Category Archives: Books

Life imitating art… again

18 Wednesday Jul 2018

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I love it when real life decides to imitate the plots of my books. It happened a few years ago with The Emerald Comb (see this post) and is happening again now with my new book, The Drowned Village.

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My book was inspired by a visit to Haweswater Reservoir in the Lake District. A  village, Mardale Green, was evacuated and demolished to make way for this reservoir. What if, I thought, a secret was buried in the village, then lost when the village was flooded? What if, in a period of drought, the reservoir recedes and the village and its secrets exposed?

Well look what’s happened, in our current heatwave! More fabulous pictures in this article. Whether or not there’s a real life secret to be uncovered remains to be seen, though.

But there’s definitely a mystery to be resolved in my book – which you can pre-order here.

 

 

 

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It’s all go, here!

08 Sunday Jul 2018

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I’ve just returned from a lovely relaxing two week holiday in the Loire valley in France, in our motorhome. The days were spent cycling beautiful lanes between fields of wheat and vines, swimming in lakes or rivers, sitting drinking wine in the campsites.

Oh, and I also managed to get a lot of writing done! Somehow, possibly due to the laptop not being connected to the internet, I managed to get an average 1000 words a day written, which is more than I do at home.

And a complete idea for a new novel, set in France and featuring a chateau, arrived. Hurray!

I’m back at the day job tomorrow. And back to the Irish independence novel from today – it needs editing and returning to my editor in about a month so I need to crack on.

In other news, The Girl from Ballymor is on an Amazon Kindle promotion in the UK, and selling at just 99p. Hurry while stocks last, as they say! I’ve just received a lovely message from a reader about this book. It does seem to strike a chord with many people of Irish descent throughout the world. Hope the independence novel does as well!

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Hard back, large print

08 Friday Jun 2018

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LP books Very excited to open this morning’s post to find these beauties in a jiffy bag! This is my first book in large print, and isn’t it lovely? I’m hoping many libraries will buy it so it can reach lots more people.

I love this cover. Seeing it on the finished book was the first time I’d seen this cover. That model is so definitely Kitty, though I suppose really she should be a little more gaunt around the face to be historically accurate. But let’s see her as she was before the famine, healthy and happy.

 

In other news, I’m now working on two books at once. Editing a second Irish novel, and starting to write another one, set in Dorset. The aim is to publish both next year, though neither has a definite title yet! You’ll hear it here first. Or ‘like’ my Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/KathleenMcGurl  which I sometimes update earlier than my blog with news.

Who of you uses a library? I must admit I don’t, these days. I’m a compulsive book-buyer, and have so many in my To-Be-Read pile I don’t need to add to it with library books. Yet I think libraries are a brilliant service, and in the past I’ve used them a lot – especially when my kids were young.

 

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

17 Saturday Mar 2018

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shamrock To all those of Irish descent, and everyone else, have a wonderful St Patrick’s Day! If Ireland beat England in the Six Nations rugby this afternoon, thereby winning the Grand Slam, it’ll certainly be a joyous occasion in this house. My husband is a committed fan of Irish rugby. (If you read my books carefully you might spot references to Munster Rugby club in them – it’s the only way I can persuade him to read them.)

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My Irish book, The Girl from Ballymor, is currently just 99p for the ebook – what better way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, especially given the awful weather forecast for the weekend, than curling up with a good read?

And if you’ve already read it, thank you! I’d appreciate a brief Amazon review, as those really do help sell books.

Whatever you’re doing today, have a good one, and Slainté!

Are you ready for a bit of summer?

05 Monday Mar 2018

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Here in the UK we have had a long, cold winter. Just as March began and we all thought spring was here, we were hit by snow and storms across the country. We even had snow here in Bournemouth, where it NEVER snows! Those up north are still suffering.

So it feels like a good time to officially reveal the cover of my next book, The Drowned Village, which has a gorgeous summery feel to it. The contemporary strand of the story takes place during a long, hot summer. We can but dream that that is what we’ll get this year!

You can preorder the book in either ebook or paperback. It’s due for release in September 2018.

Amazon UK link.    Amazon US link.

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A new cover!

16 Friday Feb 2018

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It’s hard to believe but it is almost four years since I published my first novel -Mr Cavell’s Diamond. This one was self-published, and my lovely son made me a cover for it.

Time’s moved on, and I felt the cover didn’t really fit the contents of the novel and also didn’t look right alongside my other novels, published by HQ. So, I commissioned a cover designer (Berni Stevens) to make me a new cover, and I’m delighted to be able to share that with you today! Here is is. The Regency house, the girl, the sea in the background – all just spot on for the story, and I love the vibrant colours.

The novel may have been out a while, but it’s still one I’m very proud of. Unlike my other novels it’s not dual timeline but it is historical, and there’s a genealogical twist (revealed when you get to the author’s note at the end).

You can buy the ebook from Amazon UK, Amazon US, or any other Amazon.

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Research and more research!

15 Monday Jan 2018

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Some novels require an awful lot of research, and the one I am currently writing certainly falls into that category. The picture shows some of the books I’ve been referring to – might give a few indications of what the book’s about!

My work-in-progress is set around the time of the Irish war of independence, 1920-21. Back when I  was at school, we learned nothing about Irish history, despite the huge impact on everyday life the ‘Troubles’ had on us at that time.

I’ve been married to an Irishman for 25 years, so of course I’ve learned a lot about Ireland, its people and its history, over time. Even so, when I started writing this book I was a bit hazy on many of the details. These books, except the Constance Markievicz one, were all on our bookshelves at home and have been very useful. The Short History of Ireland gave a brief overview of the 1916 uprising, the war of independence and then the civil war that followed almost immediately after. The Story of the Irish Race was published in 1921 when the war was still raging, but was good for learning about the events of the previous centuries that led up to Ireland’s fight to break free of the UK. Great Irish Speeches contains a few from those years – which has helped me understand the Irish nationalist feelings of the time.

While researching I kept coming across the name Constance Markievicz, and at some point read the Wikipedia article on her. She’s a fascinating character, so I bought this book to learn more about her. She was born into Anglo-Irish aristocracy, dabbled as an artist and a theatre producer and actress, married a Polish Count, was a suffragette, set up the Fianna Eireann (kind of military boy scouts) and then became heavily involved in the Irish nationalist movement. She was in the thick of the fighting in the 1916 uprising, and arrested for it, escaping execution only because she was a woman. Quite an unstoppable force. I’m hugely enjoying this book which I’m reading from cover to cover, and it’s certainly inspiring my novel!

Publication day!

07 Thursday Sep 2017

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At long last, publication day for The Girl from Ballymor has finally come around. It’s been a long wait this time, and I am longing to find out what people think of the book. Early reviews have bthe-girl-from-ballymor_highreseen good – the one I posted here last and then this lovely one by Pam Norfolk in the Lancashire Post. I have been quoting parts of that one to my husband continuously since reading it yesterday!

We are currently in our campervan on a cliff top on the Atlantic coast of Portugal. A pretty spectacular location ins which to celebrate publication! We have another 4 weeks travelling before we return home, and at last I will be able to hold a paperback copy of my book.

Meanwhile, on with the next book, or rather the book after next, which is also set in Ireland though in a different time period. I’m enjoying writing this new one very much.

First review!

29 Tuesday Aug 2017

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So delighted to see this lovely first review for The Girl from Ballymor from Karen at GoBuyTheBook! There’s just over a week till publication, and it is always a nervy time wondering whether readers will like it. Karen’s enjoyed my previous books so I am delighted to find that she was not disappointed by this one either. To my mind, it’s my best yet. But different readers like different things – I have friends who prefer the emotion of The Pearl Locket over the twists and turns of The Daughters of Red Hill Hall, and other friends who have said the exact opposite.

The Girl from Ballymor is more on the emotional side, but I hope there are enough twists and turns to keep all readers happy!

7th September is release date. The book will be available in paperback as well as ebook, and should be stocked in Asda supermarkets as well as online.

The Girl from Ballymor

23 Thursday Feb 2017

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Well I don’t know about youthe-girl-from-ballymor_highres but I think this cover’s absolutely GORGEOUS!

I love her vibrant hair which is exactly right for my heroine, Kitty. And the background image is perfect for the setting of west Cork, Ireland.

This book feels like it’s been a long time coming. I actually finished the first draft and sent it to my editor way back in August last year. Since then there has been a number of rounds of edits, and I have just this minute finished going through the printed proofs.

This book, I am DELIGHTED to announce, will be available as a paperback as well as ebook. It’s been my dream for ages to hold one of my novels, printed, in my grubby little paws (or maybe I’ll even wash my hands before picking it up). And now that’s finally going to happen! Although, as this book won’t be released until 1st June we’ll actually be out of the country at that time (as you’ll know if you’ve looked at my other blog linked from the last post). I’ll have to wait until I’m back to finally get to hold it.

It is funny the reactions I’ve had when telling people it’ll be available as a paperback. Old friends and in-laws who just don’t ‘do’ Kindles are the most delighted for me, hugging me excitedly as finally they will get to read one of my books in a format they like. Other people, especially those who read a lot of ebooks, smile uncertainly, shrug, and ask me to explain why paperback is such a big deal.

I’m likely to make more money on the ebook sales than the paperback, but still, knowing that format will be available does feel like a really big deal. My publisher is a digital-first publisher, and only selected books go into paperback. The fact they’ve picked one of mine means they have faith in this book and think it’ll sell. That’s a real confidence booster. And it will, of course, be lovely to actually have a copy of the book on my book shelves at home. I’m also delighted that this format will mean the book can reach more readers.

I’ve added a page at the top of this blog for reviews and links relating to this book, as for the other ones. It’s available now for preorder.