Stories bloomed from family tree Avondale connection in author’s Bloodlines series
Author and family man Thomas McKerley is rediscovering his love for Strathaven.
The 66-year-old has fond memories of his youth in the town – and is enjoying trips to the area again after his daughter Lisa moved to Avondale.
He has lived across Scotland and around the globe – spending a decade in the Netherlands but has vivid fond memories of Avondale.
Thomas, who now lives in Troon, South Ayrshire is glad to be able to come back with his own family.
“I grew up in Airdrie and always loved coming to Strathaven,” he told the News.
“It felt as though I was in a different world!
“I would also come here with my dad and go down to the river.
“It’s a really nice place and I always look back on coming here fondly!”
When he isn’t helping to keep up with the grandkids in Strathaven, Thomas is typing up his latest novel in the ‘Bloodlines’ series – a book with a strong family feel.
He released his first book ‘Bloodlines: Touch not the Cat’ in 2011, and followed it up with ‘Bloodlines: Traces’ last year.
The tale, set in North Carolina, United States and Scotland, tells the story of present day and the past based on genealogy.
Thomas, who was formally a European director of a software company before retiring, discovered his love of writing and genealogy while in the Netherlands.
He had been handed the task of merging a German branch with a Dutch company and wanted to relieve some stress.
A pal recommended that he try yoga and that’s how he met co-author Ingrid Schippers.
He talked about his love of history and tracing family trees; and how he had always wanted to write. From there, it was a partnership which blossomed.
Thomas said: “I started doing my family tree, tracing my family and looking back at Scotland’s people.
“I was involved with the project and I was really stressed out with it. Somebody said to me had I ever tried yoga – so I thought I would give it a go.
“I found a class in The Hague which was about a 25-minute drive. That was perfect for me.
“The teacher there was Ingrid and they had a wee patio area where everybody went out and had a chat.
“I got talking about this family tree stuff and she got talking about her family tree.
“Something triggered and she suggested putting it into a short story.
“I would send it to her by email and she would edit it and send it back – all of a sudden it began to get quite serious.
“That’s how the first book was conceived. There are pros and cons to co-authoring but it worked for us.”
The wordsmith duo would regularly visit each other and email back and forth.
Keen Thomas would get up at 5am to write his book when a bolt of an idea came to him and he would tell wife Joyce to set aside mornings to keep his discipline.
He admits there is a lot of him in these stories having researched his own bloodline through the generations.
With all the hard work, he says it’s rewarding to be able to interact with a global audience.
“We’ve had e-mails from all over,” he continued. “People saying how much they love this book.
“The good thing about Amazon
In the latest instalment of the Our People series, Mark Pirie speaks to author Thomas McKerleyabout his fondness of Strathaven.
is you can check where you’ve sold and how many you have sold.
“They’ve been sold in Sweden, Italy, France and Holland – it’s sold well in places I couldn’t believe.”
Thomas added: “I was waiting in an airport and got chatting to a woman.
“I said I was an author and gave her my card with the books on it.
“Her friend came up and said that was the gate number up and we got chatting. She handed her 260418mckerley_01 the card and she said: ‘I’ve just finished that’.
“She had bought it in Canada! You get that – it’s a small world sometimes.”
I would also come here with my dad and go down to the river. It’s a really nice place...