A GOUROCK man who chased his dream and published his first novel is hoping to inspire other people.

Dad-of-two Grahame Anderson has been writing on the quiet for his entire life.

But he finally took the plunge and joined the Greenock Writers' Club and has now released his first book.

Now the 56-year-old, a web developer, has combined his theme of self belief and love into 'The Lighthouse Keepers'.

Grahame, who is the president of the writers' club, said: "I am trying to say that you can leave school at 15 and still amount to something.

"It never held me back at all.

"I have always believed in following your dreams."

Grahame's book is about an aspiring music student who meets two mysterious lighthouse keepers and goes on a journey.

Grahame added: "It is a love story. I love to write, I always have. I remember when you were young and you had dreams, everyone was so negative about it, so I want to encourage people to be who they want to be.

"It is set here in Gourock and across the water in Dunoon."

Grahame is married to Brenda, who is an artist, and devoted to his sons Luke, 20, and Roan, 16.

He was born into the family business, Rathoprint, owned by his dad, which survived until the closure of the shipyards, when they lost a lot of business.

Grahame added: "Like many other businesses in the town it was hard to survive such a big hit when the shipbuilding was wiped out. We supplied print to the yards and so it was hard to survive without them. These closures had a devastating knock-on effect throughout the business community in Inverclyde."

As a teenager Grahame was a talented ballroom dancer who went on to work in newspapers before setting up his own business as a web developer in 1996.

Grahame, who runs runs Toltech in Riverside Business Park says his self-published title has been edited by experts who have worked in the top publishing houses.

The Lighthouse Keepers is available from The Pirate and Bluebell, Gourock, and online at Amazon.