29 Monday Oct 2018
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I have bravely decided to open an Instagram account. I am @kathleenmcgurl there if you use the platform and want to follow me. I have absolutely no idea how to use it as yet!
Added three pics just so my profile isn’t completely empty.
27 Saturday Oct 2018
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
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I’m delighted to share with you this gorgeous new cover for The Emerald Comb. While I liked the picture on the original cover, I never felt it was quite right for the book. This one is perfect. That house is exactly how I envisaged Kingsley House to be, and I love the new tag line.
I’ll always have a soft spot for this book as it’s the one that landed my my first publishing contract.
And what to do with the old cover? Well, why not do a Banksy, courtesy of Photofunia…
13 Saturday Oct 2018
Posted in Blogging, Uncategorized
I have recently joined six other writers to contribute to a shared blog, the Novel Points of View.
Today it was my turn to post something, and I have written about the summer’s drought, and where the inspiration for The Drowned Village came from. Please do pop over to take a look!
Walking up the Old Corpse Road above Haweswater – inspiration for The Drowned Village
It’s a good and varied blog about all things writing-related, and a new post goes up every Saturday, or thereabouts. Do come and join us!
21 Friday Sep 2018
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
I’m delighted to announce that The Drowned Village has finally been published, and is available to buy as ebook, paperback or audiobook. It’s available from all the usual online retailers, and is also in Waterstones and Foyles. I’m off to my local Waterstones tomorrow to see if I can catch a glimpse of it, out there in the wild!
Next week there’s to be a blog tour to promote the book. I’ll add links to the Drowned Village page on this blog, but meanwhile here’s the itinerary. I’ve completed an interview for one blog, and the others are reviews. Follow along to find out which actors I’d like to see playing the main characters, and what I’d choose as a theme tune. (Great questions, but had me scratching my head trying to answer them!)
There’ll be other exciting book news coming along soon. Keep checking back to keep in touch!
18 Tuesday Sep 2018
Posted in Blogging, Uncategorized
It’s been one of those summers, hasn’t it? The prolonged drought in the UK meant barely a week went past without there being news of some new historical or archeological remains being discovered. Ancient earthworks revealed when the grass or crops died, or reservoirs drying out to reveal long lost drowned villages.
Of course this all fascinated me, not least because my new book (out this week!) is called The Drowned Village and focuses on a dried-out reservoir revealing an old village, and the secrets buried within.
Here are some links to news stories about what was uncovered by the drought. All amazing stories, and I know for certain if I hadn’t already written The Drowned Village I’d be inspired to write such a story now!
Haweswater and Mardale (the valley my novel was inspired by)
And not just in Britain – here’s a reservoir in Wicklow, Ireland that dried out
Here are some older, archeological discoveries made due to the drought
I’ve always felt the past is still there, just beneath our consciousness somehow. We only need scratch the surface and we are reconnected with it. If I pass through an ancient doorway, I’m always drawn to wondering about all the people who’ve passed through it before me… I guess that’s why I love writing dual timeline novels!
Speaking of which – here’s the link to The Drowned Village, out on 20th September, available from online retailers or your local Waterstone’s. I can’t wait to find out what people think of this one!
17 Saturday Mar 2018
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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.)
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!
30 Thursday Nov 2017
Posted in Blogging, Uncategorized
Here I am over on Sharon Booth’s blog, answering all sorts of authorly questions. Thanks for hosting me, Sharon!
16 Thursday Nov 2017
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Way back in September, while I was away travelling in our motorhome, I recorded a radio interview with Talk Radio Europe, to promote The Girl from Ballymor. They’ve only just broadcast it, and for the next few days you can listen to it on the link below. Choose 15th November, time slot 19:00-20:00. My bit starts at 38 minutes, 40 seconds in.
http://www.talkradioeurope.com/on-demand/
It was an odd experience – I was in the motorhome somewhere in Portugal, with all the doors and windows closed despite the heat to keep background noise to a minimum, speaking on my mobile phone. A tractor kept driving back and forth through the campsite, but thankfully the interviewer, Hannah, confirmed she couldn’t hear it. I’d locked my husband outside – didn’t even want to LOOK at him while the interview was ongoing!
If I sound nervous it’s because I was, although Hannah put me at my ease and let me waffle on. I’d had some great advice from writer friends on Facebook about smiling as I spoke (comes through in your voice), trying to speak slower than normal, and standing up rather than sitting down. Actually I paced back and forth in the small space in the middle of the van!
31 Tuesday Oct 2017
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A fellow writer made this lovely little promotional video for The Girl from Ballymor for me last week, but I have only just worked out how to embed it in a blog page. It’s truly lovely, haunting and atmospheric, and just right for the book. I love it!
The Girl from Ballymor – Out Now! @HQstories @HQDigitalUK #kindle #paperback #timeslip pic.twitter.com/h4afeUrbXW
— Kathleen McGurl (@KathMcGurl) October 28, 2017
07 Thursday Sep 2017
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
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 been 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.
