I have always been interested in the power of words and in reading and writing. On graduating from RSAMD, School of Drama and settling in Edinburgh, I looked for a means of survival as I made a bid to become a writer.

I became feature writer and chief reporter for “Craftwork”, a bi-monthly, and wrote interviews with glass engravers, potters, weavers, silversmiths and woodworkers. When “Craftwork” ceased publication I wrote for “Artwork”, an independent newspaper on the Scottish arts.

I put my dramatic training into practice when in 1981 The Scotsman features editor asked me to join his team of critics to review plays, revues and puppet-shows on the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe.

Within a couple of years, the newspaper commissioned me on a regular basis to review books: I specialized in gender issues, contemporary fiction and Scottish literature. I also reviewed theatre regularly for The Scotsman, covering a variety of genres (comedy, tragedy, kitchen sink, community theatre and revues ).

I contributed to BBC Radio Scotland where I composed talks and presented programmes. In addition to attending a seminar on writing radio drama, I interviewed individuals in professions and activities as varied as parachute-jumping and tree surgery. I also reviewed theatre, cinema and books on the BBC Radio Scotland’s “Tuesday Review”.

By the mid 1980s, I was writing, publishing and broadcasting my short fiction and poetry. In 1985, my play, “The Modern Mariner” was performed at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.

When in 2008, my daughter, Julia left home to attend Glasgow University, I found I had more time to write and pursue my artistic career.   I began to take an interest in Angus, my mother’s older brother, who was killed in World War Two. When I discovered in 2001 some of my uncle’s letters lying in a drawer of my deceased mother’s desk, I knew I must investigate further his short life. The result of my research is a book, “Finding Angus”, published in 2014 by Hamish Macdonald Lockhart.