I moved to Edinburgh as a child and immediately fell in love with Scotland and the great outdoors. My name was down for every adventure my primary and secondary school had going - and there were plenty. In 5th year, I was accepted into what was called the Tuesday Group – the Edinburgh schools climbing club. By then I more or less knew that I wanted to become an instructor. I studied Outdoor Education at a college in Liverpool then returned north to pursue a career running an activities centre on Loch Tay in Highland Perthshire. As life tends to do, I found my career shifting about, always with an element of the outdoors, but on reflection not quite enough. Five years ago I decided to reset my 'course to steer,' and came away from what had become a little too much of corporate life, got back outdoors and directed my writing to fiction. A Boy in a Storm is my debut novel and took 5 years to write. Although I had the story within me from the start, I had to learn how to tell it! It's is a work of fiction, but fair to say that as with many writers, my inspiration comes from life experiences – both positive and negative. Through writing, I'm keen to explore time, place and emotions. Getting the detail right is important to me. I like to tell of small things and poignant moments, as well as episodes. And I like to take my readers with me on adventures to wonderful places. Now based near Perth, I spend my time sharing adventures through novels, exploring the hills, sailing, kayaking, carrying out voluntary work and lecturing.