I am a retired Professor from Australia. My academic work was mainly in Religion and Education, with a passion for history. I have also become something of a specialist in Islam.
My family roots are in the Scottish Highlands on which I have done much research. This is what inspired my first novel, Son of a Jacobite. When the historical record ran out, I turned to historical fiction. The Jacobite's son grows up in the shadow of his heroic father, travels in his youth to Persia, then Ireland and the Americas during the War of Independence. Much adventure, romance and growing up along the way, all inserted into snippets of live history.
Author news
I have written many academic books and school texts, some 40 in all, with a variety of publishing houses. Springer Nature, Routledge, Peter Lang and Cengage are the main international houses. David Barlow Publishing is the main Australian publisher. Son of a Jacobite is my first novel. The different kind of writing needed for it has been a learning process. My academic writing has helped but I've also been challenged to 'show not tell', instead of telling, which is what academic writing is all about. The venture has taken me to the other side, as it were, the other side of the fascinating thing we call writing.
The book has had a Virtual book launch on Sunday 13th December. Please see the below link to the YouTube recording of the event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsCj88Zh7k&feature=youtu.be