AN IRVINE woman has published her first book marking the end of a 15-year process.

Jan McGavin, 60, recently released The Stone Dragon – the first of a trilogy – inspired by her years of working with people in the care sector.

Jan is currently an operations manager with a care home organisation and previously worked at an autism centre in Kilbirnie.

She told the Times that the stories of those she met inspired the plot, adding: “I have been in the care industry for 30 years and it is a very pressured and stressful job so you need something to provide escapism.

“I have come across many people over the years who due to a disability or for different reasons are seen in society as being somehow different and it is always something I have championed that everyone should be included.

“I decided to write about a dragon who is hatched with a disability. He has no wings and cannot breathe fire and has big lumpy scales hence the Stone Dragon title.

“The dragon society believe that if you are not perfect then over the cliff you go. The dragon has to be abandoned by his mother very young and naïve, and having to find his way in life.

“He meets good and bad people and there is a twist at the end but I won’t reveal that. I like to think the book is about inclusion, hope and staying true to yourself.”

The publication of The Stone Dragon was the culmination of 15-years of hard work. Now Jan is determined to make sure that book two and three in the Drakkonsaga series don’t take quite as long.

She said: “It was frightening to put it out there because you do not know how people will receive it but I am very happy with the feedback that I have received.

“Writing the book is easy, everything else is the hard bit.

“With the first book it was a case of learning the craft but I now know what I am doing and I have set myself a year to complete book two.

“People have already asked when it is coming out as they want to know what happens next.”

Jan added: “I would very much like to thank my husband Andy, my two children Amy and Stuart, and my brother Tom for their tremendous support.”

To buy a paperback email janet.mcgavin@yahoo.com or buy the Kindle edition on Amazon.