Alastair evolves as an Ayr writer

Aug 22 2008 by Michael Pringle

AS A teenager wandering the streets of Ayr, he formed the basis of a story for a book.

Alastair McCaig, 38, may no longer be a teenager but he has finally realised his dream and now the story of his fictional characters can at last be told. Over 20 years later he has produced his first novel.

Self-published title ‘Twist of Evolution’ is set in Ayr and should appeal to anyone between the ages of 14 and 40. The street names may have been changed slightly but most should be instantly recognisable to anyone who lives in or around the town. Alastair revealed: “I first thought of the idea for the story when I was about 17 or 18 but only got round to starting to write it about two years ago, it took me about 18 months to complete. I always thought: ‘why not set the story in Ayr, a place I’m so familiar with.’.”

Alastair is happily married with two kids and has been living in Northern Ireland for the past 10 years. His hometown is still close to his heart and his parents still live in Ayr’s Allanfield Road. The writer is back in town quite regularly.

Before he started on his first book around two years ago Alastair had never written. He explained: “I bought myself a writer’s guide and decided to at last make a start on the story, I ended up writing so much that after taking advice from a publishing agent the story was divided into two books.”

The tale of two brothers is set 20 years ago before the digital age we live in now. James McLaren, 18, and Freddie McLaren, 11, start to realise that they are different from other kids in the area. Older brother James begins to have waking dreams where he starts to see things through the eyes of someone else. Freddie is unaware that he is different until he meets two old ladies completely by chance. The brothers are then drawn into a lethal conspiracy. Alastair said: “The book is basically a contemporary adventure story but it has a science fiction edge to it.”

The former Forehill Primary and Kyle Academy pupil left school and went onto Glasgow University. On leaving university he went to work in the aviation industry. However the idea for the book never left him and now that he has managed to produce his first literary works Alastair believes this is only the start. In addition to the sequel created when the original book was halved in two, Alastair has plans for a four or five book series.

Twist of Evolution by Alastair McCaig is available to order from www.amazon.co.uk or www.authorhouse.co.uk/bookhouse.