Authors Doug Johnstone (checked shirt, greenish jeans) and Val McDermid (blue and green shirt, black trousers) chat about The Ossians at Portobello Bookshop

Smashing evening launching new edition of The Ossians by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social (@orendabooks.bsky.social) with @valmcdermid.bsky.social at @portybooks.bsky.social - chat plus songs!
My review had to be postponed - but there's plenty of cracking reviews on the blog tour meantime!

#BookSky 📚💙

Lovely review, thank you, Raven! 🙏

Doug Johnstone- The Ossians- @doug_johnstone @orendabooks #BlogTour Connor is twenty-four: brilliant, broken, and out of control. He’s the swaggering frontman of The Ossians, a Scottish indie band on the brink of signing a major record deal. Desperate to make their…

Doug Johnstone- The Ossians
"A state of the nation novel wrapped up in a musical odyssey that is one hell of a ride."
@dougjohnstone.bsky.social
@orendabooks.bsky.social
#BlogTour
#BookSky 💙📚

ravencrimereads.wordpress.com/2026/04/21/d...

Last shout out for this event TONIGHT 7pm at @portybooks.bsky.social, chatting to @valmcdermid.bsky.social about sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll, playing a couple of tunes as well. Bring the noise.
www.theportobellobookshop.com/events/doug-...
@orendabooks.bsky.social

A Violent Masterpiece - BOOK TRAILER YouTube video by A Violent Masterpiece

Look:

A VIOLENT MASTERPIECE by Jordan Harper
book trailer
directed by Ijaaz Noohu

youtu.be/T-vgZmWN5-w?...

Doug Johnstone: The Ossians Today I’m joining the blog tour for The Ossians. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the blog tour and to Orenda Books for my copy of the book. Blurb: Connor is …

Today I'm joining the blog tour for The Ossians by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social Here's my review:

portable-magic.com/2026/04/17/d... @orendabooks.bsky.social

Thanks, Kate! 🙏

The Ossians by Doug Johnstone Today I am sharing my review of The Ossians by Doug Johnstone, republished this month by Orenda Books to celebrate 20 years of Doug's fabulous writing. 20 years! No, I don't believe it either. My thanks to Orenda Books for the advance copy of the book. Here's what it's all about: Source: Advance Reader Copy

AD: PR product

Today I am sharing my review of The Ossians by Doug Johnstone, republished by Orenda Books this month

@writerdougj
@orendabooks
@dougjohnstone.bsky.social

#bookstagram #bookish #bookthreads #booksky #bookreview #theossians #teamorenda

Also thrilled to be appearing at this year's Motive Crime & Mystery Festival in Toronto in June, doing a book event and running a masterclass. Can't wait! #MOTIVE2026 @orendabooks.bsky.social
festivalofauthors.ca/motive/

Delighted to be at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival this year, Friday 24th July, me and @brookmyre.bsky.social chewing the fat about 20 years of rock 'n' roll. Come and heckle. @harrogatefestivals.bsky.social @orendabooks.bsky.social
harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/about-us/bro...

The vibe --> the book😍

#TheOssians by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social, the GRITTY, DARKLY FUNNY CULT NOVEL from ONE OF SCOTLAND'S FINEST AUTHORS is OUT NOW!🙌

Step into a world of chaos and darkly funny rock’n’roll madness on the edge!🎸

ORDER NOW!
🔗https://amzn.eu/d/0e4JNRFY

#TeamOrenda

In other exciting news:
list.co.uk/news/boards-...

💙IT'S PUBLICATION DAY!💙

Happy #PublicationDay to the ICONIC @dougjohnstone.bsky.social for the publication of the #ANNIVERSARYEDITION of his GRITTY & DARKLY FUNNY CULT-CLASSIC #TheOssians🎸

🙌 ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!🙌
🔗https://geni.us/49IJe

@simonsaysbooks.bsky.social

OUT NOW!

The anniversary edition of #TheOssians by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social IS HERE!🎸

A gritty, darkly funny cult novel about a Scottish indie band on a last-chance winter tour that spirals into glorious chaos.

👇ORDER NOW👇
🔗https://geni.us/49IJe

@portybooks.bsky.social

So when I first submitted THE OSSIANS to my editor, it had lyrics from other bands throughout. My editor pointed out that this would cost thousands of pounds, so I wrote some Ossians lyrics instead. But you can hear those other bands and artists here: tinyurl.com/ssejhrte
@orendabooks.bsky.social

And you can listen to The Ossians! The band I was in when the book first came out put out an album as The Ossians, playing songs from the novel. Listen to it anywhere you stream your music, or download it from: northernalliance.bandcamp.com/album/the-os...
@orendabooks.bsky.social

My second novel, THE OSSIANS, is back from the dead today. My publisher @orendabooks.bsky.social have produced a brand new edition with a beautiful cover by Mark Swan and a terrific introduction by @valmcdermid.bsky.social. Special thanks to Karen Sullivan, as always.
Get it here: geni.us/49IJe

🙌#BLOGTOUR🙌

Not only is tomorrow #PUBLICATIONDAY #TheOssians by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social & the #PaperbackEdition of #Dangerous by @essiefox.bsky.social, but it's also the start of the #BLOGTOURS for these two BRILLIANT books!😍

Thank you so much to all of our #TeamOrenda bloggers!❤️

👀

A Rock and Roll Drama set in SCOTLAND - TripFiction The Ossians by Doug Johnstone, a rock and roll drama set in Scotland (Edinburgh, St Andrews, Dundee, Arbroath, Aberdeen, Inverness, Thurso, Ullapool, Kyle

This fantastic book might well become a classic Scottish novel in the vein of Trainspotting or Shuggie Bain...

#TheOssians by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social

www.tripfiction.com/a-rock-and-r... set across #Scotland

@orendabooks.bsky.social
#blueskybooks #booksky

Twenty years. One unforgettable debut.

The #20thAnniversaryEdition of #Tombstoning by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social has arrived💙

With a brand-new introduction by @brookmyre.bsky.social!

Dive back into the tension…
Print: 🔗https://geni.us/Mb0bqB

Ebook: 🔗https://geni.us/c10i

Two copies of The Ossians by Doug Johnstone, in their new edition covers - white on blue name at the top, blue on white title at the bottom, and a broken guitar abandoned on a lonely road leading into menacingly dark hills in the background...

The Ossians are in da house... 🎶🎶

Love the new cover from @orendabooks.bsky.social for this celebratory edition of the second novel by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social

(Why two copies? One of them belongs to Mr @scotlandchris1.bsky.social, I'm just looking after it for a little while)

#BookSky 📚💙

🌸HAPPY APRIL!🌸

Which #NewRelease are you most excited to get on your shelf?📚️

4/9: #TheOssians🎸
@dougjohnstone.bsky.social

🔗https://geni.us/49IJe
4/9: #Dangerous🩸 PAPERBACK
@essiefox.bsky.social

🔗https://geni.us/dBOXX
4/23: #ThornbyManor🥀 Stephanie Bramwell Lawes
🔗https://geni.us/hvw1S

Been looking forward to this from @jordanharper.bsky.social for ages. Out in June in the UK with @faberbooks.bsky.social.

This is fascinating - there's a lot about this in my next Skelfs book, out in August.

Oh wow - there's a *lot* of this in the next book.

Not sure what I just read, but I think I loved it?

20/20 Vision: The Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Talks To Doug Johnstone... For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali caught up with returning guest (one of our first, no less) writer Doug Johnstone to look back over 20 years as a published author in the run up to his 20th n...

Had a really wide-ranging and in-depth chat about 20 years in the business with Alistair Braidwood on his excellent podcast. Check it out here.
www.scotswhayhae.com/post/20-20-v...

💀 20 YEARS OF TOMBSTONING 💀

Still bold. Still shocking. Still unmissable.

Celebrate @dougjohnstone.bsky.social’s powerful debut with this special anniversary edition + a NEW introduction by @brookmyre.bsky.social💙

ORDER NOW!
Print: 🔗https://geni.us/Mb0bqB

Ebook: 🔗https://geni.us/c10i