One for the Road

Award-winning author Diem Burden (DM Burden) grew up the middle of five sons to a working class family in the north Midlands, UK. Childhood was extremely hard and money was scarce.

From an early age, he showed an artistic talent in painting and drawing, so much so that one of his drawings mysteriously disappeared from his school foyer (last seen at the home of a teacher, allegedly...)

Destined for art college, Diem grew so frustrated with further education that one day he got up and walked out of college, and joined the army for six years. After his military service, he became a police officer in Cambridge, UK. He left that job as a sergeant after 12 years walking the beat.

By then, he was on his second marriage, and moved to Spain to teach English in 2002. He helped to set up a highly successful language school in Spain before semi-retiring in 2020 to focus on his new passion: writing.

He published five short stories of his time as a cop in Cambridge, and wrote an additional (free) ebook available to people who sign up to his newsletter, which is a humorous look at his tough childhood, and perhaps implies he should never have become a cop all those years later!

At the end of the year of Covid (2020), his life was rocked when he suddenly lost his eldest brother to cancer. His marriage ended at the same time and he found himself alone in Spain at 55 years of age.

Over the next six months, Diem fell into a deep and dark depression, struggling to get out of bed most days. He just opted out of life, giving up on writing altogether.

In mid-2021, a stranger walked into his local café and led him on a three-month journey he could never have expected: the ardent and highly opinionated atheist subsequently found Jesus, who changed his life around instantly.

The story of that miracle is told in his book, Come to the Table.

Now, unless God has any other plans for him, he is finishing his series of books (Get up and Walk) of his pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain, walking each stage with a different action plan with God.