Just over six years ago, I wrote my first blog post for writing.ie. My blog was called Carry on Writing. My post was called ‘A Beginning and an End.’ If you’re writing/hoping/dreaming/gnashing your teeth, you should read it. Back then, I was struggling. My days were a cycle of rejection and despair. I knew nobody in the writing community while everyone else seemed to know everyone. I’d never been to a book launch. I couldn’t...

Introducing a new style of creative time-out International bestselling Irish authors, Hazel Gaynor, Carmel Harrington and Catherine Ryan Howard launch a writing retreat with a difference: THE INSPIRATION PROJECT. The Inspiration Project is a new concept in writing retreats, offering what the founders call ‘creative time-outs’: weekend events which focus on delivering practical advice about the publishing industry and developing a career as a writer, while also giving participants the time, space and inspiration to...

The process of writing a book can throw up all sorts of unexpected opportunities, many of which are not about writing the actual book. Being asked to write an article for TIME magazine on why a nation was so easily fooled by two girls and their fairy photographs, and what we might learn from the events today, was certainly unexpected, and more than a little daunting. “You mean, actual TIME magazine?” was my exact response. Isn’t...

There’s something about Sunday mornings. That quiet hour before anyone else is up, with the sun shining and the first coffee of the day. This is my meditation time. My thinking and calming time. This is when I feel purposeful and energised and ready to DO STUFF. This is also the time when I read articles and blog posts about the business of writing. I am constantly curious to learn how other people do it,...

Authors for Grenfell Tower is an online auction to raise funds for all those affected by the devastating Grenfell Tower fire. A stellar list of authors, editors and agents are offering amazing ‘lots’ to bid on, and myself and Carmel Harrington are offering afternoon tea for two with our good selves in a luxury Dublin hotel, plus a signed copy of our latest books. The winning bidders will be thoroughly spoiled, and can ask us...

Call for Writer in Residence June 2017 – May 2018 Closing Date: 13th of April at 12 noon Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council invites applications for a writer in residence for the period June 2017 to May 2018.  This writer in residence is managed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Office and is grant-aided by the Arts Council. The residency is open to writers working in script-writing in any form (e.g. writing for stage, TV or film). ...

I saw you across the room. Your gaze settled on me for a wonderful moment as you took a sip of your coffee and pushed your hair behind your ears. I longed for you to come over, pick me up, take me home, but you walked right past and all I could do was sit and watch as you interacted with the others at the table: looking, touching, admiring. I envied them all. You would...

I’m not sure who came up with the phrase (was it you Catherine Ryan Howard?) but whoever it was, ‘Writer’s Arse’ is definitely a thing, and possibly even more of a thing after the festive season. I, for one, sat down to eat stuff way too often. What you may be surprised to learn, however, is that Writer’s Arse isn’t just a physical thing. It is also a state of mind. The state of mind...

A couple of weeks ago my editor rang me from London. ‘Can you talk?’ she said. I’d just arrived at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig to work on edits of my fourth novel. It was my first time there and I was determined to work hard and make every minute count. I stepped outside where the phone reception was better. Then she asked that question: ‘Are you sitting down?’ I wasn’t, but I soon...