I stumbled onto Stuart McLean at least eight years ago. I had my car radio on CBC (like most of the time) and happened to come in to the middle of The Vinyl Café. Stuart was in the middle of a Dave and Morley story. It was the Christmas story when Dave was cooking the turkey… well, if you know Dave, nothing ever goes quite according to plan. Anyway, I was hooked and thus began my love for Stuart McLean. I’ve got a few of his books, borrowed one from my cousin, and have some of his CDs. I turned my girlfriend from the UK onto Stuart as well. We listened to him on a trip to Niagara Falls. I’ve been to one of his concerts, too. The Vinyl Café can be found at:  http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/home.php

My other favourite Stuart is Stuart MacBride, a crime writer from Aberdeen. I knew of him for a while but only recently discovered his website and blog. I’m glad my chair has arms on it – they kept me from falling off when I read some of his posts. Since then, I’ve picked up his first two books in his DS Logan McRae series and the last one. The others are on my wish list at Amazon.ca I started reading his debut novel Cold Granite on Saturday but with other distractions (job, house, etc) I’ve not got as far along in it as I would like. I love the fact that Stuart MacBride’s books are set in Aberdeen. I think of myself as a displaced Scot although I was born in Canada. Reading about places in Aberdeen that I’ve seen on holiday or on maps or when doing “virtual” research for my own writing, it brings it all to life. Stuart’s website is located at http://www.stuartmacbride.com/ well worth dropping in for a look around. There are boxes across the bottom of the page with links to other parts of his site, ie blog, books etc.

Off to do a little reading before I have to start supper.