Stuart Runciman is a young man with cerebral palsy who has attended literacy sessions at Pilton Equalities Project for nine years. He has a passion for action movies and thriller novels – and a chance comment by Senior Care and Support Worker Gerry Corbett has resulted in Stuart writing a book of his own!
The Briefcase was launched at a packed North Edinburgh Arts on Tuesday evening.
Gerry explained: “We were talking about the things Stuart likes doing, and his love of thrillers and action movies. I said: “I’ll bet you’d like to write a book” and Stuart was really enthuasiastic.
“Working with PEP’s Theo Hildago and Diane Palmer, the project took around eighteen months to complete. There was a lot of hard work for everyone involved, but I really enjoyed it because it was just something so different. The book is a great achievement and Stuart should be very proud,”
The Briefcase shows incredible imagination and flair for creating an exciting piece of work. It’s set in Florida, a place that Stuart knows well from family holidays, and it incorporates suspense, intrigue and a trail of destruction from Miami to Beijing and back.
While Stuart remained focused and engaged throughout the project – he was very committed and enthusiastic about the weekly Thursday sessions – it wasn’t all hard work and there were lots of laughs along the way, too.
After reading the first four chapters of the story using his dyno Vox machine, Stuart told an appreciative audience: “We mostly did our research in North Edinburgh Arts and Muirhouse library but Gerry and I have the same sense of humour and we often got side-tracked.
“One day in North Edinburgh Arts there was a ukelele class going on and they were learning ‘Ring of Fire’ by Johnny Cash. We went on the computer and converted the lyrics to Mandarin to sing it! It sounds very different – really funny!”
What’s next? PEP found the funding to publish Stuart’s book and now the project team are looking to get The Briefcase available on Kindle. And yes, there’s a follow-up in the pipeline.
Stuart has already started working on his next story, which this time will be set in the mean streets of Glasgow: as someone quipped: ‘From Miami to Milngavie!’
The setting is something of a relief for Gerry, though. “Stuart has a passion for Chinese names and typing them up was a nightmare! Fingers crossed, we shouldn’t have the same issues with the new book!”
In what was a fine North Edinburgh team effort, Stuart thanked:
Edinburgh Support Services
Pilton Equalities Project (PEP)
Muirhouse Library
North Edinburgh Arts
Gerry Corbett
Kaja Gagol (for designed the artwork for the book)
Diane Palmer
Theodora Hidalgo
Jane Dingwall
Paul and Pam Runciman
and everyone else who supported Stuart with his literary adventure
… and Michelle for the sausage rolls!
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