Filmmaker Kirk Weddell is finding a new way to tell his stories.

After picking up a number of accolades for his screen work, including his science fiction screenplay Alone shortlisted for the prestigious Oscar Academy Nicholl

Fellowship in 2016 and his short film Dutch Bird, which starred Irish actor David Kelly, winning a number of awards at International Film Festivals, most recently he's moved into novel writing.

Now based in Wimbledon, South London, Kirk moved to Colchester with his family when he was three going to Philip Morant School before studying Neuro Science at Manchester University.

He says: "while I was at university and we had to do some dissection of rats, I knew then I never was going to be a doctor but my studies have helped me in my lifelong obsession with the psychology of character and that's what I've been exploring in my film work."

The story for his debut novel came about back in 2007 when he read a newspaper article about Clare Island and its enigmatic ruler Grace O’Malley; a woman who stole a great Spanish Armada treasure which has yet to be found.

Going on the hunt for the story, Kirk travelled to Clare and spent five days researching the history of the O’Malley clan, even staying in a guesthouse next to Grace O’Malley’s castle.

He adds: "It was the most idyllic setting for writing and being in the place where it happened was very useful for writing the book. I definitely couldn't have done it without being there.

"I did a lot of walking around and even visited the cemetery where I was fascinated by the number of Spanish names on the gravestones.

"I also found the lighthouse and imagined what it might be like for the keeper, being removed from society and what kind of person might do that."

In Brothers cantankerous lighthouse keeper Owen Kerrigan hasn’t spoken to his brother Patrick for almost 30 years. When Patrick suddenly eloped to America with his brother’s fiancée Ciara, their fraternal bond was broken beyond repair. A devastated Owen, now in his 60s, sought solace in history and myth; his lifelong quest being to uncover the treasure of the infamous Grace O’Malley, ruler of Clare Island during the reign of Elizabeth I. Rumoured to be buried in the grounds of Owen’s lighthouse when he receives an eviction notice he knows he has no choice but to finally turn to his brother for help if he is to find the gold.

"I've never written a novel before," Kirk says, "but I really enjoyed the process. With filmmaking you're always thinking about the cost of telling your story but in a novel budget doesn't matter. You can throw in as many flashbacks in history as you want and just let the reader's imagination do the work for you."

Brothers by Kirk Weddell is out now on-line and in all good bookshops.