The songwriter Tom Waits has said that nowadays there seems to be a deficit of wonder. He talks about Keith Richards, stopping and staring at his guitar, as if trying to figure out where the riffs come from. Writing can be an exploration of wonder, starting with a what if question then word after word till we find the answer, and not always the answer we thought we were looking for. I was born in Dundee, joined the RAF when I was 20, lived in Cumbria for nearly 30 years, ran my own business then worked for the police. Drank more than a few beers, went to many, many music gigs and never stopped asking the what if questions. Without a sense of wonder the blank page remains. Stories tell us who we are and perhaps who we could be.