Willie came to creative writing late in life, having worked as a hill shepherd in the West Highlands and Islands and Islands of Scotland. As a mature student , he graduated from Stirling University in History, followed by a postgraduate degree in Strathclyde University. His thesis was published as ‘Deer Forests, Landlords and Crofters’ in 1982. a study of the great expansion of deer forests in the Highlands in the 19th century and its impact on the people living there. His interest lies in Scottish history, particularly in the voices of people rarely heard or represented.
Several historical pieces were published in The Scotsman at that time – “The Park Deer Raid” (6.9.80), an account of the crofters’ raid on Park deer forest on Lewis; “The Great Highland Famine” (30.7.88), a description of starvation and eviction in the Highlands in 1846; “Slave Labours” (30.6.90), the first account of Scotland’s involvement in slavery.
It was after these non-fiction publication that Willie’s focus changed to creative writing, several short stories appearing in Harper Collins Scottish Short Stories in 1988, 1990, 1991,1992 and 1993. Stories also appeared in Northwords in 2011 and 2019 and in Splinters in 2011.
Having spent some time trying unsuccessfully to find an agent or publisher for a novel of slavery, he dropped the flash drive in a drawer and wrote “Mick”. This is a novel set in the 1950’s in Scotland about what was called a ‘boarded-out’ boy. Local authorities, overwhelmed with children in their care, placed many of them on remote farms in the Highlands and islands. Some were welcomed into the family, others treated with cruelty and neglect. “Mick” is one of them.
‘The Shepherd and the Morning Star, although partly an autobiography, deals with the conflict in N. Ireland, its origins and effects, with an interesting outcome in 1974 when an Ulster MP disappears from view.