I began writing in 2014, sat at my farm kitchen table and tapping away on a stolen iPad (stolen from my husband, but stolen nonetheless). I was filled with inspiration, determined to put down in glorious technicolour the story that had been battering away at the inside...

Gandalf spotted in the distance -- photo and idea courtesy of Paddy Finn

I was lucky enough to be awarded an Arts Council of Northern Ireland grant last year, a Support for the Individual Artist Programme award. Part of the money was budgeted for some time to escape the...

When I began my first novel in 2014, I was writing in a virtual vacuum. I tried Googling local writer's groups and places to get critique, but there seemed to be very little out there. I've realised since that there probably was support, but it operated on a word-of-mo...

So, summer of 2019 has been a summer of cons, or conventions. Those of us living on the island of Ireland have been really lucky this year, because we had Worldcon in Dublin, followed closely by Eurocon (hosted by Titancon) in Belfast. 

I was delighted to be invited to...

Every March the women creatives of Northern Ireland band together and go on the rampage. I'm a member of a wonderful, empowering collective called Women Aloud NI (WANI), the brainchild of the talented and ceaselessly energetic Jane Talbot.

WANI organises events all year...

I wrote this as a Facebook status a year ago, and a whole bunch of friends have re-shared it this year. I'm so glad that it has brought a little joy and cheer to people at such a dark time of year, that I thought I should share it again here:

November, the month when ev...

People talk about March Madness, but for me it's been Nutty November. In fact, it really boils down to Trying Tuesday, i.e. yesterday. It was a bit hectic.

In the morning, as usual, I had to get my elderly dad sorted out with his newspaper, make sure he'd eaten his brea...

Today I had the honour of interviewing an exciting new science fiction/fantasy writer, Jo Zebedee, about her new book, The Inheritance Trilogy - book one Abendau's Heir. Lots of really useful and interesting tips and facts here, as well as a great insight into the wor...