WHEN Paul McQuade made the move to America eight years ago, his wild imagination started hatching stories that would soon be collated in an impressive collection.
'Between Tongues' is a collection of short stories featuring characters from all over the world, and how their life is affected by the impact languages have on it.
From modern-day tales, to those inspired by more fantasy aspects, Paul says that one of the main aims with the book was for people to identify with the feeling of being in limbo.
He said: "The stories in Between Tongues all come from a different genre.
"For example, you have an almost- Frankenstein retelling in one of them, then flipping to a domestic modern-day drama.
"No matter what the genre though, there is this continuing theme of being in limbo.
"The name 'Between Tongues' comes from a play on the Gaelic word meaning translation.
"For a lot of the stories, the questions being asked don't get answered and I think a lot of people can relate to that, especially after the past year."
The idea of being 'in limbo' is something that Paul, 33, has had first-hand experience with, after moving to upstate New York from Robroyston to complete his PHD in 2013.
Paul said: "It was a big move for me. I come from Robroyston where the only thing the town is really known for is an ASDA.
"I came to New York because I could get my PHD in linguistics funded here.
"When you arrive in America, as a Scottish person and even as a Glaswegian, there is a culture shock, and more so a language shock.
"You become very aware of your accent and Scots phrases."
Paul says that the Glaswegian accent is one that even Glaswegians themselves have had a fraught relationship with.
He said: "You know for years, we have had academics speaking badly about the Glaswegian accent.
"In fact one even when so far to call it a "mongrel" accent, because historically it is a mix of this rural and urban forming of words.
"And this has been for years - how many times were we told growing up that speaking proper Glaswegian sounded "neddy"?
"I can't disagree more with the idea that Glaswegian is a "mongrel" accent, I find it so fascinating and unique and we should be proud of our accents and sayings."
Despite this way of thinking from many moons ago, he is encouraged by the amount of people picking up interest in learning the history of Scots language.
Paul said: "I think for years we were never really told to think of Scots as a language. The only mainstream examples we really had were The Broons and Rab C Nesbitt!
"There seems to be somewhat of a revival of the Scots language for the new generation, which is really encouraging."
Not only is the Scots language seeing a revival, but Scottish authors are making waves across the world.
Paul said: "It has been really great to see people like Douglas Stuart and Kirstin Innes really showing off what Scottish authors are about at the moment.
"For a while, Scottish authors were really only known for tartan noir novels, so it's great to see these really great fiction dramas get the recognition they deserve and to even be mentioned in the same sentence as them is a really big honour."
While Paul is loving his time in the USA, he has been looking forward to paying a visit back home.
He said: "I'm actually really sad because I've had to cancel a trip home to see my mum and dad in Glasgow about three times this year, and I haven't been able to see them at all.
"I guess that's me being stuck in limbo at the moment!
"I get so homesick for Glasgow all the time, even though I really love my life here in New York, and it's always the small things.
"It sounds so stupid but I was trying to explain to someone American the other day what a strawberry tart is, you know the wee tart with cream, jam and icing on top, and they just couldn't get it.
"Just thinking about the strawberry tarts back home got me so homesick.
"I'm planning on heading home soon so fingers crossed that there isn't another cancellation and I can see my family and have my strawberry tart again!"
Between Tongues, published by Confingo Publishing, is out now online at www.confingopublishing.uk/shop.
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