Gwen Kirkwood

Briefly I was born and went to school in Yorkshire, then agricultural college in Lancashire followed by brief spells in Wales and Nottinghamshire working on an Experimental Husbandry Farm for the Ministry of Agriculture. I had three Scottish grandparents and I feel I was drawn to Scotland. When I came to Dumfriesshire to work I immediately felt I belonged. It was May and the countryside was beautiful, the red stone of Dumfries, Queen of the South, was warm and welcoming, as were the people. I have never regretted the move. How could I? I married a Scottish dairy farmer, Bob, whose hobby was breeding and showing Clydesdale horses.

We have three children, adults now, each with two children of their own. Between the stories from my parents and grandparents and the lives of my children and grandchildren I have a lot of material for writing about life, as well as about farming. Unfortunately my husband died in 1994 and I had a break from writing to attend to family matters. I am a member of the Romantic Novelist Association and in 2000 I won the Elizabeth Goudge Trophy and became addicted to writing again.

Some of my sagas have gritty or sad episodes but they also have love and kindness and end with hope and optimism and often romance.

Written by Gwen Kirkwood