Journal Interview - fairy tales, folklore, Irish history, poetry, mermaids, silence & witchcraft.

Lyonesse Literary Journal...

Image by Monika Ruminska Akwarele

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 'In Conversation' feature - the interview covers fairy tales, folklore, Irish history, poetry, mermaids, silence, witchcraft and a little about next novel...! 

'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. 

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, Inside the Wolf (2018), in which she dissects traditional fairy tales to explore art, motherhood and her Irish ancestry. Boyce’s debut novel, The Herbalist 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. 

In 2019, Her Kind 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. In this interview, Lyonesse 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..... 

to read more - click here

In the Long Read section, there's an fantastic in depth critical analysis of my first novel The Herbalist, by Maeve Eveyln Reilly - (first, spoiler alert, it's best to read this after you've finished the novel!) - to read - click here-   

Image by Monika Ruminska Akwarele

There's also a beautiful feature by Sam Young on hares and their associations with the moon, goddesses and witchcraft - its illustrated by Monika Ruminska Akwarele's stunning watercolours... to read more - click here 

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... 

'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...' 

Stephen Wyatt

Night Swimming - Author Interview with Doreen Finn

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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…

Congratulations on your new novel Doreen - What a stunning cover! I love the title 'Night Swimming' - I immediately thought of the R.E.M song, is there a connection? 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! 

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? 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. I wanted the story of childhood to be authentic, and what could be more authentic than my own experience of that time? 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.

Author Doreen Finn

Your first novel 'My Buried Life' was told the point of view of an adult. This time, Megan your main character, is a young girl. Was her voice easy to slip into? 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.  I observed my own two children in their interactions with each other and with their friends, to see how kids see things, what they say in any given situation.  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.

Your writing is beautiful, so vivid and concise - who are the writers you like to read? That you admire? I love good writing. I will cartwheel over broken glass for good prose and well-developed characters. 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. 

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 I'm already stockpiling books for autumn.’ For me, there is no greater disappointment than a disappointing book. It grieves me.

Any tips for other writers? In terms of getting from idea to finished novel? 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. I don’t believe that everyone should start writing short stories before they tackle a novel. 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. 

So keep at it, stick with it, and see where the stories take you. 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.

   What's the worst writing advice you've ever gotten? 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.

  Thanks for coming by Doreen, and best of luck with your next novel. Follow Doreen on twitter for all her writing news - @doreen2cv

  Night Swimming is available from Mercier Press, 
all good bookshops & Amazon 

            

About the author: 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.

The Flight of the Wren

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, The Pall Mall Gazette in 1867 and remains a fascinating document. Today, I'm talking to award winning writer, Orla McAlinden who was inspired by this community of women to write her exciting debut novel, The Flight of the Wren. 

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?

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. Newbridge 200 was celebrated in 2012 with a plethora of art, history, walks and music. I found myself walking through the She-barracks (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.

Jane McNamee Sings of the Wrens of the Curragh...

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?
A sense of place is everything to me. My first book, a short story collection called The Accidental Wife, 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 The Flight of the Wren, 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.

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?

People are sick to death of hearing how I started writing The Flight of the Wren, 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 The Transportation of Women from Kildare to Van Diemens Land, 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.

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.  

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, wow… I did not see that coming.

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?

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.

What's next for you in terms of writing?

I’m lucky in one sense. Because it was such a monumental and time consuming effort to find a publisher for The Flight of the Wren (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. Full of Grace is another short story collection, which re-introduces us to some of the characters from the award-winning stories in The Accidental Wife, 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 The Accidental Wife. Full of Grace will be published next Spring by Mentor Press. 

Thanks so much for the interview Orla, for more about The Flight of the Wren and Orla's work check out her Blog.

Becoming Belle - An Interview with Nuala O' Connor

Firstly congratulations on such a compelling novel Nuala, its such a beautifully written story, and a fantastic read – I devoured it in one weekend!

Thanks a million, Niamh, that’s lovely to hear.

The character of Belle is based on a real person, someone you have known about for quite some time, and who is buried a ‘stone’s throw’ from where you live in Ballinasloe. You have already spoken about your research in previous interviews – so what I would love to know is, was it hard to chose which portion of Belles rich and various life to represent and what to leave out?

Nuala O' Connor

I think this is always the tangly bit for novelists – we do our research and end up with a pile of facts and then we have to finesse them into something readable and, hopefully compelling. And, basically, some of the facts of people’s lives don’t necessarily fit with the story we end up wanting to tell. So writing a novel becomes a series of questions about what caves (of the character’s life) we want to shine our torch into. I’m interested in people and their little madnesses and obsessions, so I wanted to see how Belle handled the various upheavals she found herself at the centre of (baby out of wedlock in 1888; a fraudster boyfriend; elopement with a viscount; his sudden disappearance etc.) I focussed on four consecutive years in Belle’s life and thought my way through the most relevant parts of them, as unearthed through research.

I adored the language of the novel, it evokes Belle’s world in an incredibly sensual and immediate manner. It’s a leap and a lifetime away from our contemporary hashtag /emoji/lol filled language – had you any particular rituals or techniques for immersing yourself in 1880s London when you sat down to write?

The only ritual I have is to read yesterday’s written work before I move onto today’s. That way I get myself back into the mood/tone/language of the piece before moving on. I wanted Becoming Belle to read like a Victorian novel, so I did a lot of research around that through reading contemporary social reports and newspapers, novels of the day etc. It’s important to me that the language sounds authentic so that the reader feels they’re immersed in the Victorian era.

Cigarette Cards Featuring Belle

I really enjoyed reading the Author’s Note where you fill us in on what happened to Belle and the other characters. It felt respectful to their real lived selves and was quite moving. If there’s a particular pleasure in weaving fiction and fact, what would you say might be the cautions – I am thinking of other writers who may be reading this – what would you say are the particular challenges that come with working in this genre?


I suppose I have contradictory thoughts about it. In one way I feel we as writers have a duty to be faithful to the lives and events of the real people we write about. In another way I feel we’re fiction writers, we should have freedom to invent where we feel that’s necessary. I come at my characters with love and respect. That doesn’t mean I present them as paragons, I want them to seem real: lacking, sweet, damaged, fun, blemished, honest and confused in the way that we all are. Belle can come over as selfish at times but who is not guilty of that on occasion? I think it’s important not to make demigods of real people – we all make mistakes, and do regrettable things, even our beloved factional characters.

Your short stories often involve real characters, and this is your second novel inspired by someone’s actual life (Miss Emily being the first) – do you feel you have found a groove, so to speak? Are you hooked? Can we expect more bio-fiction novels in the future?

Yes, I’m working on another bio-fictional novel now. It centres on a strong Irish woman who has been flicked to one side by history, but who I’m bringing centre stage. I love bio-fiction, but it can be a little restrictive, in that you have to hang your fiction on the archway of a real, lived life. Once my novel-in-progress is done, I may have a go at another contemporary novel. I miss the freedoms of unadulterated invention. That’s something to look forward to while I wade through the muddier bits of the novel-in-progress.

Best of luck with that novel in progress Nuala, and look forward to finding out who this strong Irish woman is!  Becoming Belle is available in all good book shops, and Amazon. For more about Nuala's writing,  and Belle (including a fascinating video of her collection of Belle ephemera) check out her Website 

Helena Duggan & the specs that inspired a novel

Helena Duggan is a writer from Kilkenny, a medieval, haunted city in the south of Ireland.  A Place Called Perfect is her first book. I met Helena many years ago on a writing course. Our group got on so well, that we still meet regularly and hound each other to keep writing:) 

  

Hi Helena! What inspired you to write A Place Called Perfect?

the original glasses!

I always wanted a pair of round rimmed glasses. Most people think when I tell them that I must’ve loved John Lennon or Harry Potter, and while Harry Potter is definitely on my list of favorite people - neither is the reason for my love of round specs. It was actually James Joyce who sparked my interest. I’d love to say I'd admired Joyce’s work from an early age, but truth be told, I didn’t know who he was outside of the fact that he was a man in a painting my mother owned and he wore the coolest glasses. Years later I saw a similar pair in an antique shop in Australia and I bought them convinced I would change the lenses and wear them myself. That never happened. The more I carried the glasses the more I began to think about their last owner. I wondered if he or she were dead and surmised they were as I the glasses were antique. I began to think about that person and their life. Maybe their memories had become locked inside the lenses and if I got rid of them - I’d be throwing away the last pieces of that person. This idea set me on the path to Perfect.


Perfect is a fascinating place, is it based on anywhere in particular? What was it like creating a world?

It’s based on Kilkenny. I hadn’t started out basing it here, it just kind of happened organically. I needed a family name and I chose Archer. It’s prominent in Kilkenny’s history, and it lent itself to both good and evil characters. Then I needed a place where part of the town could be hidden inside the other part without anyone noticing. Kilkenny’s High street sits above Kieran’s Street and its stone walls. I began to play with the idea of extending few walls here and there and locking Kieran Street inside the rest of the Town. This worked well as did the underground passages, cobbled roads and medieval graveyards of Kilkenny and slowly Perfect began to take shape. It was never a concise decision just something that happened really and I wasn’t aware that I was creating a world until it was created, otherwise I’m not sure I’d be able to do it ;)

And, last question Helena! Who is your favorite writer?

I love Roald Dahl, I read his books loads when I was younger and loved his language and how he made up his own words. Most of what I remember while reading his books is laughter. I think I laughed a lot and that feeling has stuck with me. I also really love JK Rowling's Harry Potter books. I haven’t read any of her other works. I think Harry Potter has stuck with me because she created a totally believable story right from the beginning, none of the seven books feel contrived and the whole idea which was huge has very few plot holes. Her world feels real to me!

About A Place Called Perfect… Who wants to live in a town where everyone has to wear glasses to stop them going blind? And who wants to be neat and tidy and perfectly behaved all the time?

But Violet quickly discovers there's something weird going on – she keeps hearing noises in the night, her mum is acting strange and her dad has disappeared.

When she meets Boy she realizes that her dad is not the only person to have been stolen away...and that the mysterious Watchers are guarding a perfectly creepy secret!

You can buy your copy HERE  at Amazon - or all good bookshops

Author Interview - Miss Emily by Nuala O'Connor

Thanks to Nuala O'Connor for dropping over to talk about her latest novel, Miss Emily, which imagines a year in the life of Emily Dickinson & is a fantastic read - a literary page turner!

Welcome Nuala, this is a few questions in one! Emily Dickinson had a fierce attachment to home, as a place of refuge, and a place to write. She was on our syllabus in school (1980's) and much was made of her hermit like existence, her rejection of society - as if this were odd, almost laughable, behaviour - as if dedicating your life to poetry was only heroic if you were male. For me, she was heroic, and (till now) her home represented a necessary fortress, somewhere that functioned to protect the time, space and silence she needed to write. I had visualised it as quite a sterile place, so I was surprised and delighted with the warmth and complexity of the household you depict in Miss Emily. The descriptions of the daily routines, the baking, Ada touching the eggs with her tongue... are so alive - I really felt like I was there. Did you enjoy recreating this household? Was it a challenge? Did the book Ada consults The Frugal Housewife really exist? And, I know you visited Emily’s home, so I'm very curious to know, how did that feel? Did you sense her there?

I loved the whole business of recreating the Dickinson world in Emily’s house, The Homestead, and her brother Austin’s house, The Evergreens, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Emily’s letters have some domestic detail and I read widely around the subject, including The Frugal Housewife, which is a book Emily’s father gifted to his wife before their marriage. You can read it online, but I also bought a facsimile copy to get a real feel for how the Dickinson's and Ada would have consumed it.

The two houses are now the Emily Dickinson Museum and, when I had a first draft written, I went to Amherst and walked the rooms of both. As well as the town itself, and various libraries there and in Cambridge, to see Emily’s belongings: desk, white dress, lock of hair, jewellery, delft etc. The research was totally absorbing – I loved every minute of it, whether from books or on the spot.

I was very moved to be in Emily’s house – you get a real sense of her, particularly in her bedroom which is a gorgeously sparse, bright space.

I think this is a brave book. To fictionalise the year in the life of such a famous poet, someone so well known, and loved. The success with which you've conveyed Emily’s voice, that in itself is a huge accomplishment. Did it feel like a risk to tackle such a famous writer? Has anything surprised you about the response to Miss Emily?

It certainly felt audacious to tackle Emily and her world – she’s an American icon. But I did it with love and good intentions; she’s been a companion poet to me for a long time and I stayed as faithful to her life and personality as fiction allows. I was respectful.

I expected a backlash; Dickinson scholars are notoriously protective of Emily, which I understand; I feel that way myself. One Dickinson scholar refused to blurb the book because of ‘inaccuracies’ (which were very minor and, in fact, had nothing to do with Emily).

Last month I read at the Emily Dickinson International Society annual meeting in Amherst as part of my US book tour. People were incredibly warm about the book; only one person asked a snarky question at the Q&A. And I understood their POV, anyway.

No book escapes criticism and personal reaction from readers. There was a bit of a hoo-hah on Facebook about the UK cover (the headless woman trope) and the person who started it didn’t seem to realise they were friends with me. I joined the conversation! I’m as irritated by headless women on book covers as the next person, but I just loved the cover when Sandstone showed it to me.

What’s next for you, Nuala?

I hope to rest and breathe a bit soon, when the Miss Emily PR train slows down, though I find it hard to say no to gigs, for a variety of reasons.

I have the first draft of another Victorian novel written - this one set between London, Hong Kong, Australia and Ballinasloe in County Galway (where I live). I have to go back to it soon and knock it into good enough shape for my agent. In the meantime, I hope to write some short stories set firmly in the 21st century.

Miss Emily can be purchased on Amazon Uk  & Amazon USA 
and all good book shops.

About the author - 

Nuala O'Connor is a fiction writer and poet. Writing as Nuala Ní Chonchúir she has published two novels, four collections of short fiction, a chapbook of flash fiction and three full poetry collections - one in an anthology.  Nuala holds a BA in Irish from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Translation Studies (Irish/English) from Dublin City University. She has worked as an arts administrator in theatre and in a writers' centre; as a translator, as a bookseller and also in a university library.  She teaches occasional creative writing courses. For the last four years she has been fiction mentor to third year students on the BA in Writing at NUI Galway. She lives in County Galway with her husband and three children.

Interview with Caitriona Lally

'A fairytale of contemporary Dublin, both edgy and eloquent.
A remarkable debut.' —Declan Kiberd.

Caitriona Lally's excellent debut novel Eggshells is published by Liberties Press. The book is about Vivian, a woman who doesn't fit in, and never has.  'She believes that she is a changeling, left by fairies on Earth, replacing her parents’ healthy human child. Now, as an adult, she’s trying to get back to the 'other world', where she feels she can finally belong. The thing is, Vivian is having some difficulties going back, so she’s forced to go about her Earth life in the meantime.' 

Here, I ask Catriona about setting, voice and writing advice.....

Vivian travels through Dublin, listing place names and tracing the shape of her route till it almost feels like city is woven into the pages of this novel. Was where you wrote, as well as where you lived, an important element in writing Eggshells?
The places I did the actual writing weren't as important as where I went to research the book. I walked my legs off around the city, writing down details of graffiti and unusual street signs and encounters with eccentric people in a notebook, but I saw the note-taking and the novel-writing as separate activities. When I finally came to write Eggshells, I had several scrawled notebooks and hundreds of paper-scraps, so the main work was putting some sort of shape on the notes. I'm not so organised as to have actually created a structure before I started the novel, so there was a lot of sifting through notes and scratching out. Having said that, I wrote a lot of Eggshells in the National Library on Kildare Street, and I spent so much time staring around me when I was supposed to be writing that I ended up setting part of a chapter in there.

Do you think it will be a factor in future work?
Where the character is located is hugely important to me – voice and setting would be the two main things I need in my head before I start. Once I can hear the character and see where he or she is situated, it all falls into place from that. That makes the rest of it sound easy, and it's not – it's just that I'm more character-driven than plot-driven, so maybe the setting is more important if I don't have a very structured plot to fall back on.
The novel I'm currently working on is set in Hamburg, but this happened totally by chance. After I finished Eggshells, I had the the characters of the second novel in my head, but no location. I felt I was all Dublined out, but I didn't know where to set the next book. Then I went to stay with a friend in Hamburg, and I was drawn to an old part of the city, so I decided to set the current book there. Again, I'm working from notebooks of stuff I saw and heard in Hamburg, but I'm doing the actual writing in Dublin.

Vivian Lawlor places huge importance on names. How did you come by hers?
You're right – names are massively important to Vivian, but I wrote the entire novel without a name for Vivian or even a title. When I started Eggshells, I had another untitled document open on my laptop, so this one was called “Untitled 2” and that's how it remained until just before submission. I didn't have a name for Vivian in the first couple of drafts; I was using the first person, and also Vivian isn't hugely sociable, so her name doesn't come up in conversation a lot. I gave her the same name as her older sister, and maybe that partly explains Vivian's obsession with names; she isn't unique within her family.
The main characters in the book I'm working on now still aren't named – they're “G” and “R” and I may not even stick with those initials.

The voice of Vivian is original and convincing. How did that voice come to you? Was getting under her skin something you enjoyed, and how was it to leave her behind?
Ah thanks! I have no idea where that voice came from. I mean, there are parts of me in her, but she has a completely unfiltered approach to life which was very refreshing to write. Most of us reign in our thoughts, but Vivian says everything that comes into her head and acts on it. I really enjoyed writing her, and seeing the world through her eyes – but there was a sadness to it as well. Vivian is quite lonely and is desperately trying to connect with the world, and when she fails, I felt for her.
I also got used to looking at Dublin through her eyes, and even now, it's hard to stop myself noticing street signs or graffiti that Vivian would enjoy. I was happy to leave her behind, though, I felt I was done. Maybe because I was writing in the first person, it got fairly intense reinterpreting my own version of the city as Vivian's.

We know a lot about Vivian’s immediate inner life, and we can guess some of the things she doesn’t tell us by her encounters (which can be very funny), yet there is little information about her personal history. This worked really well; I enjoyed how much you decided to leave out. The balance between what we know and what we don’t, are perfectly judged. Did you decide from the beginning to leave these gaps, or did they evolve naturally from following her voice? How do you feel about writing advice that emphasises plot, hooks and so on? 
 It wasn't a conscious decision from the beginning to leave out the details of her personal history. I started with the voice, and the story grew from there. I had no idea what was going to happen next or what kind of an ending Vivian faced. As the story developed, I realised there was some unhappiness in her background, but I wanted her to refuse to acknowledge or deal with it, and just sort of muddle through in her own way. I found that more interesting to write than painstakingly going through every childhood trauma. I think it becomes clear from the few details she offers throughout the book what has happened in the past, but I didn't want it to become a therapy novel with lots of gut-spilling and weeping and heart to hearts - that's not Vivian's way.
I think writing tips that emphasise plot and hooks can be really useful for people who write more plot-driven books. I suppose you write what you like to read, and I'm drawn to character-driven books so I don't prioritise hooks and cliffhangers. When it comes to TV and movies, however, I'm a total plot junkie and a sucker for cliffhangers, and I have to stop myself binge-watching whole series back-to-back.
It was fascinating to meet with some of the other Novel Fair winners after reading their work, and to find out about their writing processes. Some were motivated first and foremost by plot and had mapped out the exact plot of their novel before they began. That's completely different to the way I write – I haven't a clue where my character is headed - but I don't think either approach is better.

Any advice for writers working on their first novel?
 Keep at it. I had very little confidence that I could write a novel, let alone one that was publishable, so it's important to persevere in spite of what the negative voice in your head is saying.
And don't wait for the right mood or the right weather or the right pencil; just write.
And know that some days your writing will be complete muck and you'll have to delete almost every word – that's when it feels like two steps forward, three steps back – but in general, as long as you keep pushing forward, you're doing grand.
The other thing I'd say is to read hugely. Don't just read books by white men writing in English; read beautifully written books by writers from different genders, ages, races, languages. There is a world of fiction in translation that is pure magic.


About the author:

Caitriona Lally studied English Literature in Trinity College Dublin.  She has had a colourful employment history, working as an abstract writer and a copywriter alongside working as a home help in New York and an English teacher in Japan. She has travelled extensively around Europe,  Asia,  the Middle East, and South America. Her essay about Grangegorman appeared in a recent issue of We Are Dublin.  Eggshells was selected as one of 12 finalists in the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2014

To Purchase - Liberties Press or Amazon

Arkyne, A Vampire Tale

Caroline Farrell has just published her first novel Arkyne, an atmospheric gothic vampire tale set on the island of Inis Mor. I'm really delighted that Caroline popped over to answer a few questions...

1. You've set your story on Inis Mor, can you tell us why? Inis Mor is a spiritual place, and Dun Aonghusa is particularly exhilarating. I remember the first time I visited the cliffs, the wind was blasting and swirling with such power, it could have literally swept me off my feet. There is an 'other worldly' quality to the landscape. If magic exists, as I am inclined to believe, it is there in abundance.I didn't write any of ARKYNE while on the island, but the place definitely inspired me to develop it further.I had these characters hanging around in my head, and they settled well to that beautiful, haunting environment.

2. Who is your own favourite writer and why?I don't have one particular favourite,there are so many amazing talents out there. I was influenced by Anne Rice - would you ever have guessed that? -and I like Susan Hill, Alice Hoffman, Neil Gaiman and of course, Stephen King. I like a good mysterychiller, told with some natural magic, the very human kind - so I take inspiration from the aforementioned, and aren't we always told to write what we want to read?

Author Caroline Farrell

3. You wrote your book in a (relatively) unusual way by releasing it bit by bit, can you tell us why, and how you found that experience?I tend to break the traditional rules when it comes to creative stuff anyway. I take my writing very seriously, though I am not precious about it. Why not write online and interact with readers? It worked for me because (a) it helped me to set personal deadlines, and (b) I received honest feedback from readers who liked the genre, but also from writer friends who wouldn't normally touch the genre with a barge pole! I knew I would get feedback that was going to be balanced and truthful, and that was immeasurable in helping me finish it.

Can we have an excerpt?! Very difficult to pick a favourite, but since I have such a grá for the character of Henri, I’ll share my description of him…

Inside the château, amid sumptuous though somewhat decaying antique splendour, Henri de Rais sat by an open fireplace, engrossed in the pages of a small, dense volume on his lap, an ancient French Grimoire, bound in calf-leather and gold-leaf.

Coco’s father was a beautiful man, far more youthful looking than his forty-three years. And yet, to look into his dark eyes was to see wisdom of a very old soul, and heartache, so profound that the beholder might shudder with sadness. With unruly hair that fell across his serious expression, he carried on reading, his eye drawn to an incantation…


And thrice I hear thee, dark-winged harvester
Eater of souls
With thine hollow caw of malaise

…and so caught up between the words, his brow furrowed, that even as his pretty sister-in-law, Anna, entered the room carrying a tray laden with coffee and biscuits, Henri did not tear his gaze away from the page before him.

4. You’re also a film maker Caroline, can you tell me a little about that?A very different style of storytelling, but works for me.My stories generally demand their own medium of expression, so I'll know pretty early on whether they will develop as screenplays or novels, though occasionally, they become both, as was the case with ARKYNE.I've written and co-produced two short films so far, ADAM,2013 and IN RIBBONS, 2014. Film is primarily a visually driven, collaborative venture, whereas, writing a novel is a solitary business.I really don't prefer one over the other, and it's lovely to move between the two. Producing takes a lot of energy, from the physical to the intellectual and everything in between. There are a lot of managementand problem-solving skills that need to be tapped into, and it is imperative that you mind your most vital resource, the people who help you to make your film.I project-manage all the time through my day job, so I don't find any aspect of it particularly stressful. And there is nothing as satisfying as seeing your work on the big screen, so even the tough days are worth it.

5. What’s next for you?Later this year,through my own business Ninnyhammer Productions,I will direct my third short film, HUSHAWAY.I also have a number of feature scripts that I should really start pushing out there. In terms of novel writing, I am constantly working on something, mostly supernatural stories. The success, or not, of ARKYNE will determine what I put out next, but I also have a 'Lady Killer' drama that I have long had a love affair with, which is already in feature script format, so there is a possibility that I might jump genres and finish that one first. Time will tell - and I just wish I had more of it.

Thanks Caroline, you can find out more at... Caroline’s Blog: OR  Facebook Page:

And you can buy the book HERE