Interview with the Author

What inspired you to start writing?
English was always my best subject at school but I never considered writing a novel until a few years ago. Once I started writing, Pebble Cove almost wrote itself. I attended a Creative Writing night class in my St. Colman's Community College, Midleton around that time and this gave me the confidence to send a synopsis and three chapters to Poolbeg.

Did Poolbeg accept the book there and then?
At that point, I only had about 100 pages written. Paula Campbell sent me a lovely letter encouraging me to finish the book and send the full thing as soon as I could manage it. Because I work full-time, it was another year before I had a finished product. After a few adjustments, the novel was accepted for publication.

How did you decide what publishers to submit to?
I'd heard about the Writer's Handbook at my night class and also about the importance of submitting to an appropriate publisher. The handbook lists all the publishers in Ireland and the UK, as well as the type of material they publish and the manner in which they like submissions to be presented. I made a list of the Irish publishers who worked with Women's fiction and submitted to them only.

Did you have an agent from the beginning?
Not initially. The same day that I posted the finished book to Poolbeg, I sent a copy to Ger Nichol at The Book Bureau literary agency. Ger's been my agent since then and has been a fantastic support.

Do you find it difficult to write considering that you work full-time?
I try to do an hour or so most nights and nearly always write for a few hours on Saturdays. It's a great stress-reliever as I tend to tune out from everything around me as soon as turn the computer on. If I need to finish something in particular, I become very disciplined and keep going until it's done.

What about your second novel?
My working title is Absolute Beginners and publication is for July 2007. The first draft has been completed but there's still plenty of work to do that will keep me busy until then.

What tips would you give to people who would like to start writing?
· Turn on the computer and just start. Even if you end up deleting most of what you've written, you'll start to generate ideas.
· Join a writers group or evening class if you're lacking in confidence. Having to read out something that you've written in front of the group will dispel shyness and help you to believe in your work a little more.
· Invest in the Writer's Handbook to get information on which publishers to submit manuscripts to.
· Another book that I found fantastic was How to Write and Sell your First Novel by Oscar Collier with Frances Spatz Leighton. It gives exact details about presenting a manuscript - things like font size, borders and margins, numbering of pages etc.
· Be brave and send your work off - even if it isn't accepted most of the replies will be both kind and constructive.