Reviews are important to writers. Although eagerly anticipated, they are feared. The views of a few – be they newspaper or magazine reviewers, or increasingly book sellers and book websites – guide the masses. Few outlets are as important as Amazon. I don’t know what percentage of my total book sales come from Amazon, but I imagine it’s a significant amount….
Category: Islands
Two out of three ain’t bad…
Having survived my altercation with the ghost of a Jacobite in Glen Shiel, I ventured east, first to Inverness, then to Moray. I had a three-day Bank Holiday plan. Day 1 – The Glen Challenge, a 10-mile trail race that forms part of the Glenurquhart Highland Gathering and Games in Drumnadrochit; Day 2 – Ben…
The ‘agony and ‘ecstasy’ of the Scottish islands
Below is the text of a very recent review for Isles at the Edge of the Sea, written by Lee Allen, the man behind lovescottishislands.com – a neatly-presented website packed with enthusiastic information on the islands of Scotland. Having been to many of the islands that Jonny has visited, I approached this book with a certain amount…
Guest columnist in Scottish Islands Explorer
Re-produced below is the text of a column I wrote for the now-available November/December 2011 edition of Scottish Islands Explorer. Written while travelling on the London Underground – the very antithesis of the Hebrides – the column discusses some of the island’s literal high points, from Conachair on Hirta and Skye’s Sgurr Alasdair to Clisham on Harris and Mull’s Ben More….
Back to the islands: Seil and Easdale
There are many Scottish islands I’d have liked to have visited for Isles at the Edge of the Sea, with Scarp, Raasay, the Shiants, the Flannan Isles, Iona and Easdale the most prominent in a long list. I don’t regret not going to these places, however; circumstance and the nature of my journey resulted in them remaining unvisited. Besides,…
Undiscovered Scotland discovers Isles
Here is the review, and a link to the actual thing on Undiscovered Scotland’s website: Isles at the Edge of the Sea by Jonny Muir is a wonderful, inspiring book about a journey undertaken by the author to a series of Hebridean islands. His journey is as much about self discovery as it is about…
Interview: the inspiration behind Isles at the Edge of the Sea
Below is the transcript of an interview with Books from Scotland, which named Isles at the Edge of the Sea its book of the month for July. In Isles at the Edge of the Sea, Jonny Muir is trying to get to St Kilda, the island at the edge of the world, passing through the many…
Isles at the Edge of the Sea reviewed by grough
Here is the text of a review of Isles at the Edge of the Sea by grough magazine, published this week: In 1773, Samuel Johnson joined his Scots friend James Boswell in a tour of the Hebrides that would produce not one but two accounts of the journey through the Highlands to the islands. Almost…
Mud, Sweat and Tears (and Isles at the Edge of the Sea)
Some welcome publicity for Isles at the Edge of the Sea on the website of Mud, Sweat and Tears. Bemused by a weatherman branding the west coast islands of Scotland ‘nowheresville’, Jonny decided to prove him wrong, quit his job and embarked on a journey which has sparked a new book… Irony at the edge…
Shopping for Isles at the Edge of the Sea
Various folk have asked me how and where they can purchase a copy of Isles at the Edge of the Sea. So here goes: after a short delay in distribution, the book is now available. It can be bought online at the usual outlets, including Amazon, Waterstone’s, Blackwell’s, Foyles and WHSmith. If actual book shops and real-life…
A view from the Highlands
Here’s a nice wee write-up about Isles at the Edge of the Sea, as well as a short extract, on the website of Highland Hill Runners. Extract from Isles at the Edge of the Sea by Jonny Muir: ‘Number 68.’ I was being summoned to the start line of the Goatfell hill race – eight miles of toil…
Publication delayed slightly – but also some very good news
From my publisher: Slightly late from the printer we anticipate taking receipt of Jonny Muir’s Isles at the Edge of the Sea next Monday. That’s the the 23rd May. Jonny’s book has already racked up a record number of pre-publication orders so we have high hopes for it. Full story here.
Heights of Madness 