tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59947151204261190712024-03-29T03:29:16.168+00:00Niamh Boyce A Writing BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger324125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-38847715446835922622021-08-27T12:38:00.009+01:002021-08-27T18:27:15.600+01:00Still here... <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8qx4JQjCsdk/YSjBKRvOkRI/AAAAAAAAKLA/NUjSDpnGn48PVgjwilGaVooRkOdOgCISwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1276/lyonesse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1276" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8qx4JQjCsdk/YSjBKRvOkRI/AAAAAAAAKLA/NUjSDpnGn48PVgjwilGaVooRkOdOgCISwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/lyonesse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes, I’m still here! And still writing... I decided
to reawaken the blog as I miss its old style, slow style - which suits my own
at the moment!<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Workshops...</span></h3><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For (Ireland based) readers interested in writing
workshops, Fact to Fiction in particular – I’ll be running live workshops this
Autumn – feel free to contact me via the blog to register your interest. It
will be covid compliant with limited numbers and based in the Irish Midlands. <o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Lyonesse Literary Journal... </span></h3><p>
</p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a-GcWGUsgu8/YSjKZbfaSbI/AAAAAAAAKLI/dQAXncEO9vUlQEZA7Bi7X3PgfGT85pa9gCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="511" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a-GcWGUsgu8/YSjKZbfaSbI/AAAAAAAAKLI/dQAXncEO9vUlQEZA7Bi7X3PgfGT85pa9gCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/image.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #7f8d8c; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 16.06px; font-style: italic;">Image by Monika Ruminska Akwarele</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />I've been trying to read journals and sites that feed my writing mind and inspire at the moment and Lyonesse is one of them. Its an exciting online journal celebrating
women writers who foreground women and weave magic and nature into their work. They
‘particularly love showcasing writing inspired by mythology, folklore and fairy
tales.’ It’s run by Sam Young and team. I was delighted to be part of their <b>'In Conversation' </b>feature - the interview covers fairy tales, folklore, Irish history, poetry, mermaids, silence, witchcraft and <i>a little </i>about next novel...! </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d; font-size: x-small;">'<i>Niamh Boyce is an award winning writer and poet from Ireland who is based in the Irish Midlands. Using the novel and poem to unearth the witches, ghosts and other buried voices of marginalised Irish women, her writing frequently explores womanhood and the oppressive influence of the Catholic religion and patriarchy on women’s lives. </i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d;">In 2012, she was awarded the Hennessy XO New Irish Writer of the Year for her poem “Kitty” and later went on to publish her first poetry collection, </span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #494c4d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Inside the Wolf</span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d;"> (2018), in which she dissects traditional fairy tales to explore art, motherhood and her Irish ancestry. Boyce’s debut novel, </span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #494c4d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Herbalist</span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d;"> was published in 2013, gaining her Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards the same year. Set in 1930 rural Ireland, it tells the story of how the arrival of a mysterious medicine man to a small Irish village impacts the lives of four women within the community and exposes the culture of shame and silence which oppresses them. </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d;">In 2019, </span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #494c4d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Her Kind</span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d;"> was published and shortlisted for the EU Prize for Literature. Taking the title from the Anne Sexton poem, the novel provides a speculative account of the Kilkenny Witch Trial which saw a group of Irish women condemned for witchcraft in 1324</span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #494c4d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d;"> In this interview</span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #494c4d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, Lyonesse</span><span face=""Alegreya Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #494c4d;"> Editor Sam Young and Niamh discuss some of her feminist literary influences, the enduring allure of myths folklore and fairy tales, and giving voice to the historically silenced women of Ireland’s turbulent past..... </span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">to read more - </span><a href=" https://lyonesseliteraryjournal.wordpress.com/2021/04/07/in-conversation-with-niamh-boyce-irish-author-of-the-herbalist-her-kind-and-inside-the-wolf/" style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">click here</span></b></a></div><div><p></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">In the <b>Long Read</b> section, there's an fantastic in depth critical analysis of my first novel <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Herbalist-Niamh-Boyce/dp/024196458X">The<span style="color: #4c1130;"> Herbalist</span></a><span style="color: #4c1130;">,</span></b> by Maeve Eveyln Reilly - (first, spoiler alert, it's best to read this after you've finished the novel!) - to read <span style="color: #4c1130;">- </span><b><span style="color: #4c1130;"><a href="https://lyonesseliteraryjournal.wordpress.com/category/the-long-read/"><span style="color: #4c1130;">click here- </span></a> </span></b> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AIL413lAei4/YSjNBjeMohI/AAAAAAAAKLQ/jK1-O0wMQEcyFP4Try0nH5D5TcsTH4IIwCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AIL413lAei4/YSjNBjeMohI/AAAAAAAAKLQ/jK1-O0wMQEcyFP4Try0nH5D5TcsTH4IIwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/image.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #7f8d8c; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 16.06px; font-style: italic;">Image by Monika Ruminska Akwarele<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">There's also a beautiful feature by Sam Young on hares and their associations with the moon, goddesses and witchcraft - its illustrated by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/eszillui/?hl=en"><b>Monika Ruminska Akwarele's</b></a> stunning watercolours... to read more -<b><span style="color: #4c1130;"> <a href="https://lyonesseliteraryjournal.wordpress.com/category/folklore-fairy-tales/">click here </a></span></b></span></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">In the meantime, I'm getting to the writing every day, some days only for a very short time - but getting to it day by day keeps the energy of the book alive... </span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="color: #4c1130; text-align: left; text-transform: none;"><b>'In some ways I'm rediscovering the reasons why I wanted to write in the first place; for the pleasure of creating and living in the worlds which belong to me, and no one else until I invite them in...'</b></span><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; text-transform: none;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; text-transform: none;">Stephen Wyatt</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-40352339034724531332020-11-24T20:02:00.005+00:002021-03-10T19:56:38.952+00:00Heart of Goodness by Carolyne Van Der Meer<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--co9dCBzpxw/X71eyGPBcgI/AAAAAAAAEpY/xU8N9KOHX0I31DzGXOrYEFHvQAI4y8I9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Carolyne%2BVDM-0351.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--co9dCBzpxw/X71eyGPBcgI/AAAAAAAAEpY/xU8N9KOHX0I31DzGXOrYEFHvQAI4y8I9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Carolyne%2BVDM-0351.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carolyne Van Der Meer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></b></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hello from the midwintery Irish midlands - where poetry has been keeping me (half) sane though the dark evenings. I've been taking a zoom poetry workshop with the talented <a href="http://emilyecullen.blogspot.com/"><i>Emily Cullen</i></a>, and finishing my third novel - one day at a time, as they say - these aren't easy times to concentrate! </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I was delighted to receive a poetry collection from </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14px;">Carolyne Van Der Meer in the post recently. Carolyne is a poet, fiction writer, journalist and lecturer who lives in Montreal, Quebec. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14px;">She </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">has recently published 'Heart of Goodness' - a sequence of thirty poems exploring the life of Marguerite Bourgeoys who established the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 14px;"> Congrégation de Notre-Dame... we talk here about the book, the subject and the writing process....</span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">Welcome back to the blog Carolyne, and congratulations on your new book on Marguerite Bourgeoys. Can you recall when you first became aware of Marguerite? </span></b><div><br /></div><div>First, let me say thank you, Niamh, for interviewing me about my book on your blog. It's been a few years since you've invited me and I'm delighted to be here!
I first came across Marguerite Bourgeoys when I moved to Montreal in 1990. I noticed that her name was associated with schools--there was a school named after her as well as a school board, but I didn't really know much about the significance this woman held in Quebec. I was new to Montreal and had spent my early life in Ontario, the province next door--where Marguerite is not known at all, really. Then in 1997, a literary journal called Quill & Quire asked me to review the book Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal, 1640-1655 by Patricia Simpson. I loved the book and gave it a positive review (<a href="https://quillandquire.com/review/marguerite-bourgeoys-and-montreal-16401655/">here</a>). </div><div><br /></div><div>And for the next 20 years, Marguerite was tucked into the back of my mind. In 2017, my family and I moved to a condo in the old part of the city, where the Chapelle de Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours is located: this chapel, rebuilt in 1771, sits on the site where Marguerite built her first chapel in 1678. For quite a while, I would walk by this chapel on my way to work and felt strongly that Marguerite was present. <b><i>Suddenly, this incredible saint was back in my mind again, quietly telling me that there was a book to be written about her.</i></b> A different sort of book than the many others. </div><div><br /></div><div>I should mention here that Patricia Simpson, the author of the book I reviewed in 1997, was instrumental in my journey to write Heart of Goodness. After a good year of walking by the chapel, I reached out to her by email and asked if she might be able to help me get access to the archives where all writings by and about Marguerite were kept. These were located in the Motherhouse of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame, the uncloistered community of sisters that Marguerite founded. Because Patricia was a sister in the Congrégation, she was particularly helpful in making this happen! Working in the archives was key to beginning the thinking work that would lead to Heart of Goodness. </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>Marguerite was a fascinating woman - what does she mean to you on a personal level? </b></span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vZHQmyVJjBo/X71fL05EW-I/AAAAAAAAEpk/dw_jKctKZ7EBIbWPd_S-P3L6qm_kyh2RwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1170/HeartOfGoodness_for%2Bsocial%2Bmedia.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="754" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vZHQmyVJjBo/X71fL05EW-I/AAAAAAAAEpk/dw_jKctKZ7EBIbWPd_S-P3L6qm_kyh2RwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/HeartOfGoodness_for%2Bsocial%2Bmedia.jpg" /></a></div></span></div><div>Marguerite Bourgeoys signifies courage to me—in so many ways. Remember, she was from a well-to-do family in France--and finding a suitor for her would have been prominent in her parents' minds. Instead, Marguerite had the courage to choose a non-traditional path: of dedicating her life to God. Secondly, she decided to come to New France--with Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, a man she didn't even know--by boat. Those decisions are courageous ones as well. </div><div><br /></div><div>And when she got to Ville-Marie, the colony that became Montreal, she created, with a quiet and steadfast fortitude, the means for women to gain an education. She opened the first school in 1658, and her central role as an educator enabled women to take on key roles in the community. She was a pioneer of education and religion--and though it took many years for her to be seen in this way, <b><i>Marguerite was a feminist, blazing the trail for women in a way few before her had done. </i></b></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">'... intricately crafted poems which shine like their subject with sincerity, originality, and fidelity to essential truths.' </span> </i><span style="text-align: center;">(Michael Farry<span style="font-weight: bold;">)</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">You have whittled a whole life into a beautiful poetic sequence Carolyne, was it challenging to decide what to include and what to leave out?</span></b></div><div><b><span style="color: #4c1130;"> </span></b></div><div>What a great question! It was incredibly difficult. But I kind of went with my gut on this. As I was doing my research, I made a list of the most significant milestones in Marguerite's life. I knew that I wanted to write only 30 poems, so I worked it down systematically at first—and slowly got to my magic number. Some were obvious, others less so. For example, there is a poem about a young mother, Françoise, who gave her wilful daughter, Catherine, a "time-out" in a barrel. Catherine tried to get out of the barrel and got caught between the slats of wood that held her inside--and died. Marguerite worked to ensure justice for Françoise as she knew this death was an accident. She didn't abandon Françoise but rather, helped her to find peace despite her guilt. To me, this event, though certainly one among many that required compassion, showed Marguerite's fairness, as well as her loyalty and her dedication--which I thought needed to be illustrated to the reader in the clearest of terms.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">Best of luck with your future writing Carolyne, and with Heart of Goodness.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A review of 'Heart of Goodness' can be read on poet Michael Farry's blog <a href="http://michaelfarry.blogspot.com/"><i>Here</i></a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>'Heart of Goodness' can be purchased <a href="https://www.guernicaeditions.com/title/9781771836395"><i>here </i></a></b></span></h3><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-52928011400782353102020-11-01T10:54:00.003+00:002021-02-14T11:59:59.240+00:00Writing, Witches and Samhain
Greetings from the writing shed this wild and windy Samhain weekend - I'm over on the 'Shelf Life' blog, where Lisa asked me all about writing, witches, halloween and Her Kind.
You can read it <a href="https://shelflifethelouthlibraryserviceblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/31/bestselling-irish-author-niamh-boyce-talks-about-her-new-novel-her-kind-and-irelands-first-witch-trial/">Here</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-AIdO8CBLo/X56Stxu7drI/AAAAAAAAElM/FVE2QjiwQEkA5pzjZ3PH4tiNkxN9pZy1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s259/bonfire.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-AIdO8CBLo/X56Stxu7drI/AAAAAAAAElM/FVE2QjiwQEkA5pzjZ3PH4tiNkxN9pZy1wCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h150/bonfire.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-45314253980088969272020-02-17T16:56:00.012+00:002020-10-01T18:56:23.546+01:00Her Kind<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--j43kxCw_cc/XkrDavdqLsI/AAAAAAAAEVE/wl6Df60g-VcBRCXRHtBm2yhl4zmAR0pXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/20200217_125507.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="211" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--j43kxCw_cc/XkrDavdqLsI/AAAAAAAAEVE/wl6Df60g-VcBRCXRHtBm2yhl4zmAR0pXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20200217_125507.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bookclub Edition! <br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Her Kind tells the story of Ireland's first witchcraft trial - </span><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">the 1324 Sorcery Trial of Dame Alice Kyteler. </span><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">It was a landmark case in the history of witchcraft trials, the first case of a woman accused of having a demon lover (an incubus) and leading a sect of sorceresses. </span><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The case was notorious at the time. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The judges of the EU Prize for literature, called Her Kind 'as searing a critique of our own times as is Arthur Millar's The Crucible.'</span><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><div><span face="" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span face="" style="color: #b45f06; text-align: left;">SOME REVIEWS...</span><span face="" style="text-align: left;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><span face="" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span><span face="" style="line-height: 18.4px;">A masterpiece… Boyce delicately unfolds this atmospheric, magical thriller with pace and juice. Sunday Independent.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><span face="" style="line-height: 18.4px;">Gripping ... a complicated story of ambition, love and what it means to belong ... evocative and atmospheric.' Irish Times<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><span face="" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><span face="" style="line-height: 18.4px;">'Beautifully written and transports us to the 14th century, though its themes loudly resonate today.' RTE.ie<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><span face="" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><span face="" style="line-height: 18.4px;">'A beautifully absorbing novel, illuminating the remarkable story of a woman whose life has since been subsumed into folklore. Highly recommended.' Hot Press<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 15.18px;"><span face="" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 15.18px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><i><span style="color: #990000;"><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Her Kind is available from bookshops </b></span></i></span></h1></div><div><i><span style="color: #990000;"><b><br /></b></span></i></div><div><i><span style="color: #990000;"><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>in the UK....</b></span></i></div><div><div><br /></div><div>☝ W.H. Smith ... <a href="https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/her-kind-the-gripping-story-of-irelands-first-witch-hunt/niamh-boyce/paperback/9780241983232.html">here</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>☝ Waterstones ... <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/her-kind/niamh-boyce/9780241983232">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>☝ Foyles ... <span> </span><span> </span><a href="https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/biography/her-kind-the-gripping-story-of-ireland,niamh-boyce-9780241983232?term=her+kind+niamh">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>☝ Amazon uk ... <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce-ebook/dp/B07GJ7MG24/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1598269440&sr=1-1">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div><i><span style="color: #990000;"><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>and Ireland...</b></span></i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Easons ... <a href="https://www.easons.com/her-kind-niamh-boyce-9780241983232">here</a><br />
<br />Dubray ... <a href="https://www.dubraybooks.ie/Her-Kind_9780241983232">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>The Gutter Bookshop ... <a href="https://gutterbookshop.com/product/her-kind-by-niamh-boyce/">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>The Book Centre ... <a href="https://shop.thebookcentre.ie/GeneralBooks.aspx?SearchBooks=9780241983232">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Kennys Bookshop ... <a href="https://www.kennys.ie/shop/her-kind-the-gripping-story-of-irelands-first-witch-hunt.htm">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div><i><span style="color: #990000;"><b><br /></b></span></i></div><div><i><span style="color: #990000;"><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>and also... </b></span></i></div><div><br /></div><div>ABE books ... <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30582339401&searchurl=an%3Dboyce%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3Dher%2Bkind&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Book Depository ... <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/9781844884339?ref=grid-view&qid=1598269193559&sr=1-1#">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Amazon ... <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/0241983231/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QIFTEB7J6HAV&dchild=1&keywords=her+kind+niamh+boyce&qid=1598269283&sprefix=her+kind+niamh+boyce%2Caps%2C257&sr=8-1">here</a></div><div><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h4><br />
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</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-27202779510737582232019-09-13T19:58:00.002+01:002020-08-24T15:16:58.657+01:00Witching Season...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Her Kind</span><span style="font-size: 36pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #c55a11; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 18pt;">Winter Book Tour</b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36pt;">20</span><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 15.5556px;">th </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt;"> Sept</span><b> <span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">CULTURE NIGHT</span></b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">Interview with Liz Walsh in Kilkenny Libary</i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">29</span><sup style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">th</sup><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
Sept</span><b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"> <span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">FICTION AT THE FRIARY</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 48px;"><i style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Run by Danielle Mc Laughlin & Madeleine D'Arcy. </i><i>The final Sunday of every month in Cork- fun, fiction, jelly beans, hula hoops, open mic & free book raffle. </i></span><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 48px;"><i><span style="color: #333333;">info: </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/FictionattheFriary/"><span style="color: #4c1130;">here</span></a></i></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">6th Oct</span><b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "californian fb", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"> <span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">DROMINEER/NENAGH </span></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="color: #4c1130;">The Witch within the Walls - Nenagh Castle - 4pm</span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i>Niamh will be chatting to Sarah Moore Fitzgerald. Music from singer Dylan Rooney, and cellist Gráinne Higgins</i></span><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt;"> Tickets = </b><a href="https://www.nenagharts.com/event/dnlf-witch-within-the-walls/" style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b><i>here</i></b></span></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u255xGnV5lQ/XZcvX3XrnpI/AAAAAAAAEPE/B9t75-RWRsINQLVOlaYujJSpVDTyP_SNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/With-Within-The-Walls-2-1130x650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="1130" height="184" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u255xGnV5lQ/XZcvX3XrnpI/AAAAAAAAEPE/B9t75-RWRsINQLVOlaYujJSpVDTyP_SNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/With-Within-The-Walls-2-1130x650.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dylan Rooney, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Niamh Boyce</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">15th Oct</span><b style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">EMBASSY BOOK CLUB</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="color: #4c1130;">Special Reading with the Embassy Book Club</span></i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">Embassy of Ireland, Brussels</i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="color: #333333;">tickets : </span><span style="color: #4c1130;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/special-reading-with-niamh-boyce-registration-65021667558">here</a></span></i></b><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lXawpEJo9nM/XZcyly-x2MI/AAAAAAAAEPQ/21ZERTaItbIOWR2cha4IUyIkNU6MfmzXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/embassy%2Bbook%2Bclub.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="720" height="158" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lXawpEJo9nM/XZcyly-x2MI/AAAAAAAAEPQ/21ZERTaItbIOWR2cha4IUyIkNU6MfmzXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/embassy%2Bbook%2Bclub.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">16th Oct</span><b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;">SNUG HARBOUR</span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="color: #4c1130;">Karl Dehmelt & Niamh Boyce on stage in Brussels</span></i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">Snug Harbor is created by Sofie Verraest, hosted by Muntpunt Library, the Muntpunt Grand Cafe, Mont Saint Eugene, the Brussels Writers' Cirlce & Waterstones</i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 48px;"><i><span style="color: #333333;">details :</span><span style="color: #4c1130;"> <a href="http://www.snugharbor.eu/wp/">here</a></span></i></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-px9n-CVBHi8/XZczhICHYMI/AAAAAAAAEPY/whNVA2o-reEp_qeksCGGcq-8inlo09H3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/snug%2Bhanour.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="659" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-px9n-CVBHi8/XZczhICHYMI/AAAAAAAAEPY/whNVA2o-reEp_qeksCGGcq-8inlo09H3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/snug%2Bhanour.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Niamh Boyce, Karl Dehmelt</td></tr>
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Oct</span><b style="text-indent: -36pt;"> <span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">KILDARE READERS FESTIVAL</span></b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i><span style="color: #4c1130;">Something Wicked This Way Comes</span></i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">Panel in The Riverbank, Newbridge, with Niamh Boyce, Stacey Halls, & Martina Devlin</i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;"><b style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262222; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400; text-indent: 0px;">Whether it’s horror fiction or historical non-fiction, Witches and Wiccan culture have provided rich material for authors throughout the years.</span></i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #262222; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400; text-indent: 0px;">During the season of Samhain, we will be discussing witches within the canon of literature. </span></i></b><br />
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<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">Tickets: <a href="https://www.riverbank.ie/event/krf-something-wicked-this-way-comes-with-niamh-boyce-stacey-halls-and-martina-devlin/">Here</a></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;">26th Oct</span><b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> IMAGINE LITERARY FESTIVAL</span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">From Fact to Fiction Writing Workshop in Waterford</i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">Details: <a href="https://www.imagineartsfestival.com/index.php/whats/waterford-writers-weekend/fact-fiction-workshop">here</a></i></b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;">9th Nov</span><b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; text-indent: -36pt;"> <span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">LEAVES FESTIVAL</span></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">Conversation, music and readings in Portlaoise - John Sheahan & Niamh Boyce with Dermot Bolger.</i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;">Booking: </span><span style="color: #4c1130;"><a href="https://dunamaise.ticketsolve.com/shows/873607789">here</a></span></i></b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;">14th Nov</span><b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"> <span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Dublin Book Festival</span><span style="color: #333333;">:</span><i style="color: #333333;"> National Library of Ireland</i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>Writing Ireland's History </b></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i>Niamh Boyce, Patricia O'Reilly, Eibhear Walshe & Nessa O' Mahoney</i></span><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">Booking: <a href="http://www.dublinbookfestival.com/writing-irelands-history/">here</a></i></b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;">23rd Nov</span><b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Workshop</span><span style="color: #333333;">: </span><i style="color: #333333;">Freshford, Kilkenny</i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><i style="color: #333333;">details on the way... !</i></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: "californian fb", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="color: #990000;">Novel Fair </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="color: #333333;">I'm one of the Irish Writer Centre's Novel Fair judges this year. I would really encourage anyone interested to enter. I wasn't going to send my novel in 2012 but a writer friend </span><span style="color: #333333;"><strike>pushed</strike> </span><span style="color: #333333;"> encouraged me - and I posted it at the last minute. My novel <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Herbalist-Niamh-Boyce/dp/024196458X"><b>The Herbalist</b> </a>became one of the winners that year, and was published by Penguin Ireland the following Summer. So go for it! There's not much to lose, and shortlisted writers get critical feedback... </span></span><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;">more info </span><span style="color: #990000; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://irishwriterscentre.ie/collections/novel-fair/Novel-Fair" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Here</a></span></span></span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-90438991146717718832019-09-04T15:22:00.003+01:002020-08-22T23:56:38.299+01:00Something Wicked This Way Comes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: start;">It really is the season for all things witch related! The figure of the witch seems to resonate more and more these days. As Madeline Miller, author of the fabulous Circe, says - </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">'<span style="color: #990000;">to be a witch means you are a woman who has more power than society wants you to have.'</span></i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: start;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The wonderful book editors, Zoe West and Emma Shacklock at <b>Woman and Home
</b>Book Club have included <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333">Her Kind</a> in their <b style="text-align: left;">Six of the Best</b> for
October. Its a brilliant selection, two of which I already have - perfect reading for the autumn, and very timely - the witch trial at the center of Her Kind, the sorcery trial of Alice Kyteler took place during this season, and came to a head at All Hallows Eve...</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Woman and Home Bookclub Witch Reads</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Familiars-Stacey-Halls-ebook/dp/B07DW9F469/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=69790372451&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0tPGvqS35AIVVud3Ch1gWAw5EAAYASAAEgKlB_D_BwE&hvadid=320622278346&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9040155&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=17117387441133639269&hvtargid=kwd-595454611903&hydadcr=14093_1797397&keywords=the+familiars+stacey+hall&qid=1567604148&s=digital-text&sr=1-1"><b>The Familiars</b></a> Stacey Hall, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333"><b>Her Kind</b></a> Niamh Boyce, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glass-Woman-Caroline-Lea/dp/0718188977"><b>The Glass Woman</b> </a>Caroline Lea... </div>
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<img height="200" src="https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1071-1/%7B1B188829-CDE2-493D-ACFB-701612348AEE%7DImg100.jpg" width="150" /><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41ak-HkS3RL._SX325_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41ak-HkS3RL._SX325_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="131" /></a><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548872943l/40917716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for the glass woman" border="0" height="200" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548872943l/40917716.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sanctuary-V-V-James/dp/1473225736">Sanctuary </a></b><span style="text-align: left;">V.V. James, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Witches-St-Petersburg-Imogen-Edwards-Jones-ebook/dp/B0778NZSMX/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1567604570&sr=8-1" style="text-align: left;"><b>The Witches of St Petersburg</b></a><span style="text-align: left;"> Imogen Edwards-Jones.</span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Serpent-Dove-Shelby-Mahurin/dp/0062878026" style="text-align: left;"><b>Serpent and Dove</b></a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Shelby Mahurin</span></div>
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<img height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51XaDlzfqoL._SX323_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="130" /><img alt="The Witches of St. Petersburg by [Edwards-Jones, Imogen]" height="200" src="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41qVzQ8UBPL.jpg" width="130" /><img height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516uVlGOH3L._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="132" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">On Saturday 19th of October - Kildare Readers Festival are having a special Samhain Event - </span><a href="https://www.riverbank.ie/event/krf-something-wicked-this-way-comes-with-niamh-boyce-stacey-halls-and-martina-devlin/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><b>Something Wicked This Way Comes..</b></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">. The panel will be Stacey Halls, Martina Devlin and myself. We have all written (fantastic!)novels based on real witch trials. Tickets can be booked </span><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.riverbank.ie/event/krf-something-wicked-this-way-comes-with-niamh-boyce-stacey-halls-and-martina-devlin/">Here</a></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Niamh Boyce (Her Kind), Stacey Halls (The Familiars), Martina Devlin (The House Where It Happened)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'll be reading at various events as part of the HER KIND Book Tour, and will post the details very soon! Also, I have some exciting new from the Irish Writers Centre but have been sworn to secrecy for now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've been overwhelmed with the positive reaction to HER KIND, in the past month it was selected a book of the month for the <b>Rick O' Shea Book Club</b>- which has 24,000 members last count, it also received a rave review in <b>Historical Novels Review</b>, by Kristen Mc Dermott - '<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-size: 15px;"><i>This is a marvelously witty, cleverly plotted novel...</i> read the rest <b><a href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/her-kind/">Here</a>'</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-size: 15px;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span style="color: #660000;">So, back to the writing shed, </span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span style="color: #660000;">and here's to having more power </span></b><b style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">than society wants us to!</b></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-48306466285077352562019-08-12T17:49:00.001+01:002020-08-24T15:22:06.563+01:00Kilkenny Arts Festival <b>They've put me in the tower... !</b><br />
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I'm thrilled that my first festival appearance with <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333">Her Kind</a> </b> is set to take place in Kilkenny City.<br />
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Next Saturday, at 11 am, I'll be reading in Kilkenny Castle itself - the site of many scenes in the novel, and of course in the real case - The Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyteler. It will be strange and wonderful to read scenes from the story almost on site - even if seven hundred years have passed... <br />
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For TICKETS - click<b> <a href="https://www.kilkennyarts.ie/programme/niamh-boyce">Here</a></b><br />
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Many thanks to Kilkenny Arts Festival, and to Kilkenny Book Center who will be there with lots of copies of Her Kind :)<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-15376695770470572812019-07-31T20:07:00.001+01:002019-07-31T20:19:18.666+01:00Night Swimming - Author Interview with Doreen Finn<br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #45818e;">I </span></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: "courier new"; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">Summer 1976. A heatwave is gripping Ireland. Nine-year-old Megan lives in a
redbrick house in Dublin with her mother, a beautiful and lonely artist, and
her grandmother; her father's whereabouts are a mystery that she often thinks
about. When an American family moves in downstairs and Megan's mother begins a
tentative affair with the father, everything that Megan is sure of starts to
unravel…</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>Congratulations on your new novel Doreen - What a stunning cover! I love the title</b><a href="https://www.mercierpress.ie/irish-books/night-swimming/"> <b><span style="color: #990000;">'Night Swimming</span></b></a><b><span style="color: #990000;">' </span>- I immediately thought of the R.E.M song, is there a connection? </b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">There
most certainly is a connection between my novel and the REM song! When I was
writing the first, tentative draft of what became this book, I was casting
around for a title. I was listening to Automatic For The People, REM’s seminal
album, and on came the song. It fitted perfectly with the themes within the
novel, and with the thread of slipping outside at night to play. I’m a huge REM
fan, so it was meant to be! </span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Night Swimming is set in the 1970's, it will resonate with a lot of readers that grew up then. What were the reasons for setting it then? Is it an era you always wanted to write about? </b></span></o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">I
chose the 1970s because it was the decade of my own early childhood, and 1976
was the standout year because of the heatwave. I needed to have good weather in
the story, because the book is essentially about loss of innocence and a love
affair. I wanted to have the weather reflect the passion of the characters, and
I knew that if I set the book in a cold January that the chances of a torrid
affair would be slim! Also, the seventies are really hot nowadays in terms of
their cultural value, and my generation is both nostalgic and protective of
that era. </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><b>I wanted the story of childhood to be authentic, and what could be
more authentic than my own experience of that time?</b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> To set the same story in
the present day wouldn’t work for me, because of technology. There are two
missing fathers, an unbridgeable gap between the Irish and the American experience
of life, and an ignorance of the wider world, all of which can solved instantly
now with a quick Google search. I wanted to keep that innocence, spin it out
and see where it took me.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Doreen Finn</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><b>Your first novel 'My Buried Life' was told the point of view of an adult. This time, </b></span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">Megan your main character, is a young girl. Was her voice easy to slip into? </b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">It’s a
very different experience. My editor, Noel O’Regan, picked up many points
throughout the book where the child’s voice wasn’t childish enough. Because my
first novel, My Buried Life, was narrated by an adult female, making Megan’s
voice authentic took a lot of work. I had to be careful with things that she
would say and wouldn’t say, how she sort-of thinks something may be happening
between her mother Gemma and Chris, the American, but she can’t be sure because
she doesn’t have the world view or understanding to be fully sure. That sort of
thing. </span><span style="color: #45818e; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><b>I observed my own two children in their interactions with each other and
with </b></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><b>their friends, to see how kids see things,</b></span> what they say in any given situation.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"> So yes, it was actually harder than writing from an adult’s point of
view. My next book will be narrated by an adult, and book 4 will be back to a
child’s narration again.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Your writing is beautiful, so vivid and concise - who are the writers you like to read? That you admire? </b></span></o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">I love
good writing. <b><span style="color: #45818e;">I will cartwheel over broken glass for good prose and
well-developed characters.</span></b> There are so many books being published now that it
takes a discerning reader to pick out the books that will appeal to us
personally. Mostly, I read women, and within that I tend to read Irish women.
It’s not a choice as such, just more the way my tastes lie. My absolute
favourite writer of all is Maggie O’Farrell, who I just adore, and who I wish
would bring out a book every week so I’d never again have to wonder what to
read next! I also admire your good self, Niamh, Julia Kelly, Nuala NiConchuir,
Sally Rooney, Claire Kilroy, Anne Enright, Colm Toibin, Janet Fitch, Sadie
Jones, Kit de Waal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">For mystery, no one beats John Banville writing as Benjamin
Black, and no author makes me laugh as much as David Nicholls, who is such a
sensitive writer. This year, I’ve loved Tin Man, Cape May, Dear Mrs Bird, The
Last of Summer, The House on Vesper Sands, An American Marriage, Daisy Jones
and the Six. In non-fiction, Constellations by Sinead Gleeson is a standout
book. She’s a brilliant writer. Last year I revisited the PD James canon, which
I loved, and <b><span style="color: #45818e;">I'</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -24px;"><b><span style="color: #45818e;">m already stockpiling books for autumn.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">’ For me, there is no
greater disappointment than a disappointing book. It grieves me.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">Any tips for other writers? In terms of getting from idea to finished novel? </span></b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">It sounds
trite, but the best thing anyone who aspires to write should do is to write.
Keep a notebook with you that you can use to write down interesting things you
hear or read, nice phrases that you hear someone use. If you have any story
ideas, no matter how insignificant they may seem, write them down. And try your
hand at writing, in whatever form you feel suits you best.<b><span style="color: #134f5c;"> I don’t believe that
everyone should start writing short stories before they tackle a novel. </span></b>Short
story writing and novel writing are two entirely different skill sets, and not
everyone possesses both. Flash fiction is great for flexing your creative
muscles, as is trying something really rigid and structured like Haiku or
Tanka. Someone once told me that I should always write with a reader or
audience in mind, and actually that was terrible advice – if you’re writing for
the first time, write for yourself. Don’t worry about what anyone else will
think. You don’t have to show your writing to another living soul until you
feel ready, and you won’t feel ready until you’re confident about what you’re
doing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;">So keep at it, stick with it, and see where the stories take you. </span></b>I
don’t plot and I don’t draw out maps for my books. I start with a character and
a setting, usually a female in a house, and I take it from there. The other
most important and vital piece of advice to budding writers is to read. Read,
read, read, and then read some more. Never stop reading, because it’s only
through seeing what other writers produce that you will learn and understand
what you want to do yourself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <b>What's the worst writing advice you've ever gotten? </b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">As per
the answer above, being told to write with someone else in mind, for an
audience. It was terrible advice, and it wasted a huge amount of writing time
for me. It’s like being told to dress for someone else, or find hobbies that
someone else likes. You write for yourself. Always. If other people don’t like
it, who cares? You’ll always find your readers, and they’ll love what you
write.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Thanks for coming by Doreen, and best of luck with your next novel. Follow Doreen on twitter for all her writing news - <a href="https://twitter.com/doreen2cv">@doreen2cv</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Night Swimming is available from </span><a href="https://www.mercierpress.ie/irish-books/night-swimming/"><span style="color: purple;">Mercier</span></a><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #990000;">Press, </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #990000;">all good bookshops & <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=night+swimming+doreen+finn&crid=37P2Y6UT82ADW&sprefix=night+swimmmin%2Caps%2C155&ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_1_14">Amazon</a> </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b> </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b>About the author:</b> <i>Doreen
Finn was born in Dublin, where she now lives with her family. A graduate of
UCD, she has lived and worked in Madrid and Los Angeles. Her first novel, My
Buried Life, was runner up for the Kate O’Brien award. Night Swimming is her
second novel.</i></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-63083122782177812442019-07-16T21:48:00.002+01:002019-07-16T23:51:04.260+01:00Festivals & Readings from Her Kind this August<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--xeduZjL57o/XS45bfV_eoI/AAAAAAAAEH8/wK0zNq-awrI82GPsPPTiBUuIaXc2DN4dACLcBGAs/s1600/Her%2BKind%2BFinal%2BJacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1047" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--xeduZjL57o/XS45bfV_eoI/AAAAAAAAEH8/wK0zNq-awrI82GPsPPTiBUuIaXc2DN4dACLcBGAs/s200/Her%2BKind%2BFinal%2BJacket.jpg" width="130" /></a><br />
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Greetings from my writing shed - </h3>
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I'm popping out to post word of some upcoming events.<br />
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I'm delighted let you know that I'll be bringing <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333"><b>HER KIND</b></a> - my novel based on the Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyteler; the first European witchcraft trial - to the following four festivals in August...<br />
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<i>I've also added </i><a href="https://niamhboyce.blogspot.com/p/b.html"><span style="color: #990000;"><b><i>a </i>Page for Book Clubs</b></span></a><i> to this Blog, with Questions & Info about Her Kind - cast your eye to the right, and you'll see it :)</i><br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><b>On Saturday 3rd August, at 5pm </b></span> -<br />
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I'll be in the Literary Tent at the uber cool <b>All Together Now </b><b>Festival </b>in <span style="color: #990000;"><b>Waterford</b></span><b>. </b>The amazing Patti Smith is one of the acts!<br />
Its a Special Book Club Extravaganza arranged by Waterford Library..<br />
For more information and the line up -<b> <a href="https://www.alltogethernow.ie/">here</a></b><br />
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">On Saturday 17th August at 11am</span></b><br />
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I'll be in the Parade Tower of <b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Kilkenny</span></b> Castle - the very building which houses the ancient jail where Alice Kytler and her alleged sect of witches were held! Its part of the amazing <b>Kilkenny Arts Festival...</b><br />
Tickets can be bought <b><a href="https://www.kilkennyarts.ie/programme/niamh-boyce">HERE</a>,</b> or at the Festival Office.<br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><b>On Friday 23rd August at 7pm</b></span><br />
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I'll be in <span style="color: magenta;"><b>Graiguenamanagh</b></span> Library<br />
as part of <b>Graiguenamanagh Town of Books Festival, </b>reading and taking part in a Q & A with their brilliant Book club.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBCuG8c7N3I/XS4yA3QTk6I/AAAAAAAAEHI/Kc5GvOA28S8tPk5pXLJW4OarU7cPBujCgCLcBGAs/s1600/power%2Bof%2Bwords.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="1467" height="191" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBCuG8c7N3I/XS4yA3QTk6I/AAAAAAAAEHI/Kc5GvOA28S8tPk5pXLJW4OarU7cPBujCgCLcBGAs/s200/power%2Bof%2Bwords.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #073763;">On Saturday 24th August at 4pm</span></b><br />
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I'll be reading alongside John MacKenna in <span style="color: #073763;"><b>Abbeyleix</b></span> as part of inaugural <b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/strings-attached-venue-tbc-tickets-63530414179">The Power of Words Festival</a>. </b>This is the first year of what promises to be a memorable festival, this year the festival celebrates poet Pat Ingoldsby. Tickets can be bought <b><a href="http://powerofwords.ie/testimonials">Here</a>, </b>& c<i>lick <a href="https://www.laoistoday.ie/2019/07/10/a-powerful-new-festival-in-the-pipeline-for-laois/?fbclid=IwAR3Uug2bSbFT2yEHf8hK06EqyVf_PQlJ5tmf0n9KfYWW3uOOd0-TnPa55fU">Here</a> to read more... </i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7vcRMSJzpiA/XS41ye1Rd1I/AAAAAAAAEHo/p6ajB1Tbim4xQ30Ksmcy1--UivbNIvvuwCLcBGAs/s1600/safe_image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="540" height="166" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7vcRMSJzpiA/XS41ye1Rd1I/AAAAAAAAEHo/p6ajB1Tbim4xQ30Ksmcy1--UivbNIvvuwCLcBGAs/s320/safe_image.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amanda Kelly who created POW, with the legendary Pat Ingoldsby </td></tr>
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<b>And one more good thing... <i><span style="color: red;">Brussels</span>!</i></b><br />
Her Kind is based on a real case, the sorcery trial of Alice Kytler - a Flemish moneylender who lived in medieval Kilkenny. I'm absolutely thrilled to have been invited to Belgium by Ambassador Helena Nolan. I'll be reading from Her Kind and chatting about the Flemish connections, on October 15th as part of the <b><span style="color: #073763;">Embassy of Ireland Book Club</span></b> - tickets can be booked <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/special-reading-with-niamh-boyce-registration-65021667558"><b>Here</b></a><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rODt4nDu8iM/XS42li_ABgI/AAAAAAAAEHw/g4OTL3VSN70P4DGz3XpNG0JULJggOKh3ACLcBGAs/s1600/shed%2Band%2Bsheba%2Bjuly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="429" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rODt4nDu8iM/XS42li_ABgI/AAAAAAAAEHw/g4OTL3VSN70P4DGz3XpNG0JULJggOKh3ACLcBGAs/s200/shed%2Band%2Bsheba%2Bjuly.jpg" width="118" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with Sheba in the shed - letting ourselves go :)<br />
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<h3>
<b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>I'm reading at festivals later in the Autumn </i></span></b><b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>and will update the page then, in the meantime - </i></span></b><b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>I'm writing a new novel from my new shed and </i></span></b><b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>trying to be offline & rustic for whats left of July ... Have a great summer, happy reading to readers, happy writing to writers and happy resting to resters ! </i></span></b></h3>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-73792535775009771472019-07-05T16:37:00.001+01:002020-08-24T15:23:34.448+01:00Book Club Pack - Her Kind<br />
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<span style="font-family: "century" , serif; font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Book Club Questions</b> </span>...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>a selection to choose from... </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OP2lYHwQoOA/XR-dTovQ62I/AAAAAAAAEFI/SN40VSItyqMFDNtyLc3voB_MwAu8v4geQCLcBGAs/s1600/Her%2BKind%2BImage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OP2lYHwQoOA/XR-dTovQ62I/AAAAAAAAEFI/SN40VSItyqMFDNtyLc3voB_MwAu8v4geQCLcBGAs/s200/Her%2BKind%2BImage.jpg" width="151" /></a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. Alice Kytler was a powerful, mature woman. Are older women still likely to be demonized for being independent? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Q. <b>The Sorcery Trial of Alice Kytler was notorious at the time</b> - many of the annals contain a reference to the case. Did you know about it before you read the book? Did you know that the first woman to be accused of leading a sect and having a demon lover, lived in Ireland?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #212121;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i>Q<b>.<span style="color: #660000;"> If there was a point of no return in the book, a point where things were never going to be the same again – where do you think that was?</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b>The word witch – how does its use differ today</b>? Can you still destroy someone’s reputation by calling them a name? What names have the same affect now as ‘witch’ did, in medieval times?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #20124d;">Sorcery, religion, politics, greed, privilege, power – all
pale in comparison to what one finds at the heart of this story: that natural
connection, the love of a mother for her child.</span></i><span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> (Historical Novels Review) </span><span style="color: #212121;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b>What did you think about the
relationship between mothers and daughters</b> in the book? Between Petronelle and
Basilia, or Lithgen and Petronelle? Are they different to relationships nowadays?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. How are names
significant in the telling of Her Kind, and the power relationships between the
characters? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #20124d;">Boyce’s depiction of life in 14th century Kilkenny is so evocative and</span></i><span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span><i><span style="color: #20124d;">atmospheric
the reader can almost taste the honeycombs in Petronelle’s carefully tended
hives and feel the heavy animal pelts that line Alice’s secret chamber. (Irish
Times)</span><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b>Medieval Ireland was a melting pot</b> – full of different
languages and customs. Were you surprised to learn how diverse Ireland was,
that it was a fractured place, full of tribes and walled towns – not one united
entity?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "century" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<u1:p><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. What do you think Ledrede’s real motivation for accusing Alice Kytler of witchcraft was?<o:p></o:p></span></u1:p></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b>Was Alice undone by
her love for her husband</b>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><i><span style="background: white;">The
characters are part of a world that at times is utterly alien to us, and one of
the most haunting aspects of the novel is the depiction of anchoress, the holy
woman who has been bricked alive into the walls of St Canice’s Cathedral.</span></i><span style="background: white;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;">( Irish
Times)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "century" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b>Did you know about
the anchorites</b> before reading Her Kind? That there were women and men who
lived such lives by choice? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Who do you think
Agnes, the anchoress, really was? Why was she locked between the walls?</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u1:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background: white;">‘The cathedral was also
where I came across the anchoress’s grave. An anchorite or anchoress is a hermit
who gives up ordinary life for a solitary life of prayer – they are often
sealed in between the walls of a church, with only small ‘squints’ or windows
to receive food through. The figure of a nun is carved onto the anchoress’s
grave stone. Her hands are held in old style prayer position, palm facing
outwards rather than palms together. When I placed my palms over her stone
ones, I felt a strange sensation, close to the one that Petronelle describes in </span><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Her Kind</em><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, that of an old truth pushing back – that day the character
of Agnes the anchoress came to life.</span></span>’ (Niamh Boyce)<span style="color: black; font-family: "century" , serif;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></span></u1:p><br />
<u1:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></u1:p></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. How did you feel
towards Alice? Towards Petronelle? Towards Basillia? Towards Ledrede? Did you
prefer one character over another? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b>What was the real
cause of Sir Johns illness?</b> Who was behind it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "century" , serif;">Q. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "century" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">In 14<sup>th</sup> century,
the Pope was based in Avignon, France and he had a lively fear of sorcery and
witchcraft. He accused members of his own court of sticking pins in his waxen
likeness. Richard Ledrede, was one of his more favoured clerics. He
gave him the Bishopric of Ossory in Ireland. Richard, an Englishman, had never
set foot in the country yet within a few weeks of his arrival, he was making
accusations against his parishioners… </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Was it inevitable
that someone like Richard Ledrede would make accusations of sorcery against one of
the residents of Kilkenny?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "century" , serif;"><u1:p>T</u1:p></span></i><i><span style="background: white;">he
novel is beautifully written and transports us to the 14th century, though many
of its themes loudly resonate today. I can’t wait to see where Niamh Boyce
takes us next.</span></i><span style="background: white;"> (RTE Guide) </span></span><span style="font-family: "century" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b>Was the world
of Her Kind familiar or strange to you</b>? What had you expected medieval
Ireland to be like? How was it different? What resonated? </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. The case is well
documented by historians and academics. There are several interesting
explorations. Why do you think the case remains outside of the standard history
book?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. There is no
reference to this trial in the ancient Liber Primus Kilkennius as it stands today. Yet
it records many less significant cases from the time. Do you think that it was
undocumented, or that references were removed from this record of the goings on in 14th Kilkenny?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b>Would you have
preferred to live outside or inside the walls of Kilkenny City</b>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. <b><span style="color: #660000;">Medieval women (who
aren’t royal) are often viewed as passive, as chattel - Dame Alice was an
incredibly powerful moneylender. If Ledrede had not accused her of witchcraft,
we may never have even known that a woman of her kind existed. Do you think she
was unique for a woman of her time? </span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. On arriving in Hightown, Petronelle
and her daughter are given new names and clothes, and are forbidden to speak
their native language. They are seen as ‘other’ in their own country. What
affect do you think this has on their relationship, their sense of identity?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "century" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Q. Ledrede’s
words and phrases are woven throughout the novel, as fact and fiction weave
– <b>why do you think has not been given first person narration, the way
Petronelle and Basillia have been</b>? </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><u1:p>Q.<b><span style="color: #660000;"> Her Kind</span></b></u1:p><b><span style="color: #660000;"> is based on a real trial - a landmark case in the history of witchcraft -
did that affect how you felt about the characters and their fate?<u1:p></u1:p>
Had you heard of the case before this? Why do you think this is? </span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Q. <b>This was a hugely significant case yet there’s been no
memorial or monument to Petronella de Midia, as yet.</b> Ledredes effigy can be
seen in St Canice’s Cathedreal to this day. Who decides who we, as people,
remember? What happens to those who are not commemorated, listed, archived,
named? Whose names are on the streets of your town, who is your local bridge
named after? If you open a map, what do the names tell you? What do they mean?
Is that meaning still alive? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do these
things matter? Who is mapping our history for us? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br />
Q. If you were to retrieve someone's voice from history, whose would it be?<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-167185471316607422019-06-16T20:34:00.000+01:002019-06-16T20:36:25.762+01:00Reading Her Kind in Wexford Library<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RLJZbL_ZHeM/XQaX6_M43oI/AAAAAAAAEEU/IiYhZmehjssrDhhtz1ZzF8x29n1SKqODwCLcBGAs/s1600/reading%2Bher%2Bkind%2Bwexford%2Blibrary.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="578" height="382" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RLJZbL_ZHeM/XQaX6_M43oI/AAAAAAAAEEU/IiYhZmehjssrDhhtz1ZzF8x29n1SKqODwCLcBGAs/s400/reading%2Bher%2Bkind%2Bwexford%2Blibrary.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm off to this stunning library in Wexford on Tuesday evening! I love Libraries, AND its free to attend (but try to book in advance.) The nicest part of publishing a book is meeting readers and people as fascinated by this historic witchcraft trial as I am - really looking forward to the event.<br />
<br />
<b>To Book - 053-9196760</b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-8094627412424650632019-06-07T16:43:00.000+01:002019-06-07T19:48:50.763+01:00Irish Witchcraft and Demonology - The Bramble Hill Press Edition<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uTX6EI7k6bU/XPp5enhA71I/AAAAAAAAEA8/3-yDhJffGWIR1F9dngRP4da8dNKBHtiLQCLcBGAs/s1600/eleanor%2Bquinn%2Bdame%2Balice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1016" data-original-width="794" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uTX6EI7k6bU/XPp5enhA71I/AAAAAAAAEA8/3-yDhJffGWIR1F9dngRP4da8dNKBHtiLQCLcBGAs/s400/eleanor%2Bquinn%2Bdame%2Balice.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dame Alice Kyteler by Eleanor Quinn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An Interview with artist Eleanor Quinn...</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I recently came across this print of Alice Kyteler on Instagram, and was really taken by it. It's a stunning image, and I love line work. Alice's demon was (allegedly!) a dog, but the artist chose to use a cat, which I think works beautifully. I was intrigued to discover that the print is part of a series of illustrations based on <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1090668643/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_5pb-CbW5RDCDM"><b>John Seymour's Irish Witchcraft and Demonology</b></a>. I wore the pages of that particular book thin when researching <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Niamh-Boyce/e/B00P1WR44W?ref=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000">Her Kind</a> </b>and Alice Kyteler's sorcery trial. My beaten copy came from The Book Shop in Carndonagh, County Donegal... its an old book, first published in 1913 and out of print. It is full of very curious tales of witchcraft, demons and the supernatural. The artist of the print is Eleanor Quinn of Bramble Hill Press, and as it turns out, has reprinted a beautiful new illustrated edition of Seymour's uncanny book . I had to find out more ...</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2dJts0-og4w/XPp7b8ltZDI/AAAAAAAAEBI/q1dMytC4fGAPRk6K_11PhdzCyUt0sgT3QCLcBGAs/s1600/seymours%2Bwitchcraft%2Band%2Bdemonology.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="559" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2dJts0-og4w/XPp7b8ltZDI/AAAAAAAAEBI/q1dMytC4fGAPRk6K_11PhdzCyUt0sgT3QCLcBGAs/s320/seymours%2Bwitchcraft%2Band%2Bdemonology.jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my old copy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Welcome to the blog Eleanor - can you tell us about your publishing house?</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="float: none;">Well, this book is the first venture in a new bigger project
that my</span> husband, Patrick, and I have just begun - a small publishing
house called</span> Bramble Hill Press, where we will be making new editions of
older books that</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> are either out of print entirely or have fallen off the
radar.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Patrick works on updating the format and layout of the book and
making a kindle </span><span style="background: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="float: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">edition, and I get to work making illustrations for them.
</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We've been busy</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> over the past few years finding all the cool books that
we think people</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> should still be reading, and Irish Witchcraft and
Demonology was my personal favorite</span><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, so was a clear starting point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>It's a great choice! What did you think of Irish Witchcraft and Demonology when you first read it?</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I was enthralled! I
kept reading bits aloud in amazement to my family -</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> they had to tell me
to pipe down and give it a rest.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard
of these stories before, especially the Cork case of Florence Newton,
I've lived here for 25 years and not come across her.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #990000;">My </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="color: #990000; float: none;"><span style="background-color: white;">secondary feelings and thoughts were much more reflective -</span><span style="background-color: white;">
How many of </span></span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="float: none;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: white;">these women were actually witches? </span><span style="background-color: white;">Probably very few. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">How
easy it must have </span></span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="float: none;">been to deduce that if a woman was old and ugly she must be
evil, and how </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="float: none;">easily they believed the accusations of the young 'victims'!
How much of </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="float: none;">this could now be explained by medical knowledge? Could some
of it actually </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="float: none;">be true? I found myself hoping that a lot of them were in
fact witches so </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="float: none;">at least they didn't suffer all the gruesomeness of a trial
in complete </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="float: none;">innocence.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>I had the same reaction while researching the sorcery trial of Alice Kytler, at first its all quite sensational and fascinating - but then there's that 'hold on a minute, these were real women' realization, and all that comes with that. There are quite an array of familiars, charms, ghosts and witches in this strange book - was it hard to choose which elements to illustrate? </b><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HMlheZ1Ae6I/XPp-POKFr1I/AAAAAAAAEBU/QyfXCK9eKHU3JeF7Qd9hNt73NqnFPvSWACLcBGAs/s1600/mary%2Bbutters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="794" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HMlheZ1Ae6I/XPp-POKFr1I/AAAAAAAAEBU/QyfXCK9eKHU3JeF7Qd9hNt73NqnFPvSWACLcBGAs/s400/mary%2Bbutters.jpg" width="323" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mary Butters by Eleanor Quinn</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Very. Unlike other</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
projects where you are given a tidy brief to work from, how to go about </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">this was entirely up to me. I felt sure that I didn't want to
make a comedy </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">of the stories, and sure that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I didn't want to sensationalize
them by going </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000;">full on fairytale witchy or Gothic demonic on it. I was most
interested in </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">the people, because they were real people</span><span style="color: #4c1130;">,</span> </span><span style="background-color: white;">who really went
though this, so </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I settled on a portrait of each main character, trying to
depict them with </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">a bit of respect, and some ambiguity on whether they were
actually witches </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">or not.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span>
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<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>There's a dignity to that creative approach, and it comes across in the finished work. I think thats what drew me so strongly to your print of Alice. Of all the stories in the book - what was your favorite to work on? </b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">My favourite
piece was the </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">portrait of Mary Butters, I think it was the most fun because
it's such a </span></span><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">dramatic story.<span style="color: #741b47;"> </span><span style="color: #990000;">Mary was a plant-witch, or butter-witch, from
Co. Antrim at </span></span></span><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: #990000;">the start of the 1800s.</span> </span>She was hired by a local family to
lift a </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">cattle-curse from their livestock but ended up killing three
of the family </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">members in the process by asphyxiating them with the fumes of
the potion </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">she was brewing. I've drawn her leaning over her pot of
noxious smoke, </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">which was gorgeous to draw with all the swirling clouds. This
story is also </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">a favourite of mine because Mary was acquitted and carried on practicing </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">her craft, a rare good outcome in the annals of
witch-history! Though </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">hopefully she didn't try that particular method again.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>Let's hope not! I love your illustrative style. Can you tell us a little about your aesthetic as an artist?</b></span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Sure, I owe a lot of my style to my two main loves from art
college, line </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">drawing and copper etching. I had the most wonderful drawing
teacher, Megan </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Eustace, who taught me to love line work, which followed
nicely into </span></span><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">working etching onto copper plates. <span style="color: #cc0000;">Etching is such a
beautiful </span></span></span><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #cc0000; float: none; word-spacing: 0px;">traditional process, and has been used for some of my all
time favorite </span></span></span><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">illustrations from the Golden Age.</span><b style="color: #4c1130;"> </b></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="float: none;">I'm just working with pen
on paper at </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="float: none;">the moment, but the style of my work very much owes to
printmaking. The </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="float: none;">content of my work has always leant towards the magical,
dreamy side of </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">things, so projects like this are made for me. We've just
begun working on </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sharpe's The History of Witchcraft in Scotland - much more
grim reading but </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">some fantastic stories there too, I'm already excited about
the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">illustrations that could come from them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>So more witchcraft - but a much darker project I imagine. Best of luck with Bramble Hill Press, and thanks for the interview Eleanor!</b><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The Bramble Hill edition of John Seymour's Irish Witchcraft and Demonology is now available <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1090668643/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_5pb-CbW5RDCDM"><b><span style="color: #990000;">on Amazon</span></b><span style="color: black;"> </span></a> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">& here's a link to <i>Bramble Hill Press Etsy Shop</i> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/BrambleHillPress?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=689708022" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">where prints are available</a></i></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lJRaYrb1GII/XPqIUOEJwSI/AAAAAAAAEBs/_uK38DRE9Z8LNASun5Rn5LAssgOWPkxKQCLcBGAs/s1600/witchcraft%2Bbramble%2Bhill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lJRaYrb1GII/XPqIUOEJwSI/AAAAAAAAEBs/_uK38DRE9Z8LNASun5Rn5LAssgOWPkxKQCLcBGAs/s400/witchcraft%2Bbramble%2Bhill.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bramble Hill Press Illustrated Edition</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-18205328768865364332019-05-23T13:12:00.002+01:002019-05-23T18:13:16.927+01:00Historical Novels Review <br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/307/307836/her-kind/9781844884339.html">Her Kind</a> </b>is featured in the latest issue of <a href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/natural-connections-niamh-boyces-her-kind/"><b>Historical Novels Review,</b></a> the monthly magazine from the <a href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/">Historical Novel Society</a>.... its a very insightful piece by Bethany Latham - who touches on the heart of the book - the mother-daughter dynamic...</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 'Sorcery, religion, politics, greed, privilege, power – all pale in comparison to what one finds at the heart of this story: that natural connection, the love of a mother for her child.'</i></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lAf4jhDtYxg/XOaMDkomtLI/AAAAAAAAEAE/j0He2FQYhfETEgHsomHze72kcvFLbEczQCLcBGAs/s1600/hnr%2Bsection.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="639" height="376" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lAf4jhDtYxg/XOaMDkomtLI/AAAAAAAAEAE/j0He2FQYhfETEgHsomHze72kcvFLbEczQCLcBGAs/s400/hnr%2Bsection.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>the full article can be read <a href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/natural-connections-niamh-boyces-her-kind/">HERE</a></b><br />
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Bibi Baskin reviewed Her Kind today on <b>T<a href="https://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/913165-the-today/">he Today Show</a> </b>with Maura & Daithi</div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b> <i>'I couldn't put it down</i>.'</b></span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-23905224788001571922019-05-18T12:41:00.000+01:002019-05-25T11:46:03.881+01:00The Flemish Connection<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'As searing a critique of our own times as is Arthur Millers The Crucible. ' EU Prize for Literature. </td></tr>
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Her Kind is based on the Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyteler- the infamous Flemish moneylender that lived in 14th century Kilkenny. I have been amazed and delighted with the interest in the novel, and the story behind it, especially the connection with Flanders, and the Flemish woman who made such an impression. </div>
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A lot of people who have read Her Kind, have been very curious about the existence of ancient Flemingstown. The fact that Kilkenny has long been made up of an English town and an Irish town is well known, but not quite so well known is that there was once a third town - the town of the Flemings. </div>
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The Flemish settlers arrived -‘not long after the English invasion,’ (John A. Prim) and built their own separately walled town, with its own towers and gates. It's referred to in ancient documents as Flemings towne, or the ‘town of the Flemings. They were a colony of traders, fullers, cooks, brewers and weavers – who were
invited over for the advancement of art and improvement of trade by the early
inhabitants of Kilkenny. Well established by the 14th century, it was built where Switzer’s Asylum, (St James Asylum) existed. I would love to know where the town gate ended up, Prim recounts that it was moved and re-erected at New Key (his spelling)...its a location I'm not aware of, perhaps a Kilkenny historian out there can help us with that.. it features strongly in Her Kind, so it would be very exciting to locate the ancient gateway. </div>
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In the meantime, in St Canice's cathedral, the grave slab of the prosperous merchant Jose Kyteler - can still be seen today. He died in 1280, and his slab is inscribed in Norman French requesting '<i>Stop and say a prayer, you who pass by here</i>'. His daughter Alice would go on to be the most well remembered of those Flemish Settlers, she would go on to become notorious. </div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">I was interviewed on Arena by Sean Rocks recently - we talked about Alice Kytler, Sorcery trials & Her Kind </span></b><b><span style="color: #990000;">- put on the kettle, and have a listen <a href="https://www.rte.ie/radio1/arena/programmes/2019/0403/1040507-arena-wednesday-3-april-2019/">HERE</a></span></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-46889583455920199302019-05-16T12:43:00.001+01:002019-05-16T19:58:49.206+01:00Hot Press Interview<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-meIZ96wKZXM/XN1IeSA003I/AAAAAAAAD-w/b_qsLhXV1a4YKL0nDGQeP0RX8GyQiR6AgCLcBGAs/s1600/hot%2Bpress%2Bartcile%2Broisin%2Bdwyer.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="968" height="233" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-meIZ96wKZXM/XN1IeSA003I/AAAAAAAAD-w/b_qsLhXV1a4YKL0nDGQeP0RX8GyQiR6AgCLcBGAs/s320/hot%2Bpress%2Bartcile%2Broisin%2Bdwyer.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Photo by Manuel Ruiz</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #212529; font-family: "frankruhllibre"; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;"><i>Her Kind: 'A beautifully absorbing novel, illuminating the remarkable story of a woman whose life has been since subsumed by folklore. Highly Recommended.' </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #212529; font-family: "frankruhllibre"; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;"><i>Hot Press - Roisin Dwyer </i></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #660000;">Here's an excerpt from the recent Hot Press Interview with Roisin Dwyer...</span></b></div>
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<i>Live From the Witch Trials</i></div>
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A re-imagining of the events leading to Ireland’s first witch trial, Niamh Boyce’s Her Kind is a brilliantly compelling effort.</div>
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When you think of medieval women you think of cowed, subservient people,” says Niamh Boyce, sitting in Cassidy’s Hotel, where we’re discussing her new work <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Her Kind</em>. “Alice Kyteler was incredibly powerful. She was one of the first money lenders and a property owner. She was a mature older woman who had four husbands. If she existed, how many others that we don’t know about did? We know a version of history which the powerful wanted us to know.”.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529;">Her Kind</em><span style="color: #212529;"> – the title is a nod to the Anne Sexton poem – is an historical reimagining of the events leading to Ireland’s first witch trial, told primarily through the story of Alice’s servant Petronelle..... </span><b><i><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://www.hotpress.com/culture/book-interview-niamh-boyce-kind-22771689">Read the full Article Here</a>.</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Her Kind</span></span><span style="font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> i</span><span style="font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">s available from</span><span style="font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a data-content="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=2XF6QLVGDRJSX&keywords=her+kind+niamh+boyce&qid=1557395426&s=books&sprefix=her+kind+%2Cstripbooks%2C138&sr=1-1-fkmrnull" data-type="external" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=2XF6QLVGDRJSX&keywords=her+kind+niamh+boyce&qid=1557395426&s=books&sprefix=her+kind+%2Cstripbooks%2C138&sr=1-1-fkmrnull" rel="undefined" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span><span style="font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span style="color: #990000;">, &</span> from the</span><span style="font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a data-content="https://www.bookdepository.com/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/9781844884339?redirected=true&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Base1&utm_source=IE&utm_content=Her-Kind&selectCurrency=EUR&w=AFFPAU9631FMDTA803VX&pdg=pla-308360991107:kwd-308360991107:cmp-711089934:adg-39921983227:crv-163908794634:pid-9781844884339:dev-c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItOKlo5aO4gIVms13Ch2SHADqEAQYASABEgLrkfD_BwE" data-type="external" href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/9781844884339?redirected=true&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Base1&utm_source=IE&utm_content=Her-Kind&selectCurrency=EUR&w=AFFPAU9631FMDTA803VX&pdg=pla-308360991107:kwd-308360991107:cmp-711089934:adg-39921983227:crv-163908794634:pid-9781844884339:dev-c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItOKlo5aO4gIVms13Ch2SHADqEAQYASABEgLrkfD_BwE" rel="undefined" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Book Depository</a> for </span><span style="font-family: "basic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">U.S. readers.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Signed Copies</b> - There are now signed copies in </span><span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dubray Books in Kilkenny and Grafton Street; The Book Centres in Kilkenny and Wexford; Woodbine Books, Kilcullen; Easons, Newbridge; The Gutter Bookshop in Temple Bar; and in </span><span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">all Easons in Dublin City. </span><br />
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<span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>I was delighted to discover that Her Kind is still a best seller in Dubray Bookshop and in The Book Centre in Kilkenny! Thank you so much readers and booksellers.</i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dubray Bookshop Kilkenny.</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-59255283442212339072019-05-07T22:57:00.002+01:002020-08-24T15:18:32.856+01:00Reading and Q& A in 'The Maynooth Bookshop'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rg4GRgziS1Y/XNH7b_sVE2I/AAAAAAAAD98/M4ddV-MOIiUPqoN6uM36frhNLZ-AiWhcACLcBGAs/s1600/maynooth%2Bbookshop%2Bposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="726" height="223" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rg4GRgziS1Y/XNH7b_sVE2I/AAAAAAAAD98/M4ddV-MOIiUPqoN6uM36frhNLZ-AiWhcACLcBGAs/s400/maynooth%2Bbookshop%2Bposter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm really looking forward to visiting Maynooth, Co Kildare this Thursday evening to read from Her Kind, answer questions about the novel, the Kilkenny witchcraft trials, or whatever comes up :) The bookshop has even recreated the scene from Her Kind's cover in their window display! Everyone is more than welcome.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Maynooth Bookshop</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">REVIEW: SUNDAY INDEPENDENT </span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>'</b><i>Atmospheric, magical thriller' </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hilary A White reviewed Her Kind in the Sunday Independent, and completely made my week...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16px;">'There is something bizarrely accomplished about how Boyce delicately unfolds this atmospheric, magical thriller with pace and juice, while also making sure that the sentiments (vilification of women, policing of female biology, etc) echo through time.</span></div>
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In doing so, Her Kind feels like a reliable classic you'd find in the type of local library Boyce worked in, not the work of a second time novelist.'</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">...you can read the full review <a href="https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/classic-feel-to-kilkenny-witch-trial-saga-38032570.html">HERE</a></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-51952668494731964282019-04-07T21:07:00.002+01:002020-08-24T15:25:02.948+01:00Publication Week News<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16.8px;">Greetings from Rescue Remedy Season, also known as publication week :) </span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WtR_-wCf864/XKpRv6NSzWI/AAAAAAAAD8g/KGhIf9i25ukz2fWInJmDUH-xZLLGqI6pACLcBGAs/s1600/Banner-Content-EU-Prize-300x76.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 16.8px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="76" data-original-width="300" height="80" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WtR_-wCf864/XKpRv6NSzWI/AAAAAAAAD8g/KGhIf9i25ukz2fWInJmDUH-xZLLGqI6pACLcBGAs/s320/Banner-Content-EU-Prize-300x76.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">Amazing news...</span><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16.8px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=79989503256109&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvqmt=p&keywords=niamh+boyce&qid=1554666091&s=gateway&sr=8-1"><b>Her Kind</b></a> was shortlisted by the Irish jury for the <a href="http://www.euprizeliterature.eu/">EU Prize for Literature</a>. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16.8px;">It was nominated with </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16.8px;">Jan Carson’s <i>The Fire Starters,</i> <i>Catholic Boy</i> by Rosemary Jenkinson, <i>The</i></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16.8px;"><i> Watch House</i> by Bernie McGill. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: 16.8px;"><b>Review... </b></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16.8px;">I was thrilled to read Anna Carey's review in the Irish Times. You spend years, in this case five, working alone on a book, putting your heart into it - sending it out in the world can be a pretty terrifying experience. So it was wonderful to read ... </span><span style="color: #515151; font-size: 16px;"><i>'14th century Kilkenny is so evocative and atmospheric the reader can almost taste the honeycombs in Petronelle’s carefully tended hives and feel the heavy animal pelts that line Alice’s secret chamber</i>...' t</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16.8px;">he full review can be read <b>H</b></span><b style="font-size: 16.8px;"><a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/her-kind-review-prose-striking-perfect-balance-between-gritty-and-sublime-1.3839356" style="font-size: 16.8px;">ere</a>.</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #660000;">Irish Times Interview....</span></b><br />
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I was interviewed by Rosita Boland in Athy last week - '<i>h<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16.8px;">istorically, it was always women who were deemed to be witches, and considered to be dangerous personages, especially when they showed any evidence of independence</span></i><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"> ... the full interview can be read <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/i-think-it-s-important-to-retrieve-people-especially-women-from-history-1.3835014?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter"><b>Here</b></a></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Irish Times</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #660000;">Thank you readers, and future readers, booksellers and fellow writers, journalists and reviewers - if you didn't love books, the world would be an arid, lonely place. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-56300835041223383872019-03-22T23:05:00.000+00:002019-04-07T20:29:34.218+01:00Cuirt 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm delighted that critically acclaimed, poet and novelist,<b> <a href="http://nessaomahony.com/">Nessa O'Mahony</a> </b>will launch <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333"><b>Her Kind</b></a> as part of <a href="https://www.cuirt.ie/whats-on/"><b>Cuirt</b></a> on Monday, April 8th at the <b><a href="https://www.galwaytourism.ie/galway-entertainment/galway-restaurants/Biteclub-l1119.html">BiteClub</a>.</b></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-82063836628549011272019-03-11T20:16:00.003+00:002019-03-11T20:43:57.619+00:00Cuirt 2019 : Her Kind Galway Launch!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6dfAMiND-Hs/XIa_wsgvbDI/AAAAAAAAD7c/DOlixRxwu68yiJawnQnrRNwe128ov85dACLcBGAs/s1600/cuirt%2B2019.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="790" height="134" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6dfAMiND-Hs/XIa_wsgvbDI/AAAAAAAAD7c/DOlixRxwu68yiJawnQnrRNwe128ov85dACLcBGAs/s320/cuirt%2B2019.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, in addition to the hometown launch, we're off to the West to have a Galway Launch for <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1548797576&sr=1-1&keywords=her+kind"><b>Her Kind</b></a>! It'll be on Monday 8th at 6pm in the Biteclub on Abbeygate Street. I'm delighted to be bringing the novel to an International Festival like Cuirt - Everyone and their granny is welcome of course! I'll be teaching a workshop that morning at the Galway Arts Centre called Fact to Fiction...<i>(for more details and to book a place click</i><b><a href="https://tht.ie/3173/cuirt-2019"><i> here</i></a> )</b><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8cLy5ruQtxE/XIa_1C7hpcI/AAAAAAAAD7k/MrtYSVvUGeAwK_IlSOo8HTP3LPVQPTIbgCLcBGAs/s1600/her%2Bkind%2Bbook%2Blaunch%2Bgalway%2Bcuirt%2B2019.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="561" height="456" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8cLy5ruQtxE/XIa_1C7hpcI/AAAAAAAAD7k/MrtYSVvUGeAwK_IlSOo8HTP3LPVQPTIbgCLcBGAs/s640/her%2Bkind%2Bbook%2Blaunch%2Bgalway%2Bcuirt%2B2019.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-27771494160421753862019-02-26T23:32:00.000+00:002019-02-27T12:58:15.904+00:00Her Kind Launch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E_XE87pCkkg/XHXL92jyTvI/AAAAAAAAD60/_g-wm6F45VUfReqE9COfKzT_ii72u8IdACLcBGAs/s1600/Her%2BKind%2BInvite%2BFinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1055" data-original-width="1600" height="262" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E_XE87pCkkg/XHXL92jyTvI/AAAAAAAAD60/_g-wm6F45VUfReqE9COfKzT_ii72u8IdACLcBGAs/s400/Her%2BKind%2BInvite%2BFinal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>And goes without saying - you're all invited!</b><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R9uyBHVESK4/XHZ7cT6dTQI/AAAAAAAAD7A/XErnzrYgJ98IxWSxRhcdtTxcl7GgHrPmgCLcBGAs/s1600/Her%2BKind%2BFinal%2BJacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1047" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R9uyBHVESK4/XHZ7cT6dTQI/AAAAAAAAD7A/XErnzrYgJ98IxWSxRhcdtTxcl7GgHrPmgCLcBGAs/s400/Her%2BKind%2BFinal%2BJacket.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
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Available to pre-order from <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333">Amazon</a>, </b><b><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/9781844884339">Book Depository</a>, <a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Niamh-Boyce/Her-Kind/23511289">Hive</a> & </b><b><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781844884339?awc=3787_1551268926_180e1a6a731aa7904bba7c9958ee3cda&utm_source=117976&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Penguin+Books">Waterstones</a></b><br />
<i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: none;"><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1324,
Kilkennie</span></b></i><br />
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<b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">A woman seeks refuge for
herself and her daughter in the household of a childhood friend. The friend,
Alice Kytler, takes her in, but warns her to hide their old connection.<o:p></o:p></span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In the months that follow
Petronelle realises the city is as dangerous as the wolves that prowl the
countryside, and that Dame Alice is no one’s guardian…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Once again, Petronelle
decides to flee. But this time she is faced with forces darker than she could
ever have imagined, and finds herself fighting for more than her freedom ...</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: none;">Her
Kind </i><span style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: none;">is
a moving and atmospheric re-imagining of the events leading to the Kilkenny Witch Trial of 1324.</span></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-71722947826677433012019-01-29T16:15:00.001+00:002019-01-29T17:36:15.845+00:00Her Kind<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3J4v6ANKi4k/XFB0B3wR5uI/AAAAAAAAD5Y/ILttSgKReIciKyTOjTUTzPYjFS9Anth8wCLcBGAs/s1600/her%2Bkind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="327" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3J4v6ANKi4k/XFB0B3wR5uI/AAAAAAAAD5Y/ILttSgKReIciKyTOjTUTzPYjFS9Anth8wCLcBGAs/s400/her%2Bkind.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
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Published by Penguin Random House</div>
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The release date for my novel based on the Kilkenny Witchcraft trials is nearing, its the 4th April! </div>
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The book is inspired by events in Kilkenny in 1324, by a trial that arose after moneylender Dame Alice Kytler was accused of witchcraft by Bishop Ledrede. She was a very wealthy business woman with debtors, and relations, in high places - records show she had lent King Edward (half of Kilkennie was governed by the crown in those days) a princely five hundred pounds. There's no record of his honoring that payment... but more of all that later. </div>
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The case is historically significant for a number of reasons, it predates the Witch hunts of the 16th Century by two hundred years, yet the accusations made against Alice and her household, are almost identical to those that were to follow. It marks a significant moment in witch trial history, one where sorcery was elevated from being a petty to a much more serious, heretical crime - a change that had significant long term consequences... But, the heart of my book are the people involved in the case, Richard Ledrede, Dame Alice Kytler and her maid Petronelle ... </div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>Her Kind is available to pre-order <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548778309&sr=8-1&keywords=her+kind+niamh+boyce">Here</a></b></span></div>
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***</div>
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The novel also got a mention in this piece...</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><a href="http://six%20irish%20fiction%20titles%20to%20look%20out%20for%20in%202019%20-%20here/">'<b>Six Irish Fiction Titles to look out for in 2019</b></a><b>' </b></span><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rU_b_BLLuvQ/XFB0H7qKyxI/AAAAAAAAD5c/cDKYZ5K7XYsIiS9CxhHhO615MONeWQ8pwCLcBGAs/s1600/image%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="900" height="136" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rU_b_BLLuvQ/XFB0H7qKyxI/AAAAAAAAD5c/cDKYZ5K7XYsIiS9CxhHhO615MONeWQ8pwCLcBGAs/s320/image%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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For anyone interested in hearing more in the meantime - I wrote an article about the background to the trial for Womankind's Gothic edition....<br />
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<img alt="Issue #5: Gothic" src="https://www.womankindmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/womankind5_cover-RGB1-300x385.jpg" /></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.womankindmag.com/products-page/magazines/issue-5-gothic/">Womankind</a> </b>#5</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-35561352828963894882018-11-27T14:27:00.000+00:002018-11-27T19:09:22.480+00:00Irish Writers Centre Workshops<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8fen55OfV5g/W_1TzXat8mI/AAAAAAAAD4I/QM_IJU69KcUMi1Po3gYu7oDeX_Me_jWcgCLcBGAs/s1600/irish%2Bwriters%2Bcentre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="474" height="103" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8fen55OfV5g/W_1TzXat8mI/AAAAAAAAD4I/QM_IJU69KcUMi1Po3gYu7oDeX_Me_jWcgCLcBGAs/s400/irish%2Bwriters%2Bcentre.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "geneva" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm delighted to be back teaching in the<a href="https://irishwriterscentre.ie/"> Irish Writers Centre</a> this Spring - I love teaching there - I first set foot in the Centre as an inaugural Novel Fair Winner, and ended up being published by Penguin Ireland as a result. That was <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Herbalist-Niamh-Boyce-ebook/dp/B00AM7E6PQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543345571&sr=8-1&keywords=the+herbalist+niamh+boyce"><b>The Herbalist</b></a>, and my new book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Kind-Niamh-Boyce/dp/1844884333/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543345637&sr=1-4&keywords=niamh+boyce"><b>Her Kind</b></a> (about the Kilkenny witchcraft trial) will also be published by Penguin Random House next April. I am teaching two courses, one runs over a few weeks, and is aimed at beginners, or those of you beginning again. The second reflects my interest in turning fact into fiction, as my two novels were both based on real life trials.... </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "geneva" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: "geneva" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Six Week Starter Kit</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "geneva" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">'This course is suitable for those new to writing, or interested in getting back to writing. Fun but focused, the core of this course will be weekly writing exercises. Through these, participants will create, and shape new fictions. These might grow into flash pieces, short stories, monologues, rants or chapters. Each writer will work towards completing their piece over the course of the six weeks. Basic character development, voice, point of view, story and setting will also be discussed.' </span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "geneva" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">To book -<i><b> <a href="https://irishwriterscentre.ie/collections/beginner/products/6-week-starter-kit-with-niamh-boyce">click here</a></b></i></span><i><b><a href="https://irishwriterscentre.ie/collections/beginner/products/6-week-starter-kit-with-niamh-boyce"> </a></b></i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: "geneva" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>From Fact to Fiction (One Day)</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "geneva" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Do you have a story you always wanted to tell? Something that really happened but you don't know how to handle the material? This workshop will explore how true stories can inspire a work of fiction. Participants will look at character, voice, setting, first draft, research, 'how much truth, how much fiction,' and revision. The course is suitable for both beginners and those who have been writing for a while. All you need is a pen and notebook.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "geneva" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">To book -<b><i> <a href="https://irishwriterscentre.ie/collections/beginner/products/from-fact-to-fiction-with-niamh-boyce">click here</a></i></b></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-60350587993630411952018-10-27T12:20:00.000+01:002018-11-27T18:42:56.816+00:00Intermission<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9U7od6iVJ-E/W9RJJHT2n1I/AAAAAAAAD3Q/rdnaOt3lfncEbnnfBc7iqQVCHGpj37UMQCLcBGAs/s1600/intermission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="640" height="285" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9U7od6iVJ-E/W9RJJHT2n1I/AAAAAAAAD3Q/rdnaOt3lfncEbnnfBc7iqQVCHGpj37UMQCLcBGAs/s320/intermission.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Going offline to concentrate on writing... </div>
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back soon :) </div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-34020224178446768152018-10-21T12:47:00.001+01:002018-11-03T22:04:28.673+00:00The Book Show - Historical Fiction<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-cNcjAQR9k/W94bWKJejuI/AAAAAAAAD3s/aFujEr0WA5c_GsJCAuRhaNptN2EQ8m75wCLcBGAs/s1600/herbalist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="226" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-cNcjAQR9k/W94bWKJejuI/AAAAAAAAD3s/aFujEr0WA5c_GsJCAuRhaNptN2EQ8m75wCLcBGAs/s320/herbalist.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-espj8eG_xLI/W8xl1LO3HGI/AAAAAAAAD2o/49ZrjTpWuWIVVu1PSRVevr3PEq9vcRc-wCLcBGAs/s1600/herbalist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span><br /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both of my novels, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Herbalist-Niamh-Boyce/dp/024196458X"><b><span style="color: black;">The Herbalist</span></b></a> and <b><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=her+kind+niamh+boyce">Her Kind</a></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></b>(<i>available for pre-order <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=her+kind+niamh+boyce"><b><span style="color: black;">here</span></b></a><b>!</b></i>) were based on legal trials from another century. The Herbalist was inspired by the case of Don Robert Rodriguez de Vere in 1940's Athy, and Her Kind explores Kilkenny's infamous sorcery trial - the case of Dame Alice Kytler. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="color: #444444;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My interest in hidden stories, in excavating silenced voices has led me to write books are often seen as historical, or more recently as bio-fiction. Like most writers, I just write what fascinates me, and am sometimes surprised at the labels attached to the finished book. This is just one of the subjects discussed on <span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The Book Show tonight. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The show is hosted by novelist and poet, Nuala O Connor. The guests are Paul Lynch, Andrew Miller and myself. We'll be discussing historical fiction, language, research and whether historical fiction has an image problem! </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Listen in, <span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">at 7pm or catch the podcast later.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="color: #444444;"></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">For more - check out <b>The </b></span><a href="https://www.rte.ie/radio1/the-book-show/" style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Book Show Website</b></span>.</a><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994715120426119071.post-43995762615223834242018-10-19T12:40:00.002+01:002018-10-19T12:54:28.016+01:00The Flight of the Wren<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sxPjsFjCOeE/W8m5Mv8OKEI/AAAAAAAAD2A/1syNFOow-esW_ppVy7SGzITfXTlRZrXOgCLcBGAs/s1600/fligh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="198" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sxPjsFjCOeE/W8m5Mv8OKEI/AAAAAAAAD2A/1syNFOow-esW_ppVy7SGzITfXTlRZrXOgCLcBGAs/s1600/fligh.jpg" /></a></div>
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The Wrens were a community of women who lived brutal lives on the plains of the Curragh in the 19th Century. They worked as prostitutes, and earned their name from the hollowed out nests under the furze in which they sheltered. The Wrens of Kildare have long intrigued novelists, poets, historians and artists, including Maria Luddy, Rose Doyle, Martin Malone, and Ann Egan. A first hand account was published in Dickens newspaper, <a href="http://www.kildare.ie/library/ehistory/2008/07/the_wrens_of_the_curragh.asp"><b>The Pall Mall Gazette </b>in 1867</a> and remains a fascinating document. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Today, I'm talking to award winning writer, Orla McAlinden who was inspired by this community of women to write her exciting debut novel, <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flight-Wren-Orla-McAlinden/dp/1912514265/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539948304&sr=8-1&keywords=the+flight+of+the+wren+orla+mcalinden">The Flight of the Wren</a>.</b> </span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #000120;"></span></u><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><b>The Curragh Wrens lived a fascinating and brutal
life, did you feel a spark, a strong desire to write about them, from the
second you learned of their existence, or was it something that developed over
time?</b> </span></div>
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I knew very little about the Curragh wrens for the first ten
years that I lived in Kildare, despite living within a brisk half hour walk of
the Curragh. I knew of their existence but little more. However, the turning
point in my relationship with the story came during the bicentenary of the official
founding of Newbridge Town. <i>Newbridge 200</i>
was celebrated in 2012 with a plethora of art, history, walks and music. I
found myself walking through the <i>She-barracks</i>
(the old brothel district) with local historians; poring over old drawings and
photos that showed a military installation fit to rival Collins Barracks in
Dublin; and learning to discern traces of the past in the architecture, the
street names and the shop-fronts and signage. Co-incidentally, 2012 was also the year in which I first
started writing, after the death of my father. Prior to his death, I had been
an avid reader, but never had put words on a page before. The writing, which
had begun as a secret catharsis, soon turned into first a hobby, then an
almost-obsession. I instinctively knew that I wasn’t ready, had
not yet the skills, to attempt the story of the Wrens. It took two years before
I felt able to start fleshing out their tale.</div>
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<b>Jane McNamee Sings of the Wrens of the Curragh...</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>How important was sense of place in writing the
story of Sally Mahon - do you think living so close to the area, gave you an
essential sense of connection? Is place important to you in general as a
writer?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">A sense of place is everything to me. My first book, a short
story collection called <i>The Accidental
Wife</i>, is set in a fictional village outside Omagh in Co Tyrone. Although
the village, and the farm at Drumnagort, do not exist, I see them clearly in my
mind’s eye. Those characters cannot walk through the world as they do, or use
the magnificent language they use, unless they come from the very real landscape
of rural Ulster. Likewise with <i>The Flight
of the Wren</i>, the landscape of Kildare and particularly the Curragh,
permeates every page of the Irish sections of the book. I have stood in the
howling wind which rushes off the Dublin mountains, sweeps unhindered across
the Curragh Plain and slams into Newbridge. I have heard the thundering hooves
of a dozen horses at full tilt across the short cropped grass of the Curragh,
as Sally Mahon in 1849 would have heard the Cavalry. My Tasmanian chapters are
all set indoors. I have never been to Tasmania, and rather than risk
inauthenticity, I brought my Australian characters inside, into the domestic environment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>I am interested in how you began The Flight of the
Wrens. Did Sally's voice come to you with ease as you began to write the story?
Or was it something that evolved as the story developed? How was she to work
with as a character, did she surprise you at any point?</b></span></span></div>
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<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10.66px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">People are sick to death of hearing how I started writing <i>The Flight of the Wren</i>, probably because
the story seems too neat to be true. The bones of the novel, the general narrative
arc, and the social milieux of the characters fell into my brain in the local
history section of Hodges Figgis bookshop. I picked up a small non-fiction book
by Catherine Fleming entitled <i>The
Transportation of Women from Kildare to Van Diemens Land,</i> and the novel was
firmly fixed in my brain by the time I had paid for the book and walked back to
the car park. I knew I finally had my route into the exploration of the Wrens
of the Curragh.</span></div>
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</span>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10.66px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I found Sally’s true voice very late in the process. The entire
book was rewritten at least five times in numerous voices and points of view.
For a long time my preferred voice was of the twelve year old Sally, extremely naïve
and trusting, relating baldly the facts of her existence. I also tried a
universal, omniscient POV, second person, third person. Sally did not find her
authentic voice until the final rewrite, when I thrust her forward in time by
almost 70 years, and let her tell her story with the full strength, wisdom and
clear-sight of the crone, rather than the maiden. </span></div>
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I adored Sally and she surprised me at every turn. I don’t
plot, and although I knew before I started writing that she would survive her
journey and triumph, I had absolutely no idea how. At the end of each writing
session of the first draft, I would sit back and say, <i>wow… I did <b>not</b> see that
coming.</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Your book explores the famine as well as the Curragh
Wrens. Have you any tips for emerging writers who may be interested in
exploring an aspect of social history or a real event from their own lives? </b></span></div>
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The most important advice I could suggest to any emerging
writer is to read. Read voraciously in your time-period and locality. For those
writers approaching historical fiction, the local library networks are amazing,
covering genealogy, land-leases, censuses, contemporary photographs etc. Get
stuck in. But, very importantly, remember that a novel is not a text book. As
long as you know everything, your reader doesn’t have to. Use your research lightly.</div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">What's next for you in terms of writing?</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
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I’m lucky in one sense. Because it was such a monumental and
time consuming effort to find a publisher for <i>The Flight of the Wren</i> (4 years and 70 rejections), I already have
my next book written and ready to go, so I am not under the enormous pressure that
other writers often find themselves; promoting one book, while trying to write
another. <i>Full of Grace</i> is another
short story collection, which re-introduces us to some of the characters from
the award-winning stories in <i>The
Accidental Wife,</i> and new characters have arrived in the village, or come to
my attention for the first time. I wouldn’t call it a sequel, more a companion
to <i>The Accidental Wife. Full of Grace</i>
will be published next Spring by Mentor Press. </div>
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<b>Thanks so much for the interview Orla, for more about The Flight of the Wren and Orla's work check out <a href="https://orlamcalinden.com/">her Blog.</a></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0