‘Incubator’ published in Banshee Lit

My story ‘Incubator’ was published in issue #3 of Banshee. I love this journal, edited by three amazing writers, and am delighted to be included in the same pages as some amazing writers such as Deirdre Sullivan, Amy Blythe and Lisa McInerney. ‘Incubator’ is about a very politically controversial issue here in Ireland at the […]

‘Omega’ published in “The Queen’s Head”

      My short story ‘Omega‘ is published in the latest edition of The Queen’s Head. It’s a quirky, illustrated, literary publication and their latest edition is science fiction themed. It’s free to read online but hardcore print traditionalists can always buy a copy for the low price of £5 (P&P included). ‘Omega’ is […]

Over the Edge New Writer’s Award

I’m absolutely delighted to announce that my Short Story ‘Smithereens’ was longlisted for the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year award. You can view the longlist here. It’s my third time entering the competition but first time making it this far, which goes to show: “try again, fail again, fail better.” It’ll all […]

Personal Writing: Granddad George

So I’ve been doing workshops with some sixth year students about how to answer the composition questions on their upcoming Leaving Cert Exams. The composition question is compulsory and it’s worth 25% of their total mark. Along with old favourites like the short story, one of the most popular options is the personal essay. I’ll […]

New Office Reveal (Ooo, Ahhh)

Finally, I’ve spent long years writing at the kitchen table or at a desk crammed into the corner of my bedroom or in cafés or libraries. This means that I always have to pack up after every writing session and spend good long whiles looking for notes and trying to find things and put up […]

2015 “Resolutions”

I don’t like resolutions. Once something becomes an obligation I tend to lose interest and use every excuse I can to get out of it. I don’t think they’re inherently bad, I’m just bad at them. The only thing I managed to maintain for 2014 was not ironing (for a whole year, that kind of […]

Literary Orphans

My short story ‘Symposium‘ has just been published in the wonderful journal, Literary Orphans. It’s an Irish themed issue and I’m lucky to be published alongside some incredible talents. Please go check out some of the stories if you have time. I wrote ‘Symposium’ back in 2009 or 2010 (I can’t really remember). But it’s […]

Clichés

I’ve noticed a few journals have a list of stories they’d rather not see. These lists can be entertaining but also educational when you realise that your fantastic idea for a story has been done so often that magazines have actually gone to the trouble of including them as ‘things not to do’ in their […]

Short Story Sunday: ‘The Blind Chinese Soldiers’ by Hirabayashi Taiko

I haven’t read any long Japanese literature. It’s only ever been poems and short stories. I’ve seen a lot of their cartoons, films and played the games though. ‘Blind Chinese Soldiers’ is the most striking story I found in this little gem of a collection. The author is a woman who was writing at a […]

Writing spots: Costa Coffee on Dawson street

So I’ve recently started doing the majority of my writing in cafés and other places that are not my home. (I also recently bought a Mac. I know, I’ve become the enemy) Some places are better than others for a variety of reasons so I’ve decided to write about why this is just in case […]