Author: helen

An tOileánach by Tomás Ó Criomthain is a book I read while studying Irish at UCC. It made a huge impression on me. It is a chronicle of the author’s life on the Blasket Island and the adventures of the inhabitants. I can still remember my lecturer, Liam P. Ó Murchú, waxing lyrical about ‘na…

I recently attended a reading at a short story festival in Cork. It was a showcase of writing from a new literary journal in the city library. Four authors read their work. One woman, I can’t remember her name, read a story she’d written about an old man, walking to the bog, carrying a mysterious…

I’m reading Five Editors Tackle the Twelve Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing by C.S. Larkin et al and I highly recommend it. It is available on Amazon and it is a fabulous book that gives insider tips for fiction writing. One tip is the rule of three. After three paragraphs of backstory, come back to…

I am pleased to announce that I was successful in my application for a mentoring grant. This will enable me to pay the fees of a mentor. I am really excited to start the mentoring process. My last books were written without any outside help- no editing, no mentoring or book coaching. I have since…

I recently joined a writer’s group in my local area. I have tried writer’s groups before and some of them weren’t great. They were pretty uninspiring. However this group is great. We all gel really well and a published writer comes along once a month to give us tips and feedback. I would say to…

There was a scarecrow festival on in the village of Leap last year and a friend told me a funny story about it. There were scarecrows all along the road through the village and one day my friend was on the bus as it came up that road. He said to the driver to stop,…