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Good to be Back.


It’s been far too long since my last blog posting. The last three months have been tough, as my father was very ill and I had to sort out his care. Anyway, with dad now in hospital, I can get back to a little writing. I have so much work yet to do on my novel – so that will be at the fore of my mind, hopefully, for the next few months. Though I also want to publish a first poetry collection so will have to keep very focused.

The Scattering continues to bring me lovely responses from readers and I was really happy to read from the book at a number of venues this summer. I will read again in December – probably at Waterstones in Drogheda. In August, Seren Books published a story from the book, '1975', in a 9-story anthology, Seren Shorts, and more recently they published ‘Blood’ as a free-to-download e-book. So there are lots of ways to read The Scattering now – ebook, book, a couple free-of-charge downloads. Whatever way you read it – enjoy.

I have also much to do on the script front as my play, Belfast Girls, is going into production next year. I am also hoping that 2014 is the year I venture into film and TV. There are murmurings about this at the moment and hopefully I will be boasting about some kind of film project in the next few months. My main goal right now is to complete all the projects that I had to put on hold from July onwards. (Though   my band, Choice, still managed a pretty awesome gig at this year's Electric Picnic!)

I haven’t really had a break from writing in years. It feels strange to go back, almost like starting over. I feel fresher - but also slower in my thinking. There has been some emotional upheaval this year, too, and the writing process now seems to me to have in it a very large element of  ‘healing’. It feels really good to be back. More about the novel soon. Meanwhile, here's a recent interview with me for the Trinity College Alumni Newsletter:

 https://www.tcd.ie/alumni/about/alumni/interviews/jaki-mccarrick.php

 (I am currently judging the Prolitzer Short Story Prize for Prole Books. Results soon.)

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 7, 2013 at 12:16 AM

    Good luck with the writing - and don't beat yourself up if it takes a while to get back to it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JAKI MCCARRICKNovember 7, 2013 at 3:50 AM

    Thankyou Anonymous!

    ReplyDelete

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