Daily Record chief reporter Anna Smith has published her first novel.

Spit Against the Wind is about the school holidays of four children from a small poverty-stricken Catholic community in the west of Scotland.

Anna, (46), began her journalism career on a local newspaper in Eastbourne before joining the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser. She has worked at the Daily Record for 22 years.

She said: "Working on the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser was a great experience. It really stood me in good stead when I left to join the Record.

"Having a book published is a dream come true. It's what I've always wanted and I'm really excited about it."

The novel tells how, in the summer of 1968, four children in a small Catholic community in the west of Scotland learn a lot about life and growing up.

The narrator's elder sister falls pregnant and is sent away, newcomer Tony and his mum fear her violent husband, yet there are still the innocent pleasures of childhood.

The 224-page hardback is available at £12.99 (ISBN: 075530358X), published by Headline.

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