Fray is a totally original novel and I loved it for that… A dangerous journey that throws up lots of surprises. The writing is awe-inspiring.’ - Alex Pine, bestselling author of the DI James Walker series The author said: “My mental health challenges are inextricably linked to being autistic and how I experience the world, which for 40 years of my life I never understood. Author Chris Carse Wilson, whose book Fray goes on sale on Thursday (Jane Barlow/PA) Absolutely, and I think also without really realising it until I was older. The times of my life when I’m running, I'm happier and healthier, suffer fewer mental health problems. I'm more in control of everything. Life is just better, full stop. And at times where I'm not running because of illness or injury or just a moment where I've sort of fallen out of love with it, things are worse, you know, on a very simple basic level. Running makes every day better. It makes your life better. And much easier to control. The papers are haphazard and don’t make a great deal of sense. The narrator’s father talks of searching for his wife, but also mentions the Devil. He records times and weather conditions precisely, then describes experiments whose purpose is unclear. One of his hand-drawn maps has the word ‘hotel’ marked prominently, but there doesn’t seem to be a hotel nearby. Perhaps the father has made some sort of breakthrough, but if so, its nature is inscrutable.

My running and writing kind of have always existed in parallel to each other. I've been running for 30 years, I've been writing for 30 years. And I've always used both of them in different but complementary ways to manage my mental health – to manage challenges that I have with anxiety, all of which is linked to being autistic, which is not something I knew about until a year or two ago. You've said that being out in nature, running outside, is very important to you Chris, who is on sabbatical from his role as V&A Dundee’s communications manager, wrote Fray in secret – even hiding it from his wife until it was completed. The diagnosis has been an incredible moment, although I’m still learning and coming to terms with it.

Chris Carse Wilson's debut is a beguiling and hallucinatory tale of grief amidst the wilderness

My understanding of it is that it is about a son experiencing guilt followed closely by depression, after losing his parents, because he realises that he never really knew them. In particular his father, who is senses is geographically close by, yet more distant than ever. Aye Write will also look ahead to exciting debut talent in its ‘Ones To Watch’ events. These will shine the spotlight on writers including Ryan Love, Lynsey May, Denise Saul, Mark Pajak, Chris Carse Wilson, and Wiz Wharton.

So I guess running is for you both a tool for managing mental health but, in a way, it’s also a metaphor for it?Foregrounding atmosphere and psychological suspense for most of its length, Fray is a literary novel that probes the most sensitive recesses of its characters’ minds in a build-up to a charged and hallucinatory final act. An eerie and immersive depiction of the difficult process of grieving, it marks the emergence of a powerful new writer. Some of the most familiar names included in the extensive, varied line-up of writers at Aye Write this year are Alistair Campbell, Ruby Wax, Val McDermid, Liz Lochhead, Janey Godley, Cameron McNeish, Josie Long in conversation with Frankie Boyle, Robin Ince, Aasmah Mir, Chris Brookmyre, Darren McGarvey, Polly Toynbee, and Sally Magnusson. This book is advertised as “a missing person mystery like no other.” No. No, it’s not. Stop lying. READBAIT!!! 😡 He had long wanted to write about his own mental health experiences but had always struggled to find a way to do this. The key moment came during a mountain run in a storm.

Aye Write is produced by Glasgow Life, the charity which delivers culture and sport to enhance mental, physical and economic wellbeing, and is funded by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland.Fray is set in the remote wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, and follows a nameless narrator as they desperately search for their missing father. Instead, they discover an abandoned cottage filled with thousands of confusing, terrifying scraps of paper, detailing the father’s frenzied attempts to find his dead wife. He said: “My mental health challenges are inextricably linked to being autistic and how I experience the world, which for 40 years of my life I never understood. The diagnosis has been an incredible moment, although I’m still learning and coming to terms with it. Yes, my parents were both runners, they got into it because of the Great North Run, and I sort of followed on. I ran as a kid, joined a club, and did cross country and athletics through my teenage years. I was an 800m runner and I loved it. It’s so fascinating because it’s almost impossible to get it right. I always think an 800m race feels like a great idea until about 500m, then you are hanging on for dear life. I was a decent club runner but nothing out of the ordinary, but I loved it and with a few breaks I’ve continued ever since. This is an exciting, intense book which explores the redemptive power of nature and the universal challenges we all face living with our own mental health. Carse Wilson is a passionate advocate for mental health awareness who was diagnosed as autistic as an adult. He wrote Fray over several years in 15-minute bursts on the bus to and from work.