This summer, I’m scooting off to the south of France to do nothing but write, read and think for an entire month. This incredible luxury has been offered courtesy of the RLS Fellowship in association with Scottish Book Trust and Creative Scotland, an excellent endeavour that’s been sending Scottish writers to the Hôtel Chevillon International Arts Centre at Grez-sur-Loing (where Robert Louis Stevenson spent some inspiring months) for the last 20 years – including many that I really admire and a few I’m lucky enough to call friends.

I’m off in June (this year’s other writers, Alan McKendrick, Michael Pedersen and Malachy Tallack, will be travelling at different times) and I can’t wait. The longest retreat I’ve ever been on was for a week and I normally only go for two or three days at a time, so a whole month will be just amazing. Here’s hoping my atrocious French doesn’t cause too much embarrassment. Luckily, bread, cheese, coffee and apples are all nice and easy to remember – and say – so I should survive.