BOOKWORMS can go local for some great reads this Christmas thanks to the prolific Greenock Writers Club.

There are almost 20 titles currently on the shelves which have been penned by authors from within the talented group.

New president Anne Pettigrew, who has had two novels published herself, hopes that people will support some homegrown talent.

The collection includes diverse topics - covering horror to crime and the US civil war and, much closer to home, a Greenock Writers anniversary anthology of short stories and poems.

Former GP Anne, who penned Not the Life Imagined, said: "It is a great group and we have some really talented people.

"We are all very supportive and it is friendly and welcoming.

"I think it is a marvellous achievement to have so many books either published or self-published.

"There are some great reads in there.

"The emphasis at the club is on helping one another and highlighting anything that has helped us."

Amongst the current offerings, local readers can indulge in books by award-winners, with all kind of tales featuring everything from ancient Rome to local Greenock stories, science fiction, fantasy, and 'tartan noir' stories of death, deceit and dodgy doctors.

The busy Writers Club holds competitions and talks by guests writers and runs peer editing sessions.

All of the titles are available on Amazon.

They are: 50th Anniversary Anthology, A Collection of Short Stories, Edith Sanders; The Lighthouse Keepers and The Gathering, both by Grahame Anderson; two volumes of Greenock Stories, David McKelvie; Grant's Agent, Lincoln's Spy, The Imperial Coin Maker and Seven Men to Make A Shadow, all by Anthony Watt; In the Devil's Name, Cuttin' Heads and The Wolves of Langabhat, all by D A Watson; The Short and the Small and The Accounting Dwarf, both by Cal Hutton, and Not the Life Imagined and Not the Deaths Imagined, both by Anne Pettigrew.