FINAL STOP VIRTUAL TOUR - GIVEAWAY!

Last stop on my virtual tour for #JoyridetoJupiter today and I'm at my friend, writer Shauna Gilligan's blog. Book and spacy purse giveaway! Go here.

JOYRIDE - VIRTUAL TOUR STOP #4

The incomparably shiny Claire Hennessy interviews me here on stop four of my virtual tour. We talk about my use of my birth name, stories vs novels and more.

'There was a shit-storm on Twitter when I reverted to my birth name, from a bunch of Irish writers whom I shall not identify. Betrayal of identity, blah-fucking-blah. These people don’t even know me; they’d be better off writing books rather than bitching about what I do, imo…'

MISS EMILY VIRTUAL TOUR - #5

The wonderful writer Lia Mills interviews me about Miss Emily on the last stop on my virtual tour; we talk editing, Elena Ferrante and reviews. Here.

VIRTUAL TOUR FOR MISS EMILY - #4

My virtual tour for Miss Emily takes me to the fantastically talented Rachel Fenton's blog today. Rachel isn't only a writer, she is an artist too and she is one of the most imaginative people I know. I'm delighted to stop-off with her to yap about the novel. Here.

VIRTUAL TOUR - MISS EMILY - #3

My virtual tour takes me to Kildare today and the blog home of Niamh Boyce where we talk bravery and recreating worlds. Here.

VIRTUAL TOUR #2 - ELIZABETH BAINES on MISS EMILY

My virtual tour takes me to the fantastic Elizabeth Baines's blog today. Here.

VIRTUAL TOUR - MISS EMILY- STOP #1

The virtual tour for Miss Emily kicks off today at writer Shauna Gilligan's blog. She interviews me about the book here. There is a copy of Miss Emily up for grabs!

* 

My interview on Newstalk with Seán Moncrieff is online as a podcast now here. Needless to say, he was lovely :)

VIRTUAL TOUR - STOP #6 - ELIZABETH BAINES HOSTS

Writer Elizabeth Baines hosts me and my little chapbook today at her bloghome in England. We talk research and the surreal.

Elizabeth is one of the hardest working writers I know and I am a huge fan of her writing and also her blogs, which include the incomparable Fiction Bitch.

Interview here.

VIRTUAL TOUR - STOP #5

I am nearly done with all the me, me, me...in the meantime the lovely and talented Dan Powell has interviewed me at his blog home in England about Of Dublin and Other Fictions. We talk points of excitement (in writing) and annoying the shite out of critics. 'Tis here.

And there will be a Dublin launch for the chapbook. 12th December - watch this space!

VIRTUAL TOUR - STOP 4

Stop 4 on my virtual tour for Of Dublin and Other Fictions and I guest post at the lovely Sandra Jensen's blog about my short-short story 'Fish'. It's here.

VIRTUAL TOUR - *OF DUBLIN* - STOP 3

My virtual tour for the chapbook takes me to San Francisco today for an interview at the blog-home of writer Ethel Rohan. We talk personification, voyeurism and my new novel. See here.

VIRTUAL TOUR *OF DUBLIN* - STOP #2

'Lusty, vibrant and irreverent' - review and interview of my new chapbook by/with Wicklow-based writer Alison Wells. Read here.

VIRTUAL TOUR - *OF DUBLIN* - STOP #1

I kick off my virtual tour of lit blogs at Rich Rennicks' A Trip to Ireland site today. Rich is an Irish writer based in North Carolina.

A sampler from the interview: 'People/critics always seem to want all fiction to be the novel, or to aspire to be the novel. This is messed up thinking. We need to accept that short can be good. Short is good! Comparing novels to short fiction is like comparing eggs to bacon. They go well, side by side, but they are not each other.'

Read the interview here and see Rich's review of the chapbook from yesterday here.

Rich says, 'I'm happy to do what I can to spread the word about good Irish writers.' So, if you are an Irish writer with a recent publication contact Rich via his site here.

*

Launch is this Saturday, btw. 9th November, 6pm, Tosnú Art Gallery, Brackernagh, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway. Launch speech by writer Maureen Gallagher. Food and wine will be served. The chapbook will be for sale and I will sign. All welcome!

PANK INTERVIEW - MOTHER AMERICA

I'm ending my virtual tour for Mother America in style at PANK, in their In Conversation series in the Young Bright Things section. (Young!? Bless.)

I chat with San Fran based Irish writer Ethel Rohan. It's a comprehensive set of questions and some of the stuff we touch on includes ugly-pretty stories, travel and betrayal.

Big thanks to PANK for hosting and to Ethel for the conversation. And thanks to all my previous lit blog hosts on this tour: Órfhlaith, Dan, Shauna, Vanessa, Valerie, Rachel, Declan, Johanna, Tania and Elizabeth. Cheers for the investment of your time and for all your considered questions.

As I write this I am looking at an enormous brown seagull atop a penthouse and the static ferris wheel in Albert Dock and listening to the Monday morning traffic of Liverpool. Home today to my own place, the-son-who-wouldn't-come-on-holiday, and my beloved desk.

ELIZABETH BAINES - MOTHER AMERICA INTERVIEW

Elizabeth Baines

The English writer Elizabeth Baines (author of Too Many Magpies and The Birth Machine) interviews me today about Mother America. It's always a joy to be interviewed by Elizabeth, she is an extraordinary writer - clever, lyrical -  and she's one of the most interesting bloggers in the 'sphere. One of her blogs - Fiction Bitch - is about the best there is.

In today's interview we discuss exile, linked stories and place. It's here.

WORD ASSOCATION WITH TANIA

I am over at Tania Hershman's blog today on the quirkiest stop to date on my blog tour. Instead of an interview, Tania got me  to play word association with words relevant to the book e.g. Love, Mother, Story, America etc. Her post is here.

MOTHER AMERICA VIRTUAL TOUR #8

My virtual tour today takes me to the Malaysian home of Irish writer and journalist Johanna C. Leahy. Johanna is one of those people I met online who I subsequently met in real life. She's a honey and her novel Peggy Kelly RIP is being agented just now and, no doubt, will be on our shelves in the not too distant future.

We concentrated on the whole business of self-promo in the interview, as well as book cover design. It's here.

CRIME ALWAYS PAYS & FEAR IN FICTION

Declan Burke interviews me today on his cool crime blog as part of my virtual tour for Mother America. It's a Q&A he puts to writers when they visit Crime Always Pays and it was a fun interview to do. See here.

Declan's novel Absolute Zero Cool won the Goldsboro Last Laugh Award 2012 at Crimefest and was shortlisted in the Irish Book Awards 2011. His new novel is due in August.

*

Also today, Dublin based American writer Zach Hively has written a very interesting post about fear and fiction, with reference to Mother America. He says, rather blush-inducingly: 'The stories in Mother America, a brand-new collection of writing from one of Ireland's young stars, are emotionally, locationally, and temporally diverse, and Ní Chonchúir's prose is both simple to read and beautiful to contemplate.' Young!! Bless him. Go here to read the whole article.

INTERVIEWED BY RACHEL FENTON

Writer Rachel Fenton interviews me about Mother America today - we discuss New York, immigration and Mother Ireland. Go here.

INTERVIEWED BY VALERIE SIRR

Writer Valerie Sirr interviews me about Mother America on her blog here. We discuss criticism, story beginnings and story endings.