In a past life, Dougie has been a dockyard worker, student, musician and songwriter, playing in several bands, performing live and recording music. Dougie lives in Dunfermline, Fife, with his wife, daughter, forever hungry golden retriever in an intermittent empty nest as his son comes and goes.
Welcome to my website.
My novels are inspired by my favourite city, Edinburgh and my passion for Greece, her islands, people, landscapes, sea, light and ambience, all of which are important themes and symbols in my writing.
My books encapsulate themes such as love, loss, hope, coming of age, and the uncovering of secrets. They are character-driven stories with twists and turns set against the backdrop of Edinburgh and Greece.
I never intended to, but seemingly, I write women’s contemporary fiction and since 95% of my readers are women; I suppose that's a good fit.
Since I set all my books in Edinburgh and Greece, it will not be a surprise to know that I identify with a physical place and the feeling of belonging, which are prominent in my writing.
Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is rich in history, has amazing classical buildings (the new town of Edinburgh is a world heritage site) and it also has vibrant restaurants and café bars.
Greece occupies my heart. Her history, culture, religion, people, landscape, light, colours and sea inspire me every day. There is almost a spiritual quality to it.
I want my novels to have a sense of time and place, drawing the reader into the social and cultural complexities of the characters. I want my characters to speak from the page, where the reader can identify with them their hopes, fears, conflicts, loves and emotions. I hope the characters become like real people to the reader, and it is at that point, the reader will want to know what is going to happen to the characters, where is their life taking them in the story.
The common denominator is, I want my novels to be about what it means to be human through our relationship with our world, our environment and with each other. Most of all, I want them to be good stories that you, as a reader, can identify with.
