I live near Edinburgh, a city that has been my home for close to half my life. I came to writing
towards the end of a long career and quickly found it absorbing but also, at the beginning,
humbling. Constructing simple, elegant sentences and fashioning them into appealing stories is
not as simple as I once thought, so as does any aspiring writer, I spent a lot of time learning the
craft. That process will never end.
But no matter how absorbing that becomes, eventually you have to put what you’ve learned into
practice. The book you have read is the result. I hope you found it as enjoyable to read as I did to
write.
When I’m not plotting terrible adventures and awful ordeals for my favourite characters I enjoy
getting out and about, exploring as far afield as my budget will take me. Travel often provides
inspiration for stories or characters, as does history. I love wandering around ancient ruins and
visiting the locations of major historical events and trying to envisage what it must have been like
at the time.
I also enjoy a decent art gallery, a thought-provoking play, a good football match, an excellent
band, and good company, wherever that may be.
The Amethyst Throne was inspired by a re-reading of Norse mythology, but what started me
down this authorial road, several years ago, was strolling around the ruins of ancient Delphi in
the company of a small ginger cat who proved to be an entertaining and highly opinionated
guide.