Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

My Week in 5 Pictures: Inverness author Helen Forbes talks nature and books

The Inverness author of the DS Joe Galbraith novels shares her week in five pictures. Image: Helen Forbes.
The Inverness author of the DS Joe Galbraith novels shares her week in five pictures. Image: Helen Forbes.

Helen Forbes is the Inverness-based author of the DS Joe Galbraith novels, and two standalone psychological thrillers.

Her next novel, Queen of Grime, is due out later this year (there may even be a sneak peek of its conclusion below).

Helen at the Caledonian Canal. Image: Helen Forbes.

Began the week with an early morning walk at the Caledonian Canal, hoping to avoid any dog and duck related disasters.

I hope my dog wouldn’t actually harm one of the lovely ducks, but she certainly likes to see them off, loudly! I thought she might be daunted by something bigger, but no. I’m going to have to watch this one.

Finishing off a new novel. Image: Helen Forbes.

At last, I was able to type the words “The End” on my latest novel, and send it off to the typesetter.

Queen of Grime, the first in a series featuring an Edinburgh crime and trauma scene cleaner, is due out before the end of the year.

I always find it hard to let go of a book and would tinker endlessly, if I could, changing a word here and there, and changing it back again.

It was a great sense of relief once it was gone. On to book two!

Noisy crows in Helen’s garden. Image: Helen Forbes.

An early awakening, thanks to the noisy birds in my garden.

I’m not overly fond of crows, but I liked this one. It may end up on a book cover one day.

Helen at NessBookFest. Image: Helen Forbes.

A Friday night appearance at the wonderful NessBookFest. We’re so fortunate to have this amazing annual festival in Inverness, with free events and a great range of speakers.

It’s lovely to get back to doing events in public once again.

As ever, I was nervous before it began. But I quickly settled into it, and was sorry when it was over.

Taking time to unwind. Image: Helen Forbes.

Saturday was a chance to unwind, with a lovely lunch at the Mosset Tavern in Forres, followed by a walk around the ecovillage at Findhorn.

I love the peace of this little sanctuary hidden in the midst of the village.

And breathe.

Conversation