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A Fife man who spent years fundraising for Anthony Nolan, and helping to saving lives along the way, has added another achievement to his list after having his first novel published.

Rob Duff, 61, is a man unlike many others. He has run the London Marathon twice and the New York Marathon once, abseiled despite a fear of heights, played 12 consecutive hours of pool and 100 holes of golf in a day, and amongst other fundraisers, cycled nearly 26 miles without a saddle after it fell off mid-challenge.

The Leven local has also saved the lives of strangers around the world, donating bone marrow to three different people, stem cells, as well as giving blood regularly in the UK.

Speaking of donations, Rob said: “It did feel like someone had kicked me in the back, but it wasn’t too bad. I’m one of the very few people who have actually given bone marrow more than once. I’ve never had any adverse effects, and I also got to know the person I donated to in Denmark.”

Never a man without pursuit, Rob’s recent publishing success began with little more than a spark of inspiration.

He explained: “I was going through a period where I was doing a bit of writing, mainly poetry and Scottish. I started this story based on my son, about how he hated school, and my sister who lives in America asked me if I could write the story. I’d never written anything like it before.

“I used my kids and their cousins as characters in a fantasy and I just let my imagination run away with me.”

Published in October, The Forever Child is a fantasy novel set in a time when playing was forbidden, in which one youngster is given the chance to spend his life on adventures as a ‘forever child’.

placeholder image — Rob Duff | Pic Contributed

Describing his writing process as a first-time author, Rob said: “Some of my ideas for the book have come at the strangest times, from lying in bed, to writing a song, and even on the golf course, an idea would just pop in – although I did find that after getting the main premise the ideas began to flow easier.”

The route to publication was also fairly painless.

He said: “I sent it away to two different publishers and the American one the first to come back. Pegasus came back not long after but I had already agreed with the first company. t’s a good feeling to see it published, and to actually have a physical copy in my hand, wow.”

Rob has no plans to turn The Forever Child into a Harry Potter-style franchise, but does have a completely different challenge in the works.

He revealed: “I’m planning to donate a kidney. I’m halfway through the process of preparing my body, but it’s a wee bit off yet, so I’ll wait and see how it goes. A guy at work gave his kidney to his wife, which I thought was incredible. You’re giving the person another shot at life, and you can live happily with one.”

Rob still works hard as a senior machine operator. He puts his energy for so many endeavours down to growing up on a farm.

He added: “Both my brothers and my dad were Scottish champion cyclists and I was a youth runner.”

For more information on joining Anthony Nolan click here, or to get a copy of Robert’s debut novel The Forever Child, visit here.