Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards, ER Murray is the  author of the One Book One City Dublin City Read The Book of Learning, the first in her Nine Lives Trilogy.  

Elizabeth Rose Murray, represented by Sallyanne Sweeney of Mulcahy Associate, London now lives in West Cork where she fishes, grows her own vegetables and enjoys plenty of outdoor adventures. Originally from a working class British family, where writing as a career wasn’t even an option, Elizabeth has created her own opportunities and draws on her childhood experiences of rejection in her writing. A traveller by nature she has worked as a writer in residence in some of the most exotic and remotest places in the world.

 

Elizabeth writes novels for children and young adults as well as short fiction and personal essays. Her books include The Book of Learning – Nine Lives Trilogy 1 (2016 Dublin UNESCO Citywide Read for Children.), The Book of Shadows – Nine Lives Trilogy 2 (shortlisted 2016 Irish Book Awards and 2016 Irish Literacy Association Award), The Book of Revenge – Nine Lives Trilogy 3 (Feb 2018) and Caramel Hearts (May 2016).

 

She also has short fiction and essays published in reputable journals across Ireland, the UK, US and Australia, and has been shortlisted for several notable competitions including Francis McManus and Aesthetica Creative Works. Recent anthology publications include The Elysian: Creative Responses (New Binary Press), Reading the Future (Arlen House) and Autonomy (New Binary Press).

 

In 2012, Elizabeth performed in Ciudades Paralelas: Station – a live writing installation at the Cork Midsummer Festival – and in 2017 she co-created Things That Go Bump in the Night, a gothic storytelling event for children, with author, Caroline Busher.  She is currently working on a performance project that fuses fiction and music.

Keen to encourage new and emerging writers, Elizabeth regularly facilitates workshops for both adults and children. She also provides manuscript reports and online workshops for Big Smoke Writing Factory and Inkwell Group, and is the social media machine for writing.ie.

You can find out more about or chat to Elizabeth via twitter @ERMurray, facebook or instagram.

International bestseller Carmel Harrington writes issue-driven popular fiction and is the author of Cold Feet The Lost Years, which accompanies the ITV series. 

Carmel's uplifting and inspiring books have all been regular chart-toppers, and have captured the hearts of readers worldwide - she is translated into eight languages to date, in eleven territories. Published by Harper Collins, her books have been described by the Daily Mail as ‘beautifully written, emotionally intelligent and moving in the extreme.’ 

My Pear-Shaped Life was published in Ireland, UK, Australia, New Zealand and US in April 2020, and is a joyful, uplifting book for those of us who sometimes wake up & feel we’re not good enough. Spoiler alert: we are!

Sam Blake delves into Carmel's fascinating process, how she finds her characters and how she develops them, coming up with plots that will make you laugh and also make you cry, as well as getting her top tips for writing a bestseller.

Behind the Bestseller is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

Theme Music by Tim Nerney 

Jane Casey is one of the strongest voices and most successful voices in Irish crime fiction - living in London but Irish to the core, she straddles both countries perfectly, bringing a gritty realism and authenticity to her character DS Maeve Kerrigan.  Married to a criminal barrister, who also works as a Sepcial Constable with the Metropolitan Police, she has a unique insight into the brutal underbelly of urban life, from the smell of a police cell to the darkest motives of a serial killer. Her books are addictive international bestsellers and critical successes.

Jane's novel 'The Stranger You Know' won the Mary Higgins Clark Award in the US and she has also been shortlisted for the Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award four times as well as the CWA Dagger in the Library Award.  Her ninth police procedural , The Cutting Place is out now and has been acclaimed as her best yet, but where does she get her ideas from and how important it the chemistry between her characters? With Sam Blake in Dublin and Jane Casey in London mid lockdown, find out Jane Casey's tips to apply to your own bestseller.

Behind the Bestseller is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

Theme Music by Tim Nerney

Research is one of the keys to Alex Barclay’s incredible success, with ideas developing from chance conversations with experts. Sam Blake quizzes her on her unique process, character building and how she tackled her first stand alone. Finding out how she writes and why isolation is so important to her, 

Alex Barclay is a former Irish journalist turned crime writer who was the first Irish female crime writer to get a significant deal that spawned No 1 bestsellers in multiple territories, with her debut novel Darkhouse. Darkhouse was the first of two novels featuring NYPD detective Joe Lucchesi. The book, set in Texas, New York and County Waterford, achieved strong reviews and was translated into 18 languages.

After two novels in the Joe Lucchesi series, Barclay created Ren Bryce series, a bipolar FBI detective who took her through six more books. She has also branched out into YA fantasy and more recently has written the standalone I Confess plus a new YA novel.

Barclay studied journalism with French at Dublin City University, graduating in 1996. Her course included a period of study in France, at Nanterre University in Paris, when she lived and worked part-time. Subsequently she also trained at the Gaiety School of Acting, afterwards appearing, for example, on television with Podge and Rodge. Barclay worked for magazines including U Magazine and the RTE Guide before turning to crime writing.

Behind the Bestseller is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

Theme Music by Tim Nerney  

Being taken on by a high profile literary agency should have been the start of Hazel Gaynor’s career, but unfortunately they couldn’t place her Titanic novel The Girl Who Came Home. With the Titanic anniversary rapidly approaching, Hazel decided to self publish and opened the door to the career as an international bestseller. Drilling into how Hazel achieved this, Sam Blake discusses how she created her own opportunities and the bestselling books that followed it. Delving into how much research goes into bestselling historical fiction, creating unforgettable characters and the incredible buzz when a celebrity tweets about your work, Sam Blake quizzes Hazel on the keys to her success.

Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today and Irish Times bestselling historical novelist. Her 2014 debut novel The Girl Who Came Home—A Novel of the Titanic hit the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, and went on to win the 2015 Historical Novel of the Year award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Her second novel A Memory of Violets, was also a New York Times bestseller, and her third, The Girl from The Savoy was an Irish Times and Globe & Mail bestseller, and a finalist for the 2016 Irish Book Awards. Her 2017 release The Cottingley Secret hit the Globe & Mail and USA Today bestseller lists. Last Christmas in Paris (co-written with Heather Webb) was also a Globe & Mail bestseller, and won the 2018 Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award.

Hazel’s 2018 release The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter, inspired by true events surrounding the life of Victorian lighthouse keeper, Grace Darling, was a top 10 Irish Times bestseller for five consecutive weeks.

Summer 2019 will see the publication of Meet Me In Monaco, Hazel’s second collaboration with Heather Webb. The book is set against the back-drop of the iconic wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco.

All Hazel’s novels have been received to critical-acclaim and are translated into ten foreign languages and published in seventeen countries to date. Hazel lives in Ireland with her husband and two children and is represented by Michelle Brower at Aevitas Creative, New York.

Behind the Bestseller is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

Theme Music by Tim Nerney 

Non-fiction is a different beast to fiction, and in this episode Sam Blake chats to Darach Ó Séaghdha, the Irish writer, podcaster and Irish language activist. The author of Motherfoclóir: Dispatches from a Not So Dead Language (Head of Zeus, 2017), and Craic Baby (Head of Zeus 2018) Darach won Ireland AM Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the 2017 Irish Book Awards with Motherfoclóir. Revealing how his Twitter account @TheIrishFor grew into a book, driven by his personal journey and relationship with his father, a gifted linguist, Darach reveals the key issues with taking an online presence into print. Sam Blake delves into the writing process and deciding what exactly goes into a book.

Brought up in an Irish speaking household, Ó Séaghdha's father and mother used to speak Irish together but spoke English to their children. When Ó Séaghdha's father became very ill, Ó Séaghdha became interested in learning Irish and used Twitter to share interesting Irish phrases and words he came across. 

Ó Séaghdha describes Irish as "the amazing buried treasure". In his writing he wants to show people how they, through Irish, can make sense of the world around them, through words and phrases that do not exist in the English language. 

He runs the popular Irish-language-trivia Twitter account The Irish For. He is also the main host of the podcast Motherfoclóir, part of the Headstuff Podcast Network, a fascinating podcast focusing on elements of the language.

The follow-up to Motherfoclóir, published in 2018, Craic Baby: Dispatches from a Rising Language, explores the very new and very old parts of the Irish language from a personal perspective, covering the topics multilingualism, Brehon Law, Gaelscoils and especially lexicon.

Behind the Bestseller is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

Music by Tim Nerney

From piling up the rejection slips Sinéad Moriarty joined a writers group and wrote the book that was closest to her heart. Drawing on her personal experience The Baby Trail immediately hit the bestseller list and kickstarted a career that is still growing. Sam Blake discusses how Sinéadgot her first break with that book, and how it spawned a series. Sinéad's books are issue driven, and research is vital to that process. Sam Blake discusses how much research is too much and how vital it is to Sinéad that her characters are real. Discussing how Sinéad plots and plans and how important writing is to her, Sam Blake gets her tips for writing a bestseller.

Sinéad Moriarty was born and raised in Dublin where she grew up surrounded by books. Her mother is an author of children’s books, and this instilled her childhood dream that would one day become a reality, that she too write her own novel.

After university, she went on to live in Paris, followed by London. It was at the age of thirty, while working as a journalist in London that she began to write creatively in her spare time – after work, at lunch times … and, truth be told, during work hours.

After a couple of years brainstorming different ideas, Sinéad joined a creative writing group and began to write her debut novel 'The Baby Trail'. Having been translated into 25 languages, Sinéad has went on to write 14 bestselling novels, including 'The Good Mother' and 'Ours Secrets and Lies'.

Sinéad's latest novel '7 Letters' has been described ‘gorgeous and devastating’ and is available now.

In a double length episode Sam Blake quizzes Literary Agent Sallyanne Sweeney from MMB Creative on what she looks for in a new manuscript and how she wades through often 300 submissions a week. Sallyanne answers the age old question of what agents' are looking for, what an agent's role is and how they work with authors. Discussing the importance of your covering letter, what works and what doesn't, what a difference a good title makes and how important voice is, Sam Blake asks her about the author agent relationship and discusses why passion is so important. Looking at some of the reasons why books have hit the bestseller list after their release, Sallyanne discusses trends and how publishing has changed since she started as an agent.

Sallyanne Sweeney grew up in Dublin and studied English at Trinity College before completing an MPhil in American Literature at Queens’ College, Cambridge. After graduating she joined Watson, Little Ltd, becoming a Director of the company in 2011. She joined Mulcahy Associates in 2013 and is growing her list of authors and illustrators for children (picture books to Young Adult) and adults. Awards her clients have won or been shortlisted for include the Irish Book Awards, Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards.  

Passionate about the editorial side of agenting, Sallyanne enjoys both working with debuts and helping established authors take their careers to the next level. Her fiction tastes are wide-ranging, from the literary to the very commercial, but she is always excited by a distinctive voice, strong storytelling and a fresh premise. She will fight to champion anything that makes her laugh or cry (preferably both). Sallyanne is also interested in memoirs, food writing and thought-provoking non-fiction and works across both childrens and adult fiction. She is a regular speaker at writing festivals and events and was the Chair of the Children’s Agents’ Circle from 2014-2018.

Behind the Bestseller is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

Theme music by Tim Nerney 

Romance is the biggest selling genre worldwide and award winning author Ruth Long, in all her various incarnations as RF Long, Ruth Francis Long and Jessica Thorne, writes romance combined with fantasy - from parallel worlds to sci-fi space opera, for both young adults and adults. Discussing what romance is and why it's so popular, Sam Blake explores how Ruth develops character, the secrets of world building and what makes a successful book in this huge genre. Ruth outlines how important community is and how organisations like the Romantic Novelists’ Association can be of huge help in assisting authors build their career.

Ruth Frances Long writes young adult fantasy such as The Treachery of Beautiful Things (Dial, 2012) and The Dubh Linn trilogy set in the world of demons, angels and fairies that exists alongside our own in modern day Dublin (A Crack in Everything (O’Brien, 2014) , A Hollow in the Hills (O’Brien, 2015) and A Darkness at the End (O’Brien, 2016)  .

In 2015 she was the winner of The European Science Fiction Society Spirit of Dedication Award For Best Author of Children’s Science Fiction and Fantasy for A Crack in Everything.

As Jessica Thorne she writes fantasy and space opera romance – The Queen’s Wing (Bookouture, 2018) and The Stone’s Heart (Bookouture, 2019), and the forthcoming Mageborn (2020), the first of a new series called The Hollow King. 

As R. F. Long she writes fantasy & paranormal romance such as The Scroll Thief, Soul Fire and the Holtlands stories (The Wolf’s Sister, the Wolf’s Mate and Songs of the Wolf) which were originally published with Samhain publishing and which she recently re-released along with the full-length, final part of the series The Wolf’s Destiny.

She lives in Ireland and works in a library of rare, unusual & occasionally crazy books. But they don’t talk to her that often.

Find @RFLong on Twitter

Behind the Bestseller is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

Theme music by Tim Nerney 

From her life as a journalist in Northern Ireland to her first women's fiction book, Claire Allan's publishing journey was punctuated by key life events. In Behind the Bestseller she reveals what made her take that first step into fiction and how she moved from women's fiction to crime.  Sam Blake delves into what makes Claire's books bestsellers across multiple platforms and all over the world, and how she comes up with her ideas. Character is crucial in Claire's books - as she digs into her writing process, Sam Blake gets Claire's top tips for bestseller success and unlocks her secrets.

Claire Allan is a former journalist, turned bestselling author from Derry in Northern Ireland who graduated with a Masters Degree in Newspaper Journalism from Ulster University in 1999, before starting work as a staff reporter with the Derry Journal - covering an array of news from politics to human interest stories. She was the paper's first female columnist in its 200 year history. She also worked for a time as acting news editor.

Claire was part of the award winning team that covered the Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, and she covered Derry's year as the first UK City of Culture. She maintains the best part of the job was always meeting 'ordinary people with extraordinary stories to tell'.

In 2006, Claire decided to try and fulfil a lifetime ambition to write a novel and spent six months writing 'Rainy Days and Tuesdays' - loosely based on her own experienced of post-natal depression. This was published by Poolbeg Press in Ireland in 2007 and became an instant bestseller.

Seven more women's fiction novels followed before Claire decided to leave journalism to concentrate on writing, and also to try her hand at writing psychological thrillers. Ten years after 'Rainy Days and Tuesdays' was written, Claire began to write 'Her Name Was Rose', which was published by Avon Books in 2008.  It became a bestseller in the UK, Ireland, Canada, America and Australia. 

It was followed by Apple of My Eye (Jan, 2019) and 'Forget Me Not' (May, 2019). Her fourth thriller 'The Liars Daughter' is out now.