The author grew up in the countryside and by the sea in the South of England. After A levels he worked on farms and at various manual jobs before moving to London to work in the City as a civil servant in the early Seventies. After becoming disabled in his early twenties and spending 3 to 4 years in hospitals and rehabilitation centres he studied psychology in London he trained and worked as a psychologist for nearly 30 years while based respectively in Leicester, North Kent and Sheffield and traveled extensively around the country for work purposes. He retired early in 2008 and is married to Carol, a retired schoolteacher and they live in Sheffield. He has had a deep and abiding interest in the Highlands and Islands of North-west Scotland since childhood and has stayed in the area on many occasions.