no respect for yourself?

David R Ross's bestselling book, On The Trail of William Wallace, is published by Luath Press, #7.99. Heroic Wallace is published on March 19 by Jarrold Publishing, #3.99

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