Summer is Coming!

This summer Skerries Mills have given me their gorgeous art gallery  for the month of July and a week at the end of August to run teenage and children’s summer camps, and adult week-long courses. In the Mills there is an excellent Cafe (where adults can natter over cappuccinos) and outside there is lots of green space for younger writers to run around; during the breaks I organise games to …

Lovely News!

Last week I was delighted to hear that my short story ‘The Runaway Wife’ has been shortlisted for the ‘From the Well’ short story writing competition run by Cork County Council Arts Office. It will be published in an anthology in May. ‘The Runaway Wife’ is about a woman who leaves her abusive husband to go and live in Tuscany. I have always held the dream to do the same …

Books Galore!

WORLD BOOK DAY IN SKERRIES MILLS! The names of the people in this photo are: Back row: Megan Wynne Middle row, left to right: Sarah McKenna, Aidan Coleman, Eric Caroll, Sara Burs Front row left to right : David Ewins, Shane Duffy, Lucy Brady, Gemma Keogh, Saorlaith Kelly, Ethan Shine. What a wonderful bookie week I’ve had. It all began at the Gutter Bookshop in Temple bar on Tuesday evening, …

Newsletter and New course info

I hope you are well and settled into 2011, which is already going very quickly. I am writing to let you know that the booklet of short stories THE STORYTELLERS written by the children, teenagers and adults, who attend my creative writing classes, has made of a profit of €575 for St. Vincent De Paul! I am delighted. Many thanks to all who bought a copy, the venues that sold …

Storytellers’ Success!

The booklet of short stories THE STORYTELLERS, written by the children, teenagers and adults who attend my creative writing classes, is sold out and has made of a profit of €575 for St. Vincent De Paul! I am delighted. Many thanks to all who bought a copy, to the venues that sold them and, of course, to the writers who made the booklet possible. Roll on next Christmas. We’re already …

Happy New Year!

I am looking forward to this year, despite having begun it with a sprained ankle. I have spent the last two days (since ‘the accident’) laid up on the sofa with Jilly Cooper’s latest novel ‘Jump!’. Being horse mad, I absolutely adored it – that is, once I had got to know all of the characters in the book. Jilly Cooper doesn’t go with the general advice to limit characters …

Book Launch Pictures

Working from left to right, is Hana Lamari, Lucy Brady, Ethan Shine, Jack Tolan, Adam Donnelly, Orla Kelly, Taylor McGarry (sitting), Ellen Wong, Sarah E. McKenna, Rhianna Malone (sitting), David Ewins, Eimhín O’Connor, Hannah Rudden, Aoife Conroy and Stefan Manek. In this picture is Zak Woods-Oliver, author of one of the stories. In this picture is Gladys Martin, an adult writers, whose painting ‘The Storytellers’ illustrated the cover of the …

The Storytellers

The booklet of stories, written by those attending my classes, has gone to print! It is entitled The Storytellers inspired by a painting by Gladys Martin (one of my Creative Writing students). We have used Gladys’s painting to illustrate the cover. See the poster below. You will find the names of all contributors in the content’s page below. All profits from the sale of the booklet go to St. Vincent …

Exciting News!

Firstly, (after a lot of hard work and waiting) I have found myself a very nice new literary agent who is submitting my novel EYES OF A BOY to publishers. It is a wonderful feeling to have done my absolute best with a novel and for it to be out of my hands. Now it’s time for new projects. I have written the first draft of a children’s novel (8 …

What to Write?

This topic is a tough one; whether to write what I think will sell, or what is in my heart waiting to come out. Since the beginning I have practiced the latter. I don’t enjoy the majority of books that sell – weird, I know, seeing as I love reading and have at least three books on the go at any one time. I think I enjoy not enjoying them, …

Summer

Summer is coming – thank God – and I wake earlier as my bedroom faces East, and the sun rises over the Irish Sea upon us. Yesterday, for the first time this year, I took to the water and went paddle boarding in Skerries harbour. Curious seals watched me drift by, and people, who (like me) can knock off early from work, sipped summery drinks on chairs outside Blue Bar …

Life.

I was going to write about 2010 and celebrating my birthday but what I really need to write about is depression. This month it stole a very good friend of ours. A lovely man called Alan, who was friendly, fun, incredibly generous and always ready for banter and slagging (and those inadequate words can’t begin to describe the light and energy of Alan’s soul). People who met him walked away …

Good Books

In the last week I’ve read two books that were so good I was pinned to the sofa with my legs crossed when I needed to go to the loo. The first was ‘The Brightest Star in the Sky’ by Marian Keyes the second was ‘Picture Perfect’ by Jodi Piccoult. After Marion Keyes’ last book ‘This Charming Man’ I wasn’t too keen on buying the next one. ‘This Charming Man’ …

Christmas!

I’m so glad it’s Christmas. I received a card this week which said ‘Time Stands Still at Christmas’. It was exactly what I needed to hear. I love the idea of everything being frozen, to give us a chance to hug, share food, sing, and just be. It is only now that I’ve stopped that I realise how hard I’ve been working. I need to wrap up warm and rest, …

Booklets on Sale!

The booklet of short stories are gorgeous. Colourbooks Ltd (based in Baldoyle) did a brilliant job. The cover is smooth and glossy, and the inside smells like a new school textbook. Producing the booklet was an absolute doddle this year in comparison to last. Two of my adult students, (Barbara Coleman and Carol Lee) did all the editing, and another (Maria Manueco) typed up the corrections. Last Christmas I was …