The cover of Carrie's book, Small Town Joy, and two review extracts. 

"An absolute treat of a read... a mixtape lovingly assembled by a friend's cool, knowledgeable older sister." - Gutter Magazine
"Her exploration of queer music's escapist, visionary powers brings joy, not in small neasures." - The Wire
  • Jessica Kant’s analysis of the anti-trans outrage factory is well worth your time. …any attempt at accuracy or veracity has gone completely out the window, with a chillingly familiar trend towards the bombastic that has led to pogroms at other times in history… why do conservatives believe that we’re everywhere, hiding in the bushes? Because [more]

  • Dr Ruth Pearce has written a very good overview of Labour’s new Section 28, proposals that “seek to erase trans children: through extreme restrictions on social transition, toilet and sports bans, and censorship of the word “trans” itself. Like Section 28, they will most likely also create a wider chilling effect, reducing support for lesbian, [more]

  • Hilary Cass, author of the disgraceful and damaging Cass Review into trans teens’ healthcare, told The Times in 2024 that “What is worrying is when people say that if children don’t get these drugs, they will die, because clearly that’s not true”; it was “irresponsible for people to shroud-wave in that way.” Thanks to a [more]

  • In 2022, The Times reported that the Tavistock gender clinic was going to be sued by thousands of families whose children “claim they were rushed into taking life-altering puberty blockers”. The story, while widely circulated and repeated, was never true. It couldn’t be: that number would mean almost every young person referred to endocrinology at [more]

  • It’s very telling that the most vocal self-appointed “protectors of women and girls” have nothing to say about the absolutely horrific production of AI-generated sexual abuse images of real women and children that’s happening on X on an industrial scale. As they continue to post on X, in many cases paying for the privilege to [more]

  • The Kirkcudbright Book Festival line-up for March 2026 has been announced, and it’s a typically eclectic and interesting selection. I’ll be appearing on the Saturday morning to chat about Small Town Joy and the liberating power of music. [more]

  • The lovely Alistair Braidwood of Scots Whay Hae! has picked Small Town Joy as one of his ten best non-fiction books of 2025. “If you love music, this is a book for you.” [more]

  • The genital obsessed weirdos’ crusade against trans people is global, so there have attempts to bring in a UK-style “emergency” ban on puberty blockers for trans kids in New Zealand as part of the moral panic there. But unlike the UK, whose judiciary seems to be an easy mark for junk science peddled by dubiously [more]

  • There has been a flood of despicable reporting around the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal, much of it by people who clearly didn’t let a minor matter such as reading the actual judgement get in the way of publishing their pre-written pieces. This, by Rivkah Brown, should make them ashamed of themselves. It won’t, because they’re [more]

  • TransActual have published a document detailing people’s experiences of Britain’s EHRC-approved crotch cops. It makes grim reading, and demonstrates yet again that the piss police will be coming for anyone considered not sufficiently feminine enough. [more]

Read me in books

My debut memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was a Scotsman book of the year and Damian Barr’s Literary Salon book of the week, and it was shortlisted for the 2023 British Book Awards book of the year in the Discover category.

My latest book, Small Town Joy, is a celebration of queer influences on and queer artists in Scots music and is out now.

I’m also a contributor to the excellent anthology Fierce Salvage, which is also out now.

A photo of the book Carrie Kills A Man.