I had the good fortune to grow up in a farm in Scotland with two hard-working parents and six brothers. This boisterous household was never short of stories – mostly told around the kitchen table. Although known as one of the quieter of the Millar boys, I left home at sixteen and joined the British Merchant Navy. This was fertile ground for lots more stories. This sea-going life took me, literally, around the world on my first deep sea voyage. We had stowaways on one ship and a near mutiny on another. It was a mixed blessing when a medical condition ended my career at the age of twenty-four.

What to do? Coming ashore I had a big decision to make. I knew I yearned to take an English degree and pursue a career in writing, but I still retained a fascination for engineering. It was the latter than won out and, as I told myself, it would pay the mortgage. Armed with an engineering degree from Newcastle University I began a career in shipbuilding. This took me to San Diego, Washington DC, Vancouver and Halifax. There was another latent talent lurking in my background: music. Early piano lessons had provided me with music reading skills, I still play the guitar, but it was singing that became a huge part of my life. Finally, coming out of that damned closet, I joined the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego and enjoyed ten wonderful years there. My career progressed to more cities and three more gay choruses: Washington DC, Vancouver and Halifax, all resulting in many, many performances. More stories and with lots of drama thrown in for good measure!

There is no doubt in my mind that it’s the people I’ve met, and the variety of experiences through travel, shipbuilding and singing that is the basis for all the stories in my life. They present themselves in many forms: drinking with friends in the pub; encounters (both good and bad); and perhaps, unsurprisingly, through music and songs.

 They say a writer’s greatest enemy is procrastination. I have perhaps suffered that particular malady for forty years. The ships are designed, built and still sailing; the songs have been sung; and now it’s time to get down and write about these events in my life. I’ve finally taken that plunge and in this, my seventieth year, I have just completed a Masters of Fine Arts in Fiction. It’s never too late!