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…
Tag: Hebrides
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,…
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 – the Edinburgh launch
I will be speaking about my new book, Isles at the Edge of the Sea, at Blackwell’s book shop in Edinburgh on June 2. The event runs from 6.30-8pm. Please follow this Facebook link for further details; please come along. Now I just need to think of something to say… …this helps: calm, clear waters…
Countdown to publication
The publication of Isles at the Edge of the Sea is now just days away. These are exciting times. There are few more thrilling days for an author than these – when the anticipation of seeing a year of work come to fruition mingles with hopes and fears about the reception the book might receive. To get the ball rolling, here…
The end of the Isles
With 96 days to go to publication and some eight months after I commenced writing, Isles at the Edge of the Sea is, at long last, completed. I sent the manuscript – all 71,000 words of it – to my publisher, Sandstone Press, today. It has been a labour of love, but not always – at…
Isles at the Edge of the Sea
Here it is – the front cover of Isles at the Edge of the Sea. The cover went live on the website of my publisher, Sandstone Press, this morning. Publication just six months away.
Isles at the Edge of the Sea – a title at last
After much mithering, my book on the Hebrides (and the Firth of Clyde islands) finally has a title: Isles at the Edge of the Sea. Hebrides (from the Norse word Havbredey) roughly translates as isles at the edge of the sea, although I’ve had it on good authority that it may also mean sheep islands, which is not the most…
25,000 words
Another milestone – 25,000 words written, about a third of the way towards my target, and the book is beginning to take shape. Sandstone Press, my publisher, has put this on their website, which makes it all seem very real. Let’s hope I can live up to my billing of bringing ‘wit and intelligence’ to…
The writing
The journey over, the writing has started, and I have churned out almost 14,000 words in 10 days. It has been a long, time-hungry process. Constantly, as I read and re-read my words, I ask the same questions. Is it any good? Will anyone want to read this? Will anyone actually pay good money for this? It can be a…
Heights of Madness 