Alexander Wightman was born in a village thirty miles from the Scottish Border and four miles from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, or Alnwick Castle as it used to be known.

In his boyhood he cycled around a countryside steeped in history and legend from Romans to Reivers and with more castles and bastles and pele towers than any other county in England. He paid scant attention because he was dreaming about aeroplanes.

As a young man he joined the Royal Air Force and qualified as a pilot. At the end of his service he moved to Oman where he continued flying in the Sultan's Air Force. He also began scribbling.

He now lives near Bristol with his wife Alma but still travels regularly to the county of his first love - Northumberland.