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.

VIRTUAL TOUR - JOYRIDE TO JUPITER

I am in the middle of the book-just-out swirly madness. Hence somewhat neglected blog. I had a great time at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Derry on Friday with Jan Carson (a sweetheart) and before that at the Flash Fiction Festival in Bath with all my flash fiction friends, including Tania Hershman and Christopher Allen. Well done to organisers Jude Higgins and Meg Pokrass.

Seamus art in my B&B, Laurel Villa in Magherafelt

More B&B art - I felt a bit like this after my long drive from Galway

My rather lovely bed in the Michael Longley Room

Meanwhile my Virtual Tour for Joyride to Jupiter continues apace. So far Margaret Bonass Madden has reviewed the collection on her high-octane blog, Bleach House Library. And Rae Joyce has also interviewed me at her fabulous blog, Snow Like Thought. Next stop is Cathy Brown's 746 Books this week.

Here are the virtual tour stops so far, with links:

Bleach House Library - review

Snow like Thought - interview.

In the coming weeks, after Cathy's review, I will be visiting the lovely Claire Hennessy (interview) and also my dear friend Shauna Gilligan (interview).

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!

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

TALLAGHT, NEW YORK & BEYOND

I'm reading from my latest novel The Closet of Savage Mementos this Saturday at 2.30pm, at the Civic Theatre in Tallaght, as part of the Red Line Book Festival. I'm reading with Dónal Ryan, Dermot Bolger and John Sheahan. Blessed amongst men.

The festival is on all this week and my friend Shauna Gilligan is giving a free writing workshop on Saturday in Lucan Library, 10am to 1pm, Bookings: 01 621 6422.

After Red Line I am off to New York to meet my agent and my new editor at Penguin USA for lunch, then a meet-n-greet at the Penguin office. And after that I head to New Mexico where I am giving a talk on historical fiction, and my first reading from Miss Emily, at the Uni. of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Excited doesn't even come close!!

INTERVIEW ABOUT *CLOSET*

Writer Shauna Gilligan interviews me today about my new novel The Closet of Savage Mementos. We talk character names, adoption and gigs. It's here.

INTERVIEW & A LAUNCH & AN ENDING-BEGINNING

My friend and fellow writer Shauna Gilligan interviews me at her blog today about the chapbook. Here.

I am off to Dublin for the New Planet Cabaret anthology launch (ed. Dave Lordan) in The Gutter Book Shop. It will be broadcast on Arena, so if you can't make it, tune in to RTÉ Radio 1.

I sent my American novel (Novel #3) to my agent last night. It feels good to have it finished but, no doubt, the slump will hit soon. Back to short stories now!

WORLD BOOK NIGHT AFTERS

Shauna Gilligan reading from Happiness Comes from Nowhere

The World Book Night event in Celbridge library went off very well. Myself, Shauna Gilligan, Mae Leonard and Debbie Thomas read. The library, in conjunction with Cultivate Celbridge gave out free books over the course of the day, and then raffled 5 copies of each of the guest writers' books on the night.

Mae Leonard, of Naas & Limerick, in full flow

I really enjoyed hearing an extract from Shauna's début novel Happiness Comes from Nowhere, Mae Leonards's memoir pieces (she had us all singing 'Glory-o, glory-o, to the bold Fenian men' at one point), and Debbie's madcap adventure of a decapitated Aztec head.

Meself

We got a very warm welcome at the library (tea, biccies and buns which pleased Juno) and from the audience, who were lovely. All in all, a very nice time was had.

Debbie Thomas

SHAUNA GILLIGAN LAUNCH

I am launching Shauna Gilligan's début novel Happiness Comes from Nowhere (Ward Wood, 2012) at the Irish Writers' Centre on Wednesday at 6.30pm. All literature lovers welcome. If you can't make it the book is available online and in shops. See here for more details about buying the book.

SHAUNA GILLIGAN INTERVIEW

Born and bred in Dublin, writer Shauna Gilligan has worked and lived in Mexico, Spain, India and the U.K. She lives in County Kildare with her family. Her fiction has been published widely and Happiness Comes From Nowhere is her first novel.

Shauna Gilligan

Welcome, Shauna, and congrats on the book.

Thank you, Nuala, for having me here and taking the time to talk to me!

It is an unusual book in that it is a novel-in-stories. Talk to us about the genesis of Happiness Comes from Nowhere and about its structure. 

 

Yes, it is a different sort of debut novel. It actually started life as a typical novel with a linear story but as I edited and revised it, minor characters came to the fore which transformed into something different, something with a more disjointed or composite structure. I like to think of the structure as similar to Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (the film based on some of Raymond Carver’s stories). In a way, seeing that process happening (and resisting it, at times), was a real learning curve for me as a writer – really learning to let the writing lead.

Some of your characters are rather exuberantly named: Dirk and Sepp Horn, for example. Is naming something you take time over? Do you enjoy that part of the process?

I do take my time over naming my characters. I think the name has to say something about them – like in real life, really, either your name suits you and is part of who you are or it is a complete mismatch. Either way, names are part of the story of who we are. I enjoy this part of the writing process. It reminds me of naming babies in some way.

You are a mother, you volunteer at Fighting Words and you also have a job in a university. How do you fit writing into such a busy life? What is your writing process – morning or night – longhand or laptop?

For me it all ties together. It’s part of who I am as well as being what I do. I’d like to have more writing time but right now my serious writing happens on a daily basis from late evening to late night. I take a residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre each year to really get my teeth into longer pieces. This year I’m delighted to have been awarded a bursary from Kildare County Council! I always have a notebook to hand so will write in it – usually the start of a piece or a random scene. Then later when I’m more into the piece, I’ll work on a laptop.

Which women writers are your favourites and who would you cite as influences and why?

To be honest, I hate these questions because for me, saying someone is an influence somehow means there is a worthy comparison there. Anyhow, I do have favourite women writers who may or may not be influences on my own writing: Alice Munro to start. And then (in no order) writers such as Margaret Atwood, Katherine Mansfield, Carol Shields, Claire Keegan, Anne Enright, Clarice Lispector, Elizabeth Bowen, Isabelle Allende. It’s not an exhaustive list; I could go on!

You write short fiction as well as novels. Which short story would you like to see on the Leaving Cert exam?

I have no idea what is on the Leaving Cert exam these days but I’d say it embraces more female writers now than when I was doing it. I think a good short story for the leaving cert could be one that tackles social and personal issues, a bit of bite in it. I’m thinking of Enright’s “Little Sister” where the narrator brings us through her sister’s anorexia yet the reader really gets a great feel for their sisterly relationship and their place in the family. Or, perhaps Claire Keegan’s “Dark Horses” for its portrayal of a particular mindset, a generation, the sense of the landscape as character.

Is there any writing advice you received that stays with you always? What one piece of advice would you offer beginning writers?

One that springs to mind is a piece of simple, practical advice: if you want to be a writer, you’ve got to write. Writers write. I think it’s too easy to be deluded by the idea of being a writer rather than the writing itself.  I’d say trust yourself, as hard as it is to do that, just trust your writing. And keep at it.

What is your favourite bookshop?

Books Upstairs in Dublin just opposite Trinity College. It’s a treasure-cove of books (bestsellers, established and new authors) and the staff are all so knowledgeable and helpful.

What are you working on now?

I need to settle myself into a meaty piece of writing again. I couldn’t say right now what it will be. It will be my next novel, more short stories or working on fleshing out the ideas (all in notebooks) for another novel.

Thanks for stopping by, Shauna. Readers, you can buy Happiness Comes from Nowhere here.

INTERVIEW ABOUT *MOTHER AMERICA*

I'm interviewed today about Mother America at Shauna Gilligan's blog, 'A Girl's Writing is Never Done', Shauna's first book - a novel in stories called Happiness Comes from Nowhere - will be out very soon from Ward Wood in the UK.

In the interview we talk titles, ordering the stories and notebooks. It's here.

STINGING FLY - NEW YORK STORIES

Going to the Chapel, New York

The Stinging Fly literary magazine is going to New York and they want to hear your New York stories. Their next issue will have a New York twist to it, and thanks to the support of Culture Ireland, they will launch it over there in October. The event is part of Imagine Ireland, the year-long celebration of Irish arts in America during 2011.

The New York issue will feature commissioned writing by Irish and American writers and will explore the relationship Irish people have had with the city over the years.

They have opened up a space on their site for people to share their New York stories and experiences. There are some stories already posted to the site, incuding beautifully written ones by Shauna Gilligan and Leona Lee Cully. I wrote about my wedding in New York and, at the moment, it's the last piece posted, so you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page here. Then go back up and read Shauna's, Leona's, Andrew's, Jeanne's, Martin's etc. etc.