Last Call at Scotland Street

Where has the time gone? It seems that it was just a second ago that Alexander McCall Smith launched his daily serial novel, 44 SCOTLAND STREET. But on June 25th, the last installment will be published in the Scotsman, with the novel version to be published next year. But for a few lucky souls, they’ll get a sneak preview the night before the paper hits newsstands:

Early in the evening of Thursday, 24 June, as the presses get ready to roll with the last episode of 44 Scotland Street, Mr McCall Smith will give a charity reading that will reveal exactly what kind of neat knots he has made of the plot’s remaining loose ends.

The event, which will be held in The Scotsman offices, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS, will be in aid of the charity Sight Savers International. A maximum of 150 tickets, costing £10 each, will be available on a first-come-first-served basis by phoning 0131-620 8412.

The evening will begin at 7pm, when the editor of The Scotsman, Iain Martin, will invite Mr McCall Smith to give his historic reading. After this, he will be interviewed by The Scotsman journalist Gillian Bowditch and will answer questions from the audience about the writing of the series.

Sounds like fun, especially since there will, naturally, be drinks afterwards.

And before I sign off, let me just say two things:

The last time Terry finished a new novel was sometime in February. The last time I did was yesterday afternoon….

And RIP, Ray.

See you Sunday.