Peter Kerr, the best-selling Scottish author, was born in Lossiemouth, Morayshire, in 1940. His award-winning 'Snowball Oranges' series of five Mallorcan-based books have sold in large numbers worldwide and have been translated into fourteen languages. They recount the often hilarious adventures experienced by Peter and his family while running a small orange farm on the Spanish island during the 1980s. 'Thistle Soup' is a prequel to these books and is a humorous though sometimes poignant account of his boyhood in East Lothian, 'The Garden of Scotland', where he eventually followed in his farming grandfather's footsteps. Peter now concentrates on writing fiction. His first novel, 'The Mallorca Connection', was a rare mix of suspense and comedy and has been followed to date by four other equally quirky yarns, with both Spanish and Scottish settings. In the 1960s, Peter was a jazz musician - the clarinettist-leader of Scotland's premier jazzband, 'The Clyde Valley Stompers', with whom he recorded the hit version of 'Peter and the Wolf' for Beatles producer George Martin. From 1970 onwards, Peter combined farming beef and barley in East Lothian with freelance record production, hitting the jackpot with the biggest-selling instrumental single of all time, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 'Amazing Grace'. He also wrote the music and lyrics (some say bizarrely!) for The Krankies' trademark song, 'Fan-Dabi-Dozi'. Peter, married with two sons, now lives in East Lothian. His first historical novel, 'Song of the Eight Winds', which is set in 13th century Mallorca, was published in 2012. 'Don't Call Me Clyde!', a fascinating memoir of his life as a young musician in early-Sixties London, was released in 2016. December 2017 brought the publication of a humour-laced Highland caper called 'The Other Monarch of the Glen', with 'Goblin Hall', a set-in-Scotland fantasy adventure for a family readership, following in April 2020. July 2021 saw a return to non-fiction with 'Jen - A Border Collie's Tale', the amusing yet poignant life story of an old farm dog, narrated by Jen herself. This was followed in November 2024 by 'Author - Don't Make Me Laugh', an entertaining though frank and revealing memoir of the joys and headaches of becoming – after many years of trying – a published author at sixty.
