5.....

Continued....

Scotland's bard wrote 'Oh wad some power the giftie gie us, tae see oursels as ithers see us!'

Of course, were he alive today, Robert Burns would no doubt be the star of some ghastly reality show. Documenting his life (brutal Tax Inspector by day, and womanising poet by night) it would have some terrible title like Vatman and Sobbin' (or later, when he's trying to shift his beer belly, Flabby Rabbie) and he'd never be off the tv, pushing his latest book, In Mid Ayr.

Writing about yourself, unless you're a rampant egomaniac, is never going to be easy. Marta had wanted her profile to be truthful: I'm a middle aged spinster, she wrote, with a struggling business, a vicious cat and a digital camera which has never been off the auto setting.

Amy was appalled. 'You should say you're a company owner, in your thirties, with a fiercely creative mind and a desire to learn about photography. That bit, will attract all the men who like giving advice.'

'A fiercely creative mind?' laughed Marta. 'Since when?'

'Since you spent five hours yesterday, making sugar frogs.' replied Amy. 'Now, let's think of a clever name for your journal....'