News

October 29, 2015


A New Collection of Stories on the Way!


Great news (I think!) I have just signed a contract with Emu Ink for my next collection of stories. I am hoping that the collection will launch in June 2016, the first anniversary of the Berkeley tragedy, and that any proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Aoife Beary fund. Aoife is a determined and courageous young lady. She is delighted to be back at home and is currently attending daily for rehab in the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dun Laoghaire. Aoife's mum Angela is my first cousin. I am letting people know I am on this path so that I have no way out. Also so that you will excuse me if I am unsociable in the coming months. I am now applying the bum glue and writing...

October 13, 2015


Bingo Wings and Bellies


I've no excuse that I haven't written a blog post since July, except that the month of August was filled with golf and gardening and September kept me busy between the new school year and the building of our new house. No excuse really.

We're currently caught up in school with a Department of Education evaluation when, lo and behold, an email drops into my Inbox today from Amanda, one of our Wild Women Writing group in Bantry, to say that four of our pieces of writing on our body parts had been published in today's Irish Times Health and Family supplement.

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/bellies-and-bingo-wings-the-body-bits-sent-to-try-us-1.2382338

I wrote the first draft of the piece as a writing exercise during the week in Bantry and polished it up on my first day in Donegal later in July when Susanna and I rented her sister Joan's house in Port Salon. I read it aloud to Susanna over dinner that evening, she laughed aloud and encouraged me to send it off. I pressed the Send button on the ipad and the editor liked it and asked had the group got any more pieces on the topic. 

Thanks to Magi Gibson, Kate, Amanda, Suzanne, Ita, Laura, Deborah, Brid, Margaret, Shirley, Susan, Susanna, Carolann and all the other Wild Women out there. Keep expressing yourselves!