Most aspiring writers usually struggle to find a publisher - even JK Rowling was turned down 12 times before getting Harry Potter printed - but Alloa author Robert Ferguson has gone one better than most.  He has achieved the rare feat of managing to attract the attention of not one but two publishing houses to champion his work.

The 66-year-old former airline design consultant is carving out a new career for himself as a story teller. His debut novel, ‘I’ve got Jesus in the back of my taxi’, was released to critical acclaim in 2020 and voted the best coffee house read in Manhattan Village in 2020.

Now on its second print run with publishers Austin Macauley the book, which received accolades from a number of celebrities including David Hayman, Alex McLeish, Sir David Jason, Lorraine Kelly, and Sir Ian McKellen, continues to gather plaudits on Goodreads and Amazon, where it has a 4.8 star rating out of 5.

Since then Robert has been working on a second novel, a thriller, due to be released around September, and two other books are already at the editing stage.  A prolific writer Robert has also completed a couple of novellas and a series of 12 short stories, all of which are due to be released later this year as stand alone publications, serialised in periodicals or as part of an anthology of works by up and coming Scottish literary talent.

One of Robert’s novellas, ‘The Intrepid Steps of John Ruffam’, is an intriguing 13,000 word tale with a supernatural element. It was chosen from more than 135 submissions, voted on by a team of five editors, and included alongside 24 others selected for publication.

Indeed, the paranormal plays quite a large part in many of Robert’s eclectic mix of short stories with titles such as  ‘A splendid view of nothing’;  ‘The salt soldiers’; ‘Here’s to the insane ones!’; ‘The banquet for Antoine Guivarch’; ‘Correspondence with Raymond Burrell’; ‘Three peaks of Laverado’; and ‘The man that sells mirrors’,

Words have always come easy for Robert who used to write the lyrics to songs while playing in a number of bands in and around Alloa, Clackmannanshire in his younger days.

“I started off writing songs when I was younger and that progressed into poetry before I finally found my real love was for writing curious stories with a Scottish connection,” said Robert, who is currently finalising details with a second publisher with the aim of releasing his short stories and novellas in the next few months.

“The last few years have passed by in a blur. After my first book was published, and it got so many good reviews from people, I found a new level of confidence that has spurred me on to be even more creative.

“Writing has always been a passion for me but I didn’t think that I’d be embarking on a whole new career in my sixties as an author. I guess dreams really can come true!”

Details of where all of Roberts books and stories can be purchased will be released shortly.