DGWGO FEATURED AUTHOR - JESSICA FOX-FROM THE STARS TO WIGTOWNSHIRE

I came to Dumfries and Galloway seven years ago because of a vision.

I had been haunted by images of a bookshop, with a long wooden counter, somewhere by the sea in Scotland. It’s very likely that I had seen too many

romantic comedies for my own good – I am a filmmaker after all. At that time I was settled into the hipster hills of Silver Lake in Los Angeles, with a dream job as a storyteller for NASA. But visions are powerful things, and after a late-night google search of “used-bookshop + Scotland” into Google, I found Wigtown.

Excuse the use of cliched hyperbole, but it’s true: my life was never the same again. Two months later I arrived at The Bookshop and found not just the shop of my vision, or the love of my life, but a surprising, deep sense of home. It didn’t take long for Wigtown’s beauty and energy to inspire too.

Shaun Bythell and I co-founded Galloway’s largest production company, PictoPictures and I wrote my first book “Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets” which has been optioned for a film. Now I am finishing my second and just completed Edinburgh Film Festival’s emerging talent program.

My commitment to Dumfries and Galloway has only been deepened by obstacles, like visas, separation and deportation, and cemented by sacrifice (leaving family and friends in the states). In turn treasures abound here. I love every season and landscape, the support of the community, the sense of possibility.

I love sharing Dumfries and Galloway with others. Like any true convert, I find myself proselytizing“This is the most beautiful place in the universe”. “With the best people and community you will ever find”. And I mean ever word. Wigtown is my muse. It’s a place where creativity thrives.