John Butterfield

I live in Scotland where I write and paint when I get time off from my day job as a church minister. I have reached my half century in age but I like to try to forget that fact. I am married with two teenage children and two dogs. I was born in the south of England and only moved to Scotland eight years ago but we all now think of it as our adopted home. I love telling stories and painting pictures with words but I have written both fiction and non-fiction books including an academic one that was based on the research I undertook for my masters degree.

This picture of me (right) was taken last summer on a trip to the lovely old city of Bruges.

My first novel is "Capcir Spring". It is set in an area of France that I know well - the Capcir Plateau in the mountains of the French Pyrénées. Read on…

Capcir Spring

In the French Pyrénées the past and the present intertwine in a story of love and persecution. Themes explored include domestic violence, the fluid boundaries of celibacy and mental illness. Mary is a historian researching the Cathars and John is a priest reflecting on his vocation. Both have been damaged by experiences in the recent past and are both wary of relationships. Mary's terrifying nightmares confuse her research with past traumatic experiences of her own. They are both living under the painful shadow of past events and are seeking something new but they are unsure what they want to find. New age hippie travellers and local characters become involved as the story develops into a modern day battle for the soul of the mountains. Through their experiences together John and Mary have to come to terms with the events that have sent them to this remote area of the south of France. John Butterfield's novel brings together insights from psychology, history, mysticism and theology in a modern love story.

Priced at £6.61 in paperback (plus postage) or just £1.10 as a download (These prices may vary as the Lulu website is prices in US$ and conversion rates to Sterling vary over time.

FREE SAMPLE - Click here to read the opening pages of the book

You can buy Capcir Spring by clicking here

I have also written a book of short stories for Children of all ages.

Dog Tales and other Short Stories

Twenty short stories with a message - suitable for adults and children of all ages. The author is a church minister who has told these stories in church services and in schools. (The stories have also been greatly appreciated by senior citizens!) The first nine stories are incidents in the life of the dog Goldie who features on the front cover. Each of these delightful stories has a simple Christian moral or biblical message slipping unobtrusively into the narrative. Dog tales and other Short Stories would make a lovely gift.

I received this email from a buyer of Dog Tales…

Hi John What great stories. They have a real message, kids will love them, also adults.I'm talking about "Dog Tales and other short stories" I would like to buy quite a few more copies. I know lots of people who work with children and could use them.They will be great to tell to our Pre School Praise Group, also our young ones at our Kepplewray Activity Days. I thought the "Chocolate" one was great especially for Lent. Thats as far as I've got but I have also read the Fair Trade one which is very apropriate as this is Fair Trade fortnight. Beryl

Dog Tales is priced at only £4.96 as a paperback (plus postage) or £1.34 as a download

You can buy Dog Tales by clicking here

I have written poems for the last thirty years. Recently I looked back through my old dusty notebooks and selected those which had stood the test of time and they are collected in the book…

Poems, Meditations and Stuff

A collection of thirty eight poems and meditations written over the last thirty years and covering many different themes - some are Christian, some are funny and some are just weird. I never think of myself as a poet. Yet I have these little old notebooks going back to the nineteen seventies which are full of scribbled verses and thoughts. Some of them were the confused ramblings of a love sick teen and I look at those now with a sense of great embarrassment. However as I looked through the rest I found several that I thought had stood the test of time and are, many years later, worth sharing with a wider audience.

Some people think that poetry is only proper if it rhymes. Some people think that poems are only serious if they don't do anything as common as rhyme! So in an attempt to please everyone some of these rhyme in a regular metre and some of them are perhaps better technically described as heightened prose… but whatever – hey if you like them you like them and if you don't well pass the book on to someone else who might just like it.

There is some work in the book that is Christian ( I am a Christian minister so I spend much of my life thinking about God) and there is some that is meant to be humourous and I hope it makes you smile, and there is some that…. hmmm - well it just came out that way and you can do a PhD to understand it if you want to!

Enjoy these poems and remember to read them out loud to yourself and to your friends. Enjoy.

Priced at £4.68 for a paperback (plus postage) or £0.96 as a download

You can buy Poems Meditations and Stuff by clicking here

Faith Seeking Understanding -A Confident Journey

I have also written a more serious book about having a confident Christian faith in the modern world. The book has a special page devoted to it. You can read all about it by clicking on the folowing link: Faith seeking Understanding - A Confident Journey

All Christian Theology can be Green

Finally there is a book based on academic research I carried out at Manchester University when studying for my masters degree. All Christian Theology can be Green is a serious study of the green credentials of different Christian theolgians from various standpoints in the church. This book also has a page devoted to it. You can read more about it by clicking the following link: All Christian Theology can be Green by John Butterfield