Irish Writers Podcast

We're back for one last hurrah. A long rambling conversation about YA, bookshops and the books we're currently reading.  Thanks for the listens. Announcements: The Dublin Writers Conference (21-23 June) have a special offer for listeners - pay for the Saturday and get one of the other days for free. WorldCon is happening in Dublin from 15-19th August.  Máire's book is still available in paperback and ebook. We won't be podcasting but we're not gone too far. Maire and Cathy are both on twitter.    

This week Máire talks to author of historical fiction Catherine Kullmann. Catherine talks about why she's drawn to the regency period she writes about and how its still relevant to today, and gives some great advice to other writers. You can find more information about Catherine on her website CatherineKullmann.com and you buy her books on amazon. You can find out more info about our podcast on Irishwriterspodcast.com and we're on twitter and facebook. Máire is also trying to get people to buy her fantasy novella! You can get it here.   Remember to rate and review on itunes, or wherever you get your podcasts.   This episode was presented and produced by Máire Brophy    

Máire met with fellow fantasy author JM Coombs for a chat in the rare Dublin sunshine to talk fantasy, fan fiction and writing full time. James' book Richard Struggle: Evacuate the Masquerade is out now. And you can find more updates on his writing on his website JMCoombs.com. The launch event for Máíre's book After the World is in Dublin on 1st August, and you can get tickets here.   

Máire caught up with writers Ann Richardson and Jacky Dahlhaus when they were in Dublin for the Dublin Writers Conference. Ann talks about her non-fiction writing and Jacky talks about her vampire trilogy. Máire's book is available to buy and if you're in Dublin on 1 August you can sign up to her launch event.

Cathy & Máire chat (with baby Willow) chat about the Dublin Writers Conference. They talk through the experience of the conference and the topics that came up there. Some relevant links: David Gaughran is a digital marketing guru. And though Máire couldn't remember the name, it was Amy Collins at New Shelves that gave amazing advice on Amazon profiles. You might also be interest in the Society of Authors, the London Writers Club and the Irish Writers Union. The Dublin Writers Conference have already set dates for 2019 - so you might want to keep the time free. We also announce the date and venue for Máire's Book launch event on 1st August. You can sign up for tickets here.  Remember to rate and review podcasts and books!                

With Máire's fantasy novella After the World being published today, Kate and Máire sit down to a proper chat about it. Máire talks through her influences in writing this book, where the original idea came from, and how other books and authors have shaped her thinking on fantasy storytelling. Kate reads an exerpt from After the World, and they both plan for the day when they can film Kate acting it out! You can buy After the World from today.    Presented and produced by Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy.  

Kate and Máire sat down to talk about their latest updates. Kate talks about her new book and Máire talks about the preparation (or lack thereof) in the run up to having a book come out. Máire talks to Laurence O'Bryan about the Dublin Writers Conference https://thedublinwritersconference.com/ and their event this June.  Kate and Máire talk fantasy fiction book covers and the recent Terry Goodkind statement about his recent book cover. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/26/terry-goodkind-book-cover-shroud-of-eternity We're also collecting our favourite terrible book covers, so send us yours to irishwriterspodcast@gmail.com This episode was presented by Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy, and produced by Máire Brophy      

For the second time we take our podcast out of the urban setting and take inspiration from the rural idyll. In this case the rural idyll was extremely cold, so it wore its hoody indoors the whole time. This is mostly an update of where we're at. Kate embarks on her new book, Cathy reflects on her process and Máire talks through what it's like to go through edits with a publisher.   Presented by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Produced by Máire Brophy Music (as usual) by Gavin Mulhall  

This week join us around the table as we talk about the challenge of writing moral characters.No one seems to like the goody-goody who always does the right thing and everything in life seems to work out for him. So how do you write a likable moral character? Is it possible?  The verdict seems to be split on this one! Hope you enjoy! Presented by Kate Mulholland, Cathy Clarke and Máire Brophy. This episode was produced by Kate Mulholland.

This week we consider the emerging sub-genre of speculative fiction, Climate Fiction. This genre explores how characters feel and react to their changed world. We speculate about authors and films we've read and watched to see if they qualify as Climate Fiction. Be warned. Sharks are discussed in this episode!  Enjoy!   Presented by Kate Mulholland, Cathy Clarke and Máire Brophy. This episode was produced by Kate Mulholland.

Please rate and review on itunes This week Máire raises the issue of making your author page and how to write a good bio for early stage authors. You can see Cathy's author page at cathycclarke.com and Máire's at mairebrophy.com, Kate plans to do hers in space. We're talking websites, bios and author pictures, and talking about yourself in the third person... I mean herself... themselves.   Presented by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Produced by Máire Brophy

This week Máire talks about the opportunities for writers in the D&D world - that's the Role Playing Game Dungeons and Dragons - looking at the model of the DM's Guild for selling player written games using the D&D rules. Cathy brings up a thorny issue, how do writers find ways of getting good advice and specific insight into improving their writing. We discuss the role of classes, editors, mentors, publishers and..eh... masterchef. We talk about the art and craft of it all, and give a sneak peek into an alternate world where we do a podcast while running. Presented by Kate Mulholland, Cathy Clarke and Maire Brophy. This episode was produced by Máire Brophy  

This week we have author Sinead Hamill, author of 'Scumbags and Handbags', 'Smiling Vendetta' and the soon to be published 'Dippers'. Sinead talks about her decision to self-publish, where her inspiration comes from and the drive she has to write (and of course have the craic). We talk life, death and ditties! Sinead's book Dippers is available now.   This episode was presented and produced by Máire Brophy 

We've been apart for awhile so now we have a lot to say. In this episode Kate tells us about finishing her epic book, Cathy talks about her latest editing and writing group activities and Máire brings us some significant news. We also talk about the difficulty in switching between writing novels and screenplays, and what we should do with advice and opinions on our writing.   Episode presented by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy, produced by Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall.  

Two roads diverged in a wood. Kate was on the one that was going somewhere, Maire was not! We're passed the half way point in this recording for NaNoWriMo, and we're quite far apart from each other. Kate is ploughing ahead and Maire realises she has been intensely writing very boring things.    Presented by Kate Mulholland and Maire Brophy. Produced by Maire Brophy. 

It's one week into NaNoWriMo, and we discuss where we're at. Kate is getting into it working out her treatment, and Maire has faltered and changed tracks, and not sure if she'll change tracks again. We are still writing, and yet nowhere near the pesky graph! Presented by Kate Mulholland and Maire Brophy. Produced by Maire Brophy

The second episode of our nano podcast series was recorded on day 2 of NaNoWriMo. We meet in a surprisingly jazz filled room (just imagine us in black and white) to check in and see how the current project is going. We're off the blocks with our words - yes surry, none of your blank pages for us. And yet, some doubt has crept in. Are we doing the right things for this project? Is this the right project? Is it normal to have early stage jitters? And can I count this intro as part of my word quota for today? We're hoping it'll be resolved by next week. Tune in to find out! Presented by Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Produced by Máire Brophy

This is the first in our nano series of nano podcasts about NaNoWriMo. Kate and Maire signed up to NaNoWriMo.org and have committed to writing 50,000 words in the 30 days of November... although we feel the actual number of words is negotiable. In this episode we talk about what we plan to write and the things we are doing to prepare for the burst of productivity that's going to surge forth from us come the first of November.   Expect weekly podcasts throughout November as we come to terms with the graph!   This episode was presented by Kate Mulholland and Maire Brophy, and produced by Maire Brophy

Author Kevin Curran talk to Irish Writers Podcast this week about his books Beatspoiltation and Citizens. Citizens, published earlier this year, tells a personal story of the 1916 Easter Rising juxtaposed with life in modern day Ireland. We talk about where the idea for Citizens came from, the challenges of writing dual timelines and a sense of place. Kevin also talks through the key events on his path to publication. Presented and produced by Máire Brophy

By nature we are innately curious as human beings. Exploration is in our genes. And what better world to explore than our own cities, beckoning us from the doorstep? In literature there seems to be an absence of women 'wandering' the streets as contemplative observers. At the very mention of women wandering the streets did it paint a negative picture in your mind? Why is that? We discuss this and more in this week's episode. Our discussion stems from a book featured in The Guardian called Flaneuse: Women Walk the City by Lauren Elkin.  To all the other flaneuses out there! Enjoy! Presented by Kate Mulholland, Cathy Clarke and Máire Brophy. This episode was produced by Kate Mulholland.

In this episode Cathy brings up the topic of fan fiction. Are we fans of fan fiction? There are some authors who have gone beyond influence to actually imitating well-known authors. We discuss the tension of finding your own voice while being influenced by the masters.  We also put some what if questions out there about ghostwriting, and see who are the takers and who are not!  Presented by Máire Brophy, Kate Mulholland and Cathy Clarke. Produced by Kate Mulholland.

This week I speak to author Caitriona Lally. Her debut novel Eggshells was released in 2015. We talk about a sense of place, comparisons with Joyce and the challenge of writing the second novel. Presented and produced by Máire Brophy

We're back after the summer for our second year of podcasting. In this episode we finally talk about the writers retreat we had back in May and then get on to the business of the writing update. Kate talks about a new challenge in a new format as she moves to screenwriting, Cathy tells us about her phoenix edit and Maire has some positive news.   Presented by Máire Brophy, Kate Mulholland and Cathy Clarke. Produced by Máire Brophy.

On this week’s episode we meet with author Catherine Ryan Howard, whose debut fiction novel Distress Signals was released last week. While this is Catherine’s first fiction publication, she is an experienced writer with three self-published non-fiction books under her belt already. She talks us through her writing process, the experience of working with publishing house editors, and the importance of passion for what you are writing. Presented by Kate Mulholland, Cathy Clarke and Máire Brophy. This episode was produced by Máire Brophy.  

HI everyone! In this episode we get inspired by Roland Evan's conversation and talk about how we want to incorporate his simple but brilliant advice and creative retreats into our own writing process. We also comment on names and their significance, and how some names would just be tough to have going through school.

Hi, This week we have the privilege of hearing from Roland Evans author of The Marshland Chronicles, a dystopian fantasy and coming of age novel. Roland was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2010 which gave him incentive to finish his book. We talk about how environment and life experience play key roles in his story and world-building, and how a weekend retreat could end up in an idea for a story. He touches on coming up with names, and gives us real gems on editing that you don't want to miss!   To get a copy of Roland's book, The Marshland Chronicles, go to the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association website. The book is available from the IMNDA shop for 15 euro at www.imnda.ie . All proceeds go towards the IMNDA as to Roland's request.

This week we reconsider what we’ve been told about writing novellas – that is not to do it – and examine what novellas are, how to write them, where they can be published and who likes to read them. As a result I’m much less freaked out about the idea that I might be writing one! Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy 

This week we talk about the story that’s a fire all over the writing world. Eilis O’Hanlon published an article in theIrish Independent about how she discovered her published novels were stolen and available for sale on kindle under the name Joanne Clancy. A very little digging finds that “Joanne Clancy” has 26 novels to her name and claims to go from start to finish writing a novel in just 6 weeks. We’re agog and aghast and also other words, which we’re afraid to write down lest they be stolen! But just how far does the conspiracy go?   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy Music by Gavin Mulhall 

This week we give an update on our writing and how we are (slowly, ever so slowly) progressing. Kate also shares with us an experience she had sharing her writing process with a creative group based in Dublin. We hope you enjoy listening.   Presented by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Produced by Cathy Clarke  

This week 2/3 of the podcast team attended the Town Hall meeting called by the International Literary Festival Dublin to discuss the upcoming event. In this podcast we discuss the outcomes of that meeting for those who could not attend and throw up a few ideas of our own. The International Literary Festival Dublin is calling for suggestions at the moment – so anyone with suggestions can contact them at http://ilfdublin.com/   We will be taking a break for the next three weeks as Ireland closes to celebrate Paddy's Day and Easter, but will be back with you guys on the 7th April.     Presented by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Produced by Cathy Clarke. Music by Gavin Mulhall

This week we focus on writing fantasy. Kate is a practiced hand and Máire's just begun, so we go through Melissa Kelly’s Top Eight Rules For Writing Fantasy http://fantasy.fictionfactor.com/articles/fantasyrules.html and talk about what we’ve done, what we have yet to do, and what we feel guilty about not doing.   Kate mentions Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work http://austinkleon.com/show-your-work/ and the Mythcreants http://mythcreants.com/ in her very knowledgeable take on writing fantasy. Cathy keeps us on track, reminding us that much of this is good advice for writing in all genres, and Máire threatens everyone with the potential of writing ‘Orcrotica’!   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall  

This week we chat about Historical Fiction, what it is and how to write it best.   We hope you enjoy listening.   Presented by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Produced by Cathy Clarke. Music by Gavin Mulhall

In this episode we discuss George Orwell's motivations for writing which he documented in his essay Why I Write : http://orwell.ru/library/essays/wiw/english/e_wiw      Presented by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Produced by Cathy Clarke. Music by Gavin Mulhall  

This week we discussed 'a sense of place' - how to achieve it, how to describe it, what are the obstacles?     Presented by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Produced by Cathy Clarke. Music by Gavin Mulhall

At the start of 2015 our writers group set out individual goals... it's time to face the music and see if we did what we said we'd do. Some things roll over into our 2016 goals, and we set the trap for an awkward discussion this time next year! We move on to discuss pop culture and temporal references and the conflicting merits of a sense of time and dating your work. And finish up with a rather revealing discussion about George RR Martin latest announcement that he did not make his deadline for the Winds of Winter. We go deep into Cathy’s motivation for writing and finally go public on her primary vice – milk!   Presented and Produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall

WE’RE BAACCCK! Happy New Year… It’s taken us almost a month to recover from our Christmas hangover, but the good news is that we have been writing. The even more advanced news is that Cathy and Máire have been engaging with professionals.   We start 2016 off with updating on our writing, and spend a lot of time talking about engaging and processing feedback. Cathy talks about processing the mountain of feedback she got from her developmental editor and I talk about script reader feedback. Kate talks about wanting to get back into the swing of things after travelling for the last month. With 2015 behind us, we’re moving forward! Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall.

This week we have a 'lively discussion' (read: argument) regarding the takeaways from the Queen Mary University of London paper called The Business of Being an Author: A Survey of Author's Earnings and Contracts. However we make friends again in time to discuss our winter reads and how they influence our writing.   This will be the last episode in this series. We will be back at the end of January with Season 2. We hope you all have a lovely holiday.   Happy Christmas & Good Writing for 2016,   Cathy, Kate & Maire   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy Music by Gavin Mulhall

This week after our writing update we discussed Romantic-Comedies, asking the question “how does one write an authentic Irish love story while adhering to the Hollywood beats of a Rom-Com?”. We also discussed the 2016 calendar, looking at some competitions and retreats that are coming up.   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall

This week, we get an update from Maire and Kate on their adventures in NaNoWriMo.  We discuss short stories (and ask really, what’s the point?). And despite it being a little bit early we talk about possible Christmas Presents for Writers – what to get the scribbler in your life. Plus there is a promise of a resources area from The Special Snowflake That Farts Rainbows – what’s that all about? Listen in to find out!    Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall

In this episode we disclose our struggles of the mid-edit blues and the lack of motivation both Maire and Kate are feeling at this stage. Cathy chimes in as the voice of the therapist, having pushed through her editing to the end. We despair, but that is why we have each other. Heaven help us all if we are all at once in the despairing stage! We happily segway into the topic of endings: what makes a good ending, what are some of our favourite endings and how our own endings match up. We all agreed that perhaps cinemas should leave the lights dim for an extended amount of time after a sad ending. Please, give us the dignity of letting our tears dry first before we are exposed to the public. Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall

This week Máire met with Oran Doyle, an aspiring writer with a fair few writing achievements under his belt already. Oran was drawn to writing from a young age, and focused on film. He has had several shorts funded and made and spent two years as a freelance script editor. Early on however, he was challenged with figuring out whether had had something substantial to talk about, and went on to have another career in social work and aid in East Timor. So now, with lots of things to say, he has returned to writing with renewed focus and has recently become a full time writer. He’s continuing his screenwriting, but also working on writing for children. We chat about the various challenges in writing, and what insights he gleaned from that early experience, and how he developed as a writer. You can follow Oran on twitter @Orandoyler   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall    

This week the discussion revolved around the opening lines. We looked at good and bad examples from a range of authors and then took these learnings to see how our own openings would fare under intense scrutiny.   We also discussed the upcoming NaNoWriMo and whether we would partaking.   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall    

While still trying to repress our coughs and sneezes, this week we tackled one of the core challenges of writing – how do you make people care? We discuss how to make likeable, relatable protagonists, how to build emotional attachments to the story, and what keeps us reading about complicated protagonists who aren’t so likeable. We move on to talking about creating mood and tone in writing and how we use language to reflect this. Our last topic is the role of ‘secondary writing’, what are the benefits and costs of writing other things aside from your main writing project. We talk about the value of building your audience through other writing and social media and the costs of that on your writing time... although, mysteriously, we never discussed the time costs of podcasting!   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall

In between coughs, snuffles and sneezes, this week we started out talking about the importance of book covers. Then Kate, in her usual philosophical manner, posed us a beardstroker about the muse, and we thrash out what we think it means and if we’ve ever experienced it. Returning to more practical issues, we talk about where we write, in cafes, pubs, or at home, and how distracted we are in those places. Kate adds an addendum to our discussion on genres in Episode 10, with a proper definition of science fiction and fantasy, and we all promise to do our homework better in future (with our fingers crossed). Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall

  This week, following Viola Davis’ acceptance speech at the Emmy’s, we discuss diversity, women and how to open up those opportunities. We also discuss reinventing the wheel; what do we do when we get stuck writing a particular scene we are not comfortable with – from awkward love scenes to stilted action- how can we learn from past masters?    Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall    

  In celebration of making double digits (episode 10!), we have an extended episode this week.   We started with a discussion of the rules of our different writing genres.    Kate started us off, discussing the rules of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but we side-tracked into world building, Sweet Valley High, Sookie Stackhouse, Game of Thrones, before recovering to get back to the rules. Máire in typical fashion disagreed with all the established rules of comedy and invented her own, the fundamental one being NO KICKING DOWN! She is very clear on that! Cathy wrapped up this section with a rules of detective fiction.   This discussion was followed with a writing update and semi-writing-breakdown as Cathy shared her recent (horrible) revelation that her novel is not improving as Ishe goes through the structural edits and still will not fit comfortably in any established genre. This section is probably closer to group therapy than writing updates.   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall    

  This time we talk about the things that we’ve used that helped us: books, websites, courses, conferences, and everyone refuses to enable my insistence that movie watching counts as writing! I then asked when are you ready to go looking for an agent. And we talk about the agent’s role, finding the right agent, how writers become authors, and the luxury of time for first time authors…. and the beginnings of a Santa origin story. Resources we mention are:   Aerogramme Writers Studio http://www.aerogrammestudio.com/ Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76788.Becoming_a_Writer How to write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31363.How_to_Write_Science_Fiction_Fantasy Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12543.Bird_by_Bird Irish Writers Centre http://irishwriterscentre.ie/ Write your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell http://jamesscottbell.com/styled-7/styled-35/index.html Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us by Jessica Page Morrell http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5945430-thanks-but-this-isn-t-for-us Write and Get Paid for it by Terry Prone http://www.londubh.ie/?p=239 www.Writing.ie National Museum of Ireland www.museum.ie Scriptfrenzy http://nanowrimo.org/forums/script-frenzy Internet movie script database http://www.imsdb.com/ 2015 Oscar nominated screenplays https://screencraft.org/2015/02/22/2015-oscar-nominated-screenplays/ More screenplays http://gointothestory.blcklst.com/free-script-downloads/ Scriptnotes podcast http://johnaugust.com/podcast Save the Cat by Blake Snyder http://www.savethecat.com/ Twitter #amwriting #amediting #writerstips Women Writers, Women Books http://booksbywomen.org/ Writers and Artists Yearbook https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall    

In this episode we discuss how sparks of ideas end up as written stories, what we look for in ideas to make them into stories, and ponder how we picked the subject or if the subject picked us. This segued neatly into talking about what we would do differently knowing what we now know, and how we’ve obviously developed the perfectly streamlined process by now... probably... or maybe not.   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall    

This week we gave a writing update to see how far we had come since the pilot episode, and what were the obstacles in the way.    We then flowed into the thorny subject of naming characters, places and sometimes things. The question of using nicknames or borrowing the associations of distinctive names was .. well, not really answered to tell the truth (!) but they were both discussed.   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall  

This week Kate stumped us with an excellent question: what role does the act of listening play in our writing. We grappled with this and finally emerged with some very different thoughts and views (and a conspiracy theory was born: has this whole podcast been set up by my family to get me to listen more??).  Then we moved back to safer ground – putting your writing out there; advantages, challenges, hurdles. How do we do it and why.   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall    

This week we had a discussion on what makes a good story and what is it that really attracts a reader to a story. We discuss what attributes make our favourite stories our favourites, and what traits should be absolutely avoided.   This was followed by a natter on competitions – the benefits, the pitfalls and really how useful are they to a writer?   Presented and produced by Cathy Clarke, Kate Mulholland and Máire Brophy. Music by Gavin Mulhall