Breakfast at Ballymount…

OK technically it should be breakfast ‘in’ Ballymount, but it wouldn’t have had the same impact really, would it? So this morning was my TV debut on TV3’s Ireland AM. I have to admit I was pretty nervous about it yesterday. I’m not sure what I was afraid might happen but all sorts of scenarios

The Best Bookstores in the world

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/9-of-the-most-amazing-boo_n_659870.html 9 of the best bookstores in the world with some great photos. I’ve only been to one, Strand in New York (18 miles of books) but it’s definitely up there in my favourites! Anyone else any suggestions to add? Other than The Gutter Bookshop in Dublin, obviously…

Dublin as Unesco City of Literature

Nice article in today’s Irish Times, where Eileen Battersby examines why Dublin, a city “firmly planted on a bedrock of words” deserves to be a designated Unesco City of Literature. http://m.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/0727/1224275538933.html?via=rel Below is an edited timeline from the Dublin Unesco website dublincityofliterature.com Eighth-century Book of Kells created. Housed in Trinity College Dublin since 1661 Twelth-century

Advice from Other Writers

One of the things I like to dip into (sometimes as an excuse to put off doing any actual writing) is to read advice and tips from other writers. Below is a list of 10 good writing tips from Zadie Smith which I received via e-mail from Gotham Writers’ Workshops, originally published by The Guardian.

A morning well spent

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be invited along to a writers’ workshop with Brenda Flanagan, novelist, poet and short story writer who also happens to be a Cultural Ambassador for the US embassy. The night before, I’d been to see Brenda read at the embassy, although “perform” would be a better word for it.

First Post

OK, so this is my first post. I am pretty much posting to myself, so I guess I can say anything at this point. The question that’s in my head is why I am starting this blog? Do I have time to keep a blog? I know that the way to make a blog work