John D. Burns is a mountaineer, storyteller and author. His first two books, The Last Hillwalker and Bothy Tales, were self-published bestsellers and were both shortlisted for TGO Magazine’s Outdoor Book of the Year.
Earlier this year John joined Vertebrate Publishing with a three book deal to produce new paperback editions of The Last Hillwalker and Bothy Tales alongside his latest title, the novel Sky Dance, all published in September. John is currently working on his next title, Wild Winter, which is due to be published in Autumn 2020.
John is a gifted storyteller and his performance poetry and one-man plays have taken him across the country from the Edinburgh Fringe to mountain festivals, bookshops to theatres and back again. His passion for the hills, mountaineering, bothies and keeping ’The Great Outdoors’ great and accessible to all is clear and infectious.
I met John at the incredible independent Nottingham bookshop, Five Leaves, just before one of his events to chat about his life in wild and wonderful places, the lure of snow and how both of these influence his writing.
Sky Dance is John’s first novel. It is a gripping read and view into the beauty of rural and wild Scotland, but also delves into the politics of land ownership, raptor persecution and conservation, challenging readers to face issues that surround the protection and access to some of the UK’s last wild places.
To read it for yourself you can order signed copies from www.v-publishing.co.uk where we’re running a 30% off sitewide deal until Sunday 17 November, or keep an eye out for other offers in the run up to Christmas, including a 3 for 2 on all John’s titles.
We’ll be back again in a fortnight, with an interview between two climbing legends; Jerry Moffatt and Pete Whittaker – be sure to join us for that.
Buy Sky Dance
Visit John's website
Find Five Leaves Bookshop
Read the Walkhighlands interview with John D. Burns
Read or listen to Sky Dance by getting the ebook or audiobook