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There are, always, unexpected pleasures in travelling. I have been in Scotland now for two months, and before that I was in the US for close to a month. Yesterday I went into Helensburgh, the nearest town to where I am staying in Cove Park, and browsed at the newsagents. On the covers of the magazines were all these faces that I didn't recognise: "My God", I thought to myself, "Who the Hell are all these people?"

I had a very similar experience ducking into a convenience store in Washington DC, scanning the shelves and being taken aback by these unfamiliar made-up, retouched, plucked, botoxed faces staring out at me. It turns out, of course, they are reality TV stars, sportspeople from codes I've never followed, wannabe Rihanna nymphettes (even Rihanna is a wannabe Rihanna), talk show hosts from programs I have never heard of.  It was a satisfying feeling, knowing that celebrity has finite geographical limits, even in this age of globalised media. These faces sell magazines, for a short time, tweak public interest, for a moment, and then they disappear back into the hyper-media primordial sludge from which they first emerged. I sound crueller than I mean to be. I just think it is a good thing to be reminded that aura and mystique of celebrity is transient.

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The last two months I have been undertaking a residency at Cove Park in Scotland. It really is the most idyllic location to work. Every morning I wake up to a view of the tranquil waters of Loch Long, and then across the peninsula I can see the spectacular hills and bens at the beginning of the highlands. It has been a wonderful summer in Scotland and I don't think I have ever walked so much in my life, both here at Cove, and travelling with my partner Wayne across the country. As an Australian I am astounded by the dramatic changes in landscape and vista over what seem such short distances. It being summer has meant that it gets dark very late and the dawn comes very early. One of the most treasured moments of this time is walking home after a dinner with friends, along the Barbour Road, which shoots straight across the ridge of the peninsula. Though close to midnight, everything was visible in a soft blue light: I saw hues and shades that I had never seen before.

It is not only the nature and the landscape here that makes me feel so fortunate. The residencies at Cove Park are not only for writers. I have been learning so much from the residents here, seeing how a filmmaker or a textile craftsperson, for example, approaches their work; it allows me to reflect on my own practice as a writer. Here's a link to Cove Park and if you click on "Residencies" it will give information on the artists here at the moment.

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Christos Tsiolkas is one of our guest bloggers during the week of July 12th. If you have any questions for him, add a comment to any of his posts.

Here is more information on The Slap:

In this powerful and riveting novel, literary phenomenon Christos Tsiolkas unflinchingly exposes the inner-workings of domestic life, friendship and parenthood in the twenty-first century, and reminds us of the passions and malice that family loyalty can provoke. When a man slaps another couple's child at a neighborhood barbecue, the event send unforeseeable shockwaves through the lives of all who are witness to it. Told from the points of view of eight people who were present, The Slap shows how a single action can change the way people think about how they live, what they want, and what they believe forever.