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Here I am with my little papillon Rooskie when he was only nine months old. (Rooskie was born on the 19th June, 1998).
I have an M.A. degree with second
class honours in history from Glasgow University and I have worked
both as a teacher and a schools librarian.
I enjoy doing the historical research for the background of my stories. Wherever possible I like to use primary or original sources. For example, for the book I am working on just now, Solway Sleuth-Hounds, I have been fortunate in getting commentaries on the laws of Scotland regarding crime written by one of the leading lawyers in the country -- in 1797. I have also been using the newspapers of the time.
As well as being interested in history I am also interested in
dog training and, with my papillons Moff and Dusty, have competed
in both Obedience and Working Trials. Moff and Dusty both gained
the coveted Kennel Club award of CDEx. (Companion Dog Excellent).
In all my writing the actual geographical setting is very important.
I was born and brought up in Glasgow. I did not like living in
Glasgow and I still do not like cities.( I now live in a small
country town.) As a child I read widely. I did not realise it
then but I read to escape from Glasgow's grey streets. I read
all Arthur Ransome's books and revelled in his descriptions of
the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Other favourites of
mine were pony stories -- little girls riding about the countryside.
I also liked historical adventure stories and another of my favourite
authors was Geoffrey Trease. Later I read Sir Walter Scott.
Another form of escape was found in going to the pictures. I liked
historical films in technicolour, also westerns. I think I liked
the latter for the scenery of the American west.
All this gave me a fascination for the mystery of windswept moorlands,
rough mountains and wild coastlines. Not for me a tamed and civilised
beach. I wanted somewhere where I could imagine smugglers landing
in a deserted cove.
I am now able to spend much of my time in such places and they
form the basis of much of my writing. But I like to think that
I am more realistic about them now than when I was a child in
Glasgow.
My fascination with wild places was increased when I started to
compete in Obedience and Working Trials with my little dogs. While
competing I travelled all over Britain -- from Aberdeen in the
north to Tunbridge Wells and Tewkesbury in the south. I was not
seeing the big cities or usual tourist resorts. Instead I found
myself in the forests or on the moors. As well as going for the
actual competitions I also tried to find out about the part of
the country I was in -- both to-day and in the past. This was
to have an influence on my writing.
My dogs also helped me in other ways. When I was working on The Canine Cavalier I explored Newmarket with my little Papillon Moff. We walked along the mysterious Devil's Dyke, tramped all over Newmarket Heath and climbed Warren Hill. Then, when I was writing Ghost Dog of the Solway, Moff and my older dog Dusty, took me for endless walks along the Solway shore. On these walks I would soak in the atmosphere and carefully plan out the details of the stories.
I call my dogs my "research assistants."
Moff and Dusty both had long and happy lives but, sadly, they
are no longer with us. But I now have a young dog who is at present
attending the local dog training class. At the age of nine months
he gained his Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog certificate -- Bronze.
A year later he gained the Silver.
His name is Rooskie and he is called after a little dog in Solway Sleuth-Hounds --- which is the book I am working on at present. A series of who-dunnits set around Dumfries and on the Solway coast around the time of Robert Burns.
Dogs apart I am also interested in swimming, digital photography,
machine knitting and step aerobics.
Here
is another picture of me with Rooskie - this time in the garden
of my holiday chalet on the Solway coast. Rooskie enjoys going
for long walks along the Solway beaches. For such a small dog
he has the most amazing stamina.
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