Brian John
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Brian John

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Brian John was born in Carmarthen in 1940 and brought up in Pembrokeshire. He is married and has two grown up sons and two grandsons. He studied at Haverfordwest Grammar School and at Jesus College Oxford, where he read Geography, had a lot of fun and obtained his D Phil degree for a pioneering study of the Ice Age in Pembrokeshire. When he was a student he led two University expeditions, to Iceland and Greenland, and thinks it is a minor miracle that he survived. He then worked as a field scientist in Antarctica and spent eleven years as a Geography Lecturer in Durham University. He has travelled widely, mostly in cold places. In 1977 he and his family moved to a smallholding near Newport in Pembrokeshire, and since then he has made his living as a writer and publisher, while also looking after a few rough acres. He is also actively involved in environmental and community organizations. He has published hundreds of articles and more than 90 books, and among his publishers are Collins, Pan, Orbis, Aurum Press/HMSO, Longman, Corgi, David and Charles, Wiley and Edward Arnold. His published output includes university texts, walking guides, coffee table glossies, and books of popular science. Many of his titles have been published by Greencroft Books, and have been of particular interest to readers in Wales -- for example tourist guides, books of local jokes, walkers' handbooks, and titles on local folklore and traditions. Then came the Angel Mountain Saga, which transformed his life as a writer. His first novel, called "On Angel Mountain", was published by Greencroft Books in 2001, and became an instant success. It has now been through eight print runs, and has racked up paperback sales of 37,000 -- not a bad total for a small "backwoods" publisher. There are now eight novels in the Angel Mountain series, and total print sales of all titles are in excess of 88,000. In all media (including Kindle and audio sales) sales are in excess of 100,000. Mistress Martha Morgan, the very imperfect heroine of all the titles, has become something of a cult figure in her own right. Here is an interview in which Brian discusses the origins of the Angel Mountain Saga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmOxgX_4AGg Currently work is in progress to bring the whole saga to the small screen as a multi-part costume drama. The audio rights to all 8 books of the Saga have now been obtained by Bolinda, and audiobook versions will be released in 2020 and 2021. One other title which has caused a considerable stir in recent years is "The Stonehenge Bluestones" which casts a critical eye on the mythology surrounding the mysterious bluestones of Stonehenge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f4c3F9iEaY https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=qBTEcByYUME&feature=emb_logo Brian's other recent work of fiction is "The Strange Affair of the Ethiopian Treasure Chest" -- written for children in the 9-12 age group. This book is available in a Kindle version. It won the first prize in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2012 -- for which the judging was done by the youthful readers themselves. His latest novel, a Cold War adventure thriller set in Greenland, is entitled "Icefall Zero". (An earlier version of this story was published in November 2014 as "Acts of God" in both Kindle and paperback editions.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qem-VBLtvzw Here is an interview with Ceri Shaw, in which the author reveals why and how he wrote his "chiller thriller". http://t.co/GFghkoPuIc
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