You know that old cliche – you don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps?! Well, welcome to the book business my friend. In the style of Joni Mitchell, I’ve looked at publishing from both sides now – well, three sides to be precise, a triangular perspective with lots of 90 degree… Continue reading Why Writers Are 100% My Type On Paper
Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand THE STOLEN CHILD William Butler Yeats This poem has been knocking on the door of my subconscious for quite a few years now and I’m proud… Continue reading Come Away
A book is a heart that only beats in the chest of another. Rebecca Solnit A very strange thing is happening as my new book, The Story Collector, takes its first tentative steps into the world. Advance review copies are winging their way to people and for the first time in my… Continue reading The Author Is Dead, Long Live The Reader
With the Oscars coming up, I’m reminded of one of my favourite speeches by composer Michael Giacchino for (coincidentally) one of my favourite animation features, UP. Of all the things he could have said, he spoke about the pervading myth/belief that doing something creative is a waste of time. Sure, we honour those at the… Continue reading Be Creative – It’s not a waste of time
I’ve just begun outlining my fourth novel. No-one is more surprised at reading those words than I am! Obviously, I’m still in the honeymoon period, meeting the characters, sussing out locations. There’s nothing like starting back at the beginning to remind you how delicate this process is and how, at one point, writing more than… Continue reading When One Novel Isn’t Enough
Originally published on Swirl and Thread as part of #IrishWritersWed “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” Westward Ho – Samuel Beckett Full disclosure: I’ve never even read Beckett. However I am a sucker for inspirational quotes (if only I could remember them!). I immediately pinned this one, in the hope… Continue reading Fail Better
There’s something about the start of a new year that always induces a collective existential crisis. We’ve all been allowed to indulge ourselves for about a nanosecond, and now it’s time to overhaul our creaking ship of a life and become better people. TODAY! At this very moment, people are being mowed down by MAMIL’s… Continue reading Every Day Is January 1st
