A talented Inverkip author is hoping to get the backing of the local community after penning his latest novel.

Dave Watson, 46, wrote his debut book ‘In the Devil’s Name’ back in 2012, and has since penned several more.

Now the web developer has released his latest writings ‘New Devilry’ – a collection of short stories, poems, and screenplays.

Dave, who writes under the name D.A. Watson, reveals a chance encounter back in university helped him pursue his passion for writing.

He explained: “I started working on my first book idea in about 2000, but I was only messing around with it.

“Halfway through my degree to become a music teacher at Glasgow University, I met the writer in residence and gave her a copy of half the novel.

“She thought there was something there and told me to get it finished, so that’s exactly what I did and it went down very well.

“I went on to do a masters in creative writing at Stirling, landed an agent for my second novel, and now I have four in total with more on the way.”

Dave says that the pandemic lockdown allowed him to create a host of short stories and poems, and reveals he has already started work on a new novel set in Inverkip.

“’New Devilry’ is a collection of short stories, poems and a screenplay that have all been written since lockdown," he said. 

“All of my poems tend to have a similar flavour, but the short stories are all different and just whatever comes to me at the time.

“Lockdown was brilliant as a writer, as it gave me so much more time to be creative and provided lots of inspiration too.

“In between all of that I have been working on a novel about the Inverkip witch trials from the 17th century which I hope to release soon.”

Dave admits he is looking for more community support as a local author, and is planning book launches for his upcoming novels.

He said: “’New Devilry’ should be coming out in the next couple of weeks, and I have put out feelers about a book launch in the village.

“I have done a few up in Glasgow along with some reading events but it would be nice to do one in my own place.

“I’m not sure how many people would actually turn up but the initial response from residents has been encouraging.

“It’s nice to have that support and hopefully when the witch trials book comes out that can generate a big response as it is set locally.”

‘New Devilry’ will be available to buy on Amazon, and for more information about Dave’s work go to www.dawatsonwriter.com.