IAN RANKIN has been ordered back to his desk by his publisher after being distracted by pubs.
The Scottish writer was “busted” after tweeting about going for a pint when he was meant to be working on rewrites of his new Inspector Rebus novel.
Under a picture of Cromarty Harbour he wrote: “Pub had run out of Happy Chappy this afternoon though! (Not that I was in there, if my editor’s listening.)”
It was all too much for London based publisher Jon Wood who spotted the tweet on Monday.
Mr Wood cracked the whip, tweeting to the author: “Ok Rankin, back to work! (note from publisher)”
The 55-year-old crime writer responded with “busted” and stayed quiet on the social media site for the next few hours.
Rankin is known for his love of a good pint. As a student in Edinburgh he frequented the city’s most iconic bars including Bennets and The Café Royal Bar.
His creation, Inspector John Rebus, also has a passion for pubs, his favourite being the old-fashioned Edinburgh drinking den The Oxford Bar.
Rankin now spends much of his time in Cromarty in the Black Isle where he can often be seen in Cromarty Arms and sampling local ales.
In the twitter exchange with fans the writer also joked about an app he’d made up called ‘Innkeeper’ – poking fun at the Runkeeper craze where people post jogging distances.
He tweeted: “Just completed a 0.4mile saunter to the pub with Innkeeper.”
After being asked if that was an app he replied: “Shows you nearest pubs and how far away they are. Invaluable.”
Adding: “I estimate the walk back may be longer…”
A few hours later he posted: “Just completed a 0.6mile wander home from the pub with Innkeeper.”
