


I believe in signs from God. And I think recently I’m getting some.
Continue reading “Sharing Light with the World aka Marketing”I believe in signs from God. And I think recently I’m getting some.
Continue reading “Sharing Light with the World aka Marketing”I feel truly blessed by divine auguries to have received this gift of a review today. A few months back, Fahed Rahman from Audiobookish podcast contacted me to ask if I would be interested in having the audiobook of Unfortunate Stars featured on an episode. He and his co-host Poppy Knight have just issued their review now. Do have a listen!
I would like to thank Fahed and Poppy for reviewing both book and narration with such empathy, perception and care and appreciating that this story lends itself perfectly to voice narration. They loved listening to the linguistic trickery which I enjoyed writing (and that hopefully Greg Patmore enjoyed narrating – he did it with aplomb!) It gladdens my heart that they were moved by the story and that they recommend the audiobook to their listeners. Thanks so much and God bless đ
Today I read some of the saddest words I’d come across, from a gifted and generous practitioner of the arts whose ability and intelligence I hold in high esteem: I don’t know if I will ever write again.
The reason for this was burnout – but not from overwork. It was emotional exhaustion from the frankly abusive environment within which so many writers, poets, artists, performers and musicians in Ireland are forced to work. Whether through employment of stigma through review abuse, hostile behaviour towards vulnerable minorities, straight, flat-out racism, sexual harassment, abuse of harsh defamation laws to silence those who speak up, bullying and nepotism in arts bodies and the commentariat, or the constant, constant gaslighting that these closed groups perpetuate against victims because they’re terrified the same thing will happen to them, so of course it’s all our imagination – whichever of these malevolent forces is chewing and spitting out brave people, strong people, gifted people, I’m absolutely fucking sick of it.
I’m sick of seeing good people’s careers derailed and destroyed. I’m sick of those who speak up and fight getting stonewalled and ignored. I’m sick of diversity initiatives that are not worth the paper they’re written on because abusers in the arts scene still retain their power. I’m especially over abusers infiltrating their way into organisations designed to speak up against bad behaviour, either by having publishing power over people in the organisation, or appropriating the cause themselves.
So, what are we going to do about this? How are we going to get our joy and freedom back? I’m saying “we” because there are a lot of us who have been wrung dry by this system. I’ve found my peace, though, and I’m writing again.
I don’t want to fight and overcome toxic systems. I don’t want to plough my energy into conflict with an order that has no real incentive to change. My desire is rather to break free from these feelings of alienation. I want to love writing again.
And I do.
So, in the style of Joanne Harris, 10 Things I Did to Get My Joy Back.
Continue reading “How Do We Get Our Joy Back?”I haven’t felt much like sharing my thoughts recently due to the dreadful news of war and wickedness about, but there’s a Goodreads giveaway of Kindle copies of Lucia’s War in progress, from today until the 17th. Only open to U.S. readers unfortunately because that’s how Goodreads rolls. I’ll be trying other platforms later. See below for details and to enter! Meantime I’ll be knitting more beanies in blue and yellow ::sigh::
Giveaway ends March 17, 2022.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
When Ben Fox and his lovely team on Shepherd.com contacted me with a promotion opportunity for White Feathers and a request to list five favourite books on a topic of my choosing, I was delighted to oblige. Featuring Lia Mills, Martine Madden, Ruqaya Izzidien, Sebastian Barry and Adam Hochshild.
Here is the link – enjoy đ
The best books about WWI which don’t have the same old story
In the wake of the dismal rhetoric surrounding the Kate Clanchy affair, which dragged on for months, I noticed that mainstream media in the UK were wilfully misunderstanding sensitivity readings, or, as I prefer to call them, expert reads. The reality is so different from their endless whinging and moaning about freedom of speech and censorship and “removing offensive material from the text”, that I had to say something.
With Lucia’s War, the choice was obvious from the beginning – all the research in the world could not supplant inside knowledge of the culture and milieu Lucia grew up in. Many thanks to Vanessa at writing.ie for allowing me to ventilate my thoughts.
Just a few days ago, the Chick Lit for Life podcast released an episode where they talk about White Feathers! For those unfamiliar with the format, it is the creation of the genius LC Lewis, who manages to voice six fictitious Irish zoomers chatting about books written by female and non-binary authors. (I have no idea how the hell she plans out these tangential conversations, while managing to get in some impressive research!)
They started out with Marian Keyes’s back catalogue, then moved on to Jane Austen, at which point I discovered the podcast’s existence and was so in pain from laughing at their Mansfield Park episode that tears were rolling down my cheeks. And then when they moved on to Pride and Prejudice and mentioned “Mr Collins cruising for bitches”, I had to retweet that with high praise.
A few series back (I forget which year because, well, pandemic) The Girls covered Lucia’s War, and now they have turned their attention to White Feathers. There is a special place in my heart for the protagonists of my debut and hearing them being discussed made me feel quite emotional. Listen out for:
Have a listen and enjoy!
I didn’t publish anything new in 2021, so it’s easy to feel that it wasn’t a productive year. Part of that is because I was leaning into my day job quite a lot (it is related to customs and the UK, so…) and also getting involved in political initiatives. But this year was not a completely bare cupboard when it comes to achievements so I’ll list them below:
Also, as the year comes to a close, I just learned of a beautiful tribute to Lucia’s War on Facebook (it’s a video) by Clare Glynn-Chitan. What kind words Clare, and I’m glad Lucia kept you company đ
Happy holiday season and happy Christmas đ
Well it is that time of year again, and if you are stuck finding a present for a friend or relative who loves entrancing stories, intelligent historical fiction and a bit of war – and by an Irish writer – why not buy them a copy of White Feathers or Lucia’s War, both available in paperback? (Or both, if you’re feeling it)
How about this quote to inspire you:
This book has a bit of everything. The most powerful thing it does possess; soul. Good, old-fashioned, soul. Beautifully crafted, immaculately researched and lovingly produced. Place this novel on your best piece of furniture, as it deserves to be displayed prominently, and admired regularly.
Margaret Madden, writing.ie
There is a limited number of paperbacks of Lucia’s War remaining on sale at independent bookshops in Ireland. As well as the wonderful outlets mentioned in the link (many of whom have reduced postage if buying within the ROI) I can also recommend Cobh Gifts shop where there are several copies still available. White Feathers is available at the outlets specified on the book page, including the publisher site. Both books are also available on Amazon.
I will be discontinuing the trade paperback of Lucia’s War in January and switching to a smaller paperback, so it’s last chance to get it before Edition 2 arrives!
Thanks and have a good one đ
(Note – Sorry for the disappearance. Rewrote the article slightly. Please note that every comment I make about the company in question is derived from testimony that is publicly available on record from employment tribunals, coroner’s courts, newspapers and the Press Council.)
The above text is from the Irish Times apology to the Communications Clinic, a PR firm run by influential PR maven Terry Prone and her son Anton Savage, dated Saturday Dec 2, 2011. Reading it was one of those watershed moments in my life. From then on, I was deeply, irrevocably radicalised against a particular Irish polity and society.
The apology was in response to an article written anonymously by Kate Fitzgerald, who died in August 2011 and whose article was posthumously published in September in the paper. At the end of her life, Kate was a PR consultant at the Communications Clinic but she was so much more than that. A passionate debater, admired and loved by many, a political advocate and a stalwart of Democrats Abroad (her mother is American), she was in the eyes of contemporaries destined for success in spite of spells of severe mental ill-health which she dealt with as best she could.
This day, the first Sunday of Advent in 2021, marks a decade since Kate Fitzgerald’s identity became known and the Irish Times redacted several paragraphs of her article, specifically those pertaining to allegations about her then employer’s behaviour towards her at work and its obligations under employment law when it came to mental illness, recovery and accommodating same. (It’s worth noting that the interviewers for her next position, a position she died before she could start, were deeply impressed by her presentation and professionalism and were about to hire her on the spot.)
The paper has never apologised to its readership for its apology to the company, even though this caused widespread offence and hurt and was subject to a Press Council Complaint. The Communications Clinic, although it has settled another Employment Appeals Tribunal action an employee took against it for bullying and poor treatment has never troubled itself to make a public statement about the loss of their employee, Kate Fitzgerald. Having read some articles about what happened and various witness accounts in the above public records, the lack of compassion and common decency shown here, if true, disgust me – and Prone’s appalling response to enquiries about the Tuam babies scandal in 2014 suggests that the witness testimony is not off the mark.
And knowing what they did, the Irish Times apologised to these people. And said the above text at the head of my piece.
At the time, I wrote this piece and others, but when my first novel came out, I was advised to stop. I deleted a few entries as a result. But while life has moved on and people have moved out of, and into my life, I have never forgotten Kate’s story. How she, an outsider, a foreigner of sorts, could never be good enough for Them. How even with her intelligence, her radiance, her acumen – They still defeated her. Because They were insiders and she was not and so all that radiance and intelligence and charisma didn’t count. And now we are deprived of someone who could have made life better for us, and stuck with individuals who have already – I think I can safely argue from the above – made our country’s discourse a fair bit worse.
Rest well, Kate Fitzgerald. I promise to never stop being awkward.