On his recent visit to Scotland, Findo’s Mousetrap Author Graham Paskett, met with Ishbel Grant, Director of Glenfarclas Malt Whisky. Below is a photo of Ishbel and Graham with the River Spey at Ballindalloch Castle in the background. Ishbel read Findo’s Mousetrap when first published, loves the story and is very familiar with the part of Scotland that is home to Strath Gask.
Findo’s Mousetrap author Graham Paskett went fishing in Scotland and caught this 16lb salmon on a Findo’s Mousetrap fly in the Junction Pool of the River Spey at Ballindalloch Castle!
Dear Reader,
I am very disappointed at the result of the recent EU referendum as, like the majority of Scots, I voted to remain. Despite the vote which, in Scotland, was split 62% remain against 38% leave, I do not believe it will trigger a second referendum on whether or not the country should remain part of the United Kingdom.
I know that Alex Salmond is huffing and puffing about calling for this but reality is entirely against him and, in any event, Nicola Sturgeon will not, in my opinion ask for it. And it is a question of asking. Although we have a Scottish Parliament, Westminster still needs to give permission to hold a national referendum.
There is not constitutional obligation for the UK Government to allow this to happen and I personally doubt that they would. In post Brexit London there are far more important issues that need to be sorted out including who will be the next Prime Minister. It is very doubtful whether the Scottish economy could handle independence and it is very interesting that Ms Sturgeon did not push for greater reforms even before the Brexit debate came into focus.
My belief is that the Scottish Land Reform Act will still come back to bite the SNP where it really hurts, in their pockets. Laird bashing may be a vote winner in Scotland’s central belt but the
reality in rural and highland Scotland is massively different.
The prospect of my English friends and relations needing a visa to visit Dympna and me at Strath Gask remains, in my view, a very distant prospect.
Kind Regards,
Sir Findo Gask Bt, of Strath Gask in Perthshire
Note:
Sir Findo Gask and Strath Gask are fictional creations from Graham Paskett’s novel Findo’s Mousetrap
Innovation takes on many forms but the ability to look back into the past must surely be one of its Holy Grails and it is precisely what two young Scots have achieved.
It is the perfect fit for Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. In his debut novel, Findo’s Mousetrap, author Graham Paskett has created this ability with the aid of a computer programme known as *Mousetrap.
It usescomplex light calculations to recreate scenes from history and Graham has created two central characters, Findo Gask and Andrew McCubbin, to invent Mousetrap. The idea is based on something called The Stone Tape Theory. Believers claim that when dramatic events take place the scenes and sounds are captured in the surrounding brick and stonework. Something, until Mousetrap, unknown such as anniversaries, electrical storms etc. create the right condition for these ancient buildings to yield up their secrets. This is why one never sees ghosts out of context.
Findo falls madly in love with a feisty American media heiress, Dympna Doyle, and Mousetrap, in addition to solving an art theft and an ancient royal mystery, recalls her grandfather landing on America’s Ellis Island as a penniless Irish immigrant.
“It is all very Scottish and full of innovation,” says Graham Paskett. “There is also a strong sense of design and architecture as Findo lives on an imaginary Perthshire Estate called Strath Gask. I shall never be able to own anything like that so I’ve created my very own.
“Findo’s Mousetrap is, therefore, a great example of Innovation, Architecture and Design and although I’m not Scottish my great-grandfather, Andrew McCubbin, most certainly was and my wife and I usually spend three weeks a year exploring Scotland’s beautiful highlands, islands and salmon rivers. I’m also rather partial to a dram or two.”
The book is available as a paper-back or a Kindle download and has been described by reviewers as the perfect summer-holiday beach partner. Perhaps!
It is the first part of a trilogy tracing Findo, Andrew and Dympna’s adventuress. It will not be a surprise to some that, in the second book due out in the autumn, the trio take serious issue with the SNP’s Scottish Land Reform Act. They harness Mousetrap to go back to reveal some interesting features about why some Scottish politicians attack the nation’s historic land owners.
Findo’s Mousetrap is available at a paper-pack priced £…. From …… and as a Kindle download priced ….. from ….
*Why Mousetrap? William Henry Fox-Talbot was a pioneer of photography and his wife christened his camera Mousetrap.
Read what Irish American News had to say about Findo’s Mousetrap http://ianohio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1788:findos-mousetrap&catid=74:books&Itemid=418
SCOTLAND’S FIRST COMMUNITY DISTILLERY
A move to establish Scotland’s first community whisky distillery in Dingwall is a fascinating challenge, says Findo’s Mousetrap author and whisky connoisseur, Graham Paskett.
He says that the challenge is more likely to be the quality of the finished product rather than the source of the funding. The Glen Wyvis Community Benefit Society has been launched to raise money for the distillery and local people are being encouraged to invest.
Paskett recently visited a new distillery at Ballindalloch on Speyside, part of the local estate. It is very close to the Glenfarclas Distillery which produces the 17-year old single malt that is the favourite dram of Sir Findo Gask and Andrew McCubbin, the two central characters in Paskett’s novel. Paskett too is very fond of this exquisite drink.
“I know Dingwall,” he says. “It has a well-known haggis producer, George Cockburn, and if the Glen Wyvis is as good as the haggis the investors will be on to a winner. The problem with whisky is the time it takes from production to it being ready to drink.”
You can watch Graham’s video about how he created the world’s rarest whisky here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKIjTTEO8cA
BLOGGER REVIEW: https://aprillwood.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/awrw-book-review-findos-mousetrap-by-graham-paskett/
BLOGGER REVIEW: http://www.singlemotherahoy.com/2015/07/book-review-findos-mousetrap.html
“Once you start reading you cannot put the book down!” – Jules, via Amazon.
“It’d be great to have a one of these Mousetrap devices to whizz back and replay some of the scenes. I’ve always wondered about what historians have never been able to solve…” Amazon Reviewer
“I had trouble putting the ipad down as its not just well written, its fast paced and entertaining too. I have already recommended the book to many friends.” Sarah, Kindle Reader.
Author Graham Paskett is February edition’s of The Scottish Field – Star Letter. It outlines his views on how we have to work on both sides of the border to control grey squirrels in order to protect the native red squirrels which are in decline.
Findo's Mousetrap by Graham Paskett 