I am the wrong side of fiftysomething and have been a journalist and writer since the age of 17.

At 19, I went to Vietnam on spec, to try and cover the war in the firm belief that I could not be any sort of writer until, as Hemingway put it, I had been as drunk as could be, suffered a broken heart and experienced war. Naturally, at 19, I believed I had the first two under my belt and just needed the third. After 18 months of it, I swore I would never do anything as stupid ever again.

Since then, I have earned a living as a writer safely in Scotland, with occasional lapses of judgement taking me to Sarajevo, Romania, Albania and Kosovo, in a desperate attempt to salve my conscience and prove that I am, still, a real journalist and not a tabloid nithing. Happily, there I found enough wannabes with too much sense to risk themselves who'd hire me to do their job for them.

Of course, the newspaper I worked for knew nothing about all that, and colleagues who imagined I was taking two weeks in Tenerife now know differently. Sorry.

I did this until common-sense, age and the concerns of my wife and daughter prevailed.

Then, to satisfy a craving for action and couple it to an obsession with ancient warfare, I took up riding, taught myself horse archery and, latterly - having moved to an area rich in Viking tradition - took up re-enactment, joining The Vikings. I now spend summers fighting furiously in helmet and mail in shieldwalls all over Britain, and then spend winters training hard.

The Oathsworn series runs to four titles: The Whale Road, The Wolf Sea, The White Raven and The Prow Beast. It will be followed by the Kingdom of Scotland series, set in the time of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace, which I am writing now.

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