Elma McMenemy

Born and brought up in Edinburgh, Scotland, I moved to Aberdeen as a student aged 18 and have lived in the north east of Scotland ever since. I qualified as a professional "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide in 1986. In 2011, when The History Press was seeking an author for the Aberdeen title in its "Bloody Scottish History" series, someone suggested a professional tourist guide might bring the lightweight touch needed to the book and I was emailed by the commissioning editor.

I was not immediately sold on the idea - tourist guiding is about so much more than history - and history was far from my favourite part of tourist guiding! However, I did find myself agreeing (perhaps vanity had something to do with that) and eventually, in spring 2014, "Bloody Scottish History: Aberdeen" was published. This has now been followed by "Aberdeen in 100 Dates" published in May 2016. This features 100 dates from the history of the city and its hinterland, from the time of St Machar almost to the present day. As not only year, but also month and day are given, the research proved challenging - but very interesting.

I am currently working on another book about Aberdeen, this time for a different publisher - more info later!