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Hello everyone � I promise I’m not going to mention the DIRE phenomenon that is the Irish summer of 2015. Nope, not a word about the grey skies, daily torrential outpourings and typhoon-like gales, and virtually complete absence of sun. (Deep sigh.) Instead, I shall direct your attention to a much happier topic � the arrival yesterday of my box of advance copies of the wonderful thing that is the paperback version of Two Fridays in April! And here they are in all their beauteous glory:

The eagle-eyed readers among you may notice that while the cover hasn’t changed in essence from the trade paperback incarnation which appeared in March, it’s been given a pinkish hue, just to ring the changes a little I suppose. Will be heading into the local bookshops tomorrow to sign whatever copies I might find there�..and in September I shall be taking a trip across the border into Northern Ireland to spread the news about the books in libraries in Belfast and Carrickfergus � more details closer to the time. I was delighted to be invited there, as it’ll be my first time ever in both places, and the fact that I’m going in my capacity as a writer makes it doubly special. Looking forward to meeting a whole new gang of readers! I’ll be coming home via Donegal � specifically Letterkenny � where I’ll do another library visit and I’ll also meet up with a class of Transition Year girls to chat with them about all things bookish � will be a lovely trip all told (although I’ll probably be heartily sick of driving at the end of it………�.)

What other news? I’ve handed in my second draft of the upcoming book, the third in the Roone series, whose title I am at last allowed to reveal……drum roll…�.I’ll be Home for Christmas. Hope you like it. I do � although every time I opened the manuscript to work on it, and I caught sight of the title, I started to hum the song, and now I’m rather allergic to it. The song, not the book. I’m quietly pleased with the book. Hope you will be too, in the fullness of time. Should be published around mid October, but I’ll give a more definite date as soon as I know. Should be seeing a cover for it soon, dying to see what they come up with � and I will of course flash it here as soon as I get the green light.

Right, I think that’s quite enough news for one blog post. Now to get back to enjoying the Irish summer…�.

What? I said I wouldn’t TALK about it.

Roisin xx

Oh boy, sorry for the long silence � didn’t realise how long it had been until I checked the date of the last entry. In my defence I’ve been working on the edits for the Roone Christmas book (nearly there, another week or so) and I’ve also squeezed in a sneaky week-long break to the sun. Temperatures were in the mid-thirties � phew! Although I hate to complain about the heat, since we’re usually so starved of it in Ireland, I did feel a bit wilty now and again! There was a swimming pool in the complex where I was staying, and a beach within walking distance, but both were too warm to be truly refreshing � I’m used to the chilly Atlantic when I swim, and unless I GASP with the cold getting in, it doesn’t feel like a proper dip! Pity about me. Anyway, I’m home now and back to work, and it’s nearly there. Haven’t got a publication date yet but I do have one for the paperback version of Two Fridays in April, which has this lovely pinky version of the bigger size cover, and which will hit shelves in or around August 6 (do let me know if you spot it in your local bookshop): And now I must get back to the edits � my dear old mother was 87 on Wednesday and we’re all heading out to dinner this evening, so I need to get my page quota done before that. Hope you’re all having a lovely summer (or winter) and hope you get an occasional look at the sun, at least! Take care, Roisin xx

Greetings, everyone � hope you’re all in fine fettle and looking forward to the summer (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere). I’ve been busy since I last wrote, mainly writing the next book, but also training hard for the half marathon event in the annual Great Limerick Run, which happened last weekend. The good news is that I didn’t expire, but boy did I feel every one of those thirteen miles…and I have to confess that the last three were a mix of brisk walking and slow running. I seriously ran out of puff � and it didn’t help that the rain came down in sheets and totally drenched us. But I made it across the finish line in 2 hours and 8 minutes, which was roughly what I’d been expecting, and duly collected my medal. (Think the half marathon boys got the pink ribbon too � nice equality there!!) And then I had a medicinal glass of red wine at the nearest hostelry, where a few runner pals had gathered. (MEDICINAL.)

But back to the new book. It’s pretty much there � I’d say I have less than 10 pages to go � and then I’ll go back to the start and trawl through it again, tidying up any messy bits and making sure it all gels together properly. Then it’s off to my editor and a few weeks of a break before the verdict comes back. It’ll be lovely to have the break � feel like I’ve been writing since the year dot! This next one, to remind you, is the third story set on the island of Roone, and it takes place in the middle of winter � it spans eight days around Christmas � so it’s very different in flavour from the other two midsummer Roone ones. Hopefully you’ll like it! It should be hitting shelves around October/November � and of course Two Fridays in April will be putting in an appearance in September as a smaller size paperback (also available in Tesco in this size), so it’ll be all go in the autumn.

Right, better get back to it � this won’t get those last pages done and dusted! Look after yourselves, thanks for your lovely messages and feedback; you honestly don’t know what it means.

Roisin xx

Yoo hoo everyone � been mad busy since Two Fridays in April hit the shelves, but all good. I took myself off to Lanzarote if you don’t mind for three weeks of work on the next baby (more later). My timing was a bit weird, I left Ireland the day after I spotted Two Fridays for the first time on the bookshop shelves of Limerick, but I did what I could from Lanzarote to shout about the book on social media, and I wrote pieces for a few book bloggers, and I generally kept annoying whoever I could about the new book. Well, the great news is that Two Fridays went straight into the Irish top ten at number nine after less than a week of sales, and it currently stands at number five, and is still going the right way (seven last week), so fingers crossed, and huge thanks to all who helped to get it there! I was barely home from Lanzarote before I was invited onto the TELLY for the first time, the Ireland AM programme on TV3 wanted to interview me about the book. I was really nervous beforehand but thankfully the interviewers were lovely and didn’t ask any hard questions � will post a link here in the hope that you can access it if you didn’t catch it live:

Ìýâ€� and I had hardly recovered from that before I was invited onto Arena, RTE Radio I’s arts programme, to talk about the book all over again, so I was thrilled, and that also went fine. Here’s that link:

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So I’ve just come down to earth after all the flying around â€� was also whisked around the bookshops in Dublin by Ruth, one of the sales people at Hachette, to sign whatever copies of Two Fridays they had in stockÌý â€� and now I’m back at the laptop and about to return to my new baby, which is about three quarters grown. It’s yet another return to the island of Roone: I just can’t seem to stay away from that place. It’s coming up to Christmas, so the tourists have pretty much gone and the island is left to the locals â€� but storm clouds are gathering on the horizon, and a stranger is on the way who will bring about some changesâ€�.it’s got a title but I’m sworn to secrecy for the moment. As usual, you will be the first to hear when I get the green light!

And check out one of my new publicity shots � just taken yesterday so I haven’t seen the others yet, but the lovely photographer, Vig Gleeson of Wonder Works Photography () sent me this as a taster:

Must say I really like it, if that doesn’t sound too big-headed! I told Vig not to spare the airbrush, so I’m sure she helped it along! And now must head back to Roone and get that word count up…�

Be good! Keep in touch, love getting your messages!

Roisin xx

So at long last I took delivery of my author advance copies of Two Fridays in April; two sneak-peek copies earlier in the week, direct from the publishers, and my official box of books from the printers this morning: GREAT feeling seeing it ‘in the flesh'; even though this is number eleven, it’s still as thrilling to hold it in your hands for the first time as it was holding my first baby, The Daisy Picker, back in 2004. The past week has been a flurry of pre-publication marketing thingys and setting up interviews and getting my new haircut to go with my new book (OK, that last one was sheer coincidence!) Here’s the box that arrived this morning:

� and here is the book, in its rightful place on my ‘wall of fame':

� and in other very exciting news, I’ve been invited onto TV3’s Ireland AM programme on March 24 to talk about the book! My first telly interview as a writer! And a local shoe shop, Greene’s Shoes in the Crescent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle, have kindly sponsored me a pair of shoes to wear for my telly gig!

So it’s all go � and in the meantime I’m ploughing away with the third Roone book, about a third of the way through and going well. The title has been sorted but I’m under STRICT INSTRUCTIONS not to say a word for a long time! Wonder will I manage to keep my gob shut!

And now I must dash, off to Lanzarote on Sunday for a three week writing break � just me and the laptop, and my running shoes � so I’ll miss seeing my new baby when it hits the bookshop shelves here, but I have a small army of faithful friends who have promised to let me know the minute they spot it! Do spread the word � I’d be delighted, and most grateful.

Hope everyone is well and happy. Remind me to tell you about the stuff I’ve been doing in connection with the random acts of kindness movement � no time now. I’ll leave you with the dedication page of Two Fridays in April, and I will tell all when I get a chance:

Roisin xxx

Here we go � hope you like it! Out March 5, won’t feel it now! xx

Yoo hoo everyone � apologies for the looooooong silence since my last post; I’ve been working frantically to get Two Fridays in April all done and dusted, bit complicated timeline-wise so lots to keep an eye on � and finally it’s passed out of my hands for the last time as a manuscript. Next time I lay eyes on it it’ll be a real live BOOK!! And I can reveal that the official publication date is March 5, so it should be appearing in an Irish bookshop near you around that date � or if you’re from further afield it’ll be popping up on Amazon and other online selling places. Dying to see it in its finished state � sadly I’m still waiting for the go-ahead from the publishers to reveal the cover, so for the moment you’ll have to take my word for it that it’s lovely, and the minute I’m allowed I’ll flash it up here, promise.

No rest for the wicked, though: I’ve already plotted and started the next â€� and I hope you’ll be pleased to hear that I’m following on from One Summer and After the Wedding and taking my third trip to the island of Roone (just can’t stay away). The difference with this one is that it’s set in the middle of winter â€� around Christmas actually, and it’s due to hit the shelves in the autumn, my first time to have two books out in one year.Ìý I’ll be ready for a nice long holiday after all this writing!

In other news I’m back at the running lark â€� and this time I might even stick it out. I started in November and have been following weekly schedules that Patrick, a running-mad friend, has been setting for me, and so far so good.Ìý I’ve worked my way up to 6 mile runs, and in a few days I’ll be taking part in my second official race. The first was on St Stephen’s Day and was a 5 miler (I think I came 4th last), and this next one is 6 miles. I’m working up to a half-marathon in May, already registered for it so I can’t back out â€� having slight palpitations at the thought of running over 13 miles without stopping, but I’ll give it my best shot!

Now it’s late and the bed is calling � I have a 3 mile run to do in the morning � so I’ll say goodnight, and hope 2015 is treating you kindly thus far. My two resolutions for this year are to commit more random acts of kindness and to succeed at the running. Fingers crossed on both fronts, particularly the first. We need more kindness in the world…�.

Roisin xx

Oh dear, oh dear, I’ve neglected you all unforgiveably�..do try and forgive me though, because in my defense I was busy with the next book, which hopefully you’ll enjoy when it finally sees the light of day next March! The good news is that I sent off what I’m HOPING will be the final draft last weekend � phew. Of course it’s not the last I’ll see of it � it’ll go to the copy editor who’ll cast her beady eye over it, and in a couple of weeks it’ll come back to me with her input, at which time I’ll have to go through it again and see what she has to say, and what changes if any she’s recommending. When that’s done it’ll be sent to the proofreader (who just happens to be my brother, a freelance copywriter whom Hachette use!) and back to me again for the last time. I swear I nearly know the books off by heart by the time I’m done with them! I usually think ‘thank God that’s the last I’ll see of it� when I’m handing it back for the final time � and then when my box of advance copies arrives a few months later I can’t wait to open it!

Really hope you like the new one â€� I’m quietly pleased with how it’s turned out. The challenge I set myself at the outset (I always try to make a new book a little more challenging than the one that went before) was to confine myself to just two days, two Fridays to be exact, both of them in April. I have four main characters, all connected in some way with one another, who tell the story in turn. And now that it’s all done (bar the checking as above) I’m really dying to see it on the shelves, and to see what reaction it gets. March seems like a lifetime away, but it’ll come eventually.Ìý And I know I promised ages ago to show you the cover â€� I had seen it and liked it, and was waiting until it was officially signed off on before going public with it â€� but I just heard a few days ago that it’s being totally changed â€� and the good thing is I really love the new one, I think it’s much stronger than the old one, so I’m a happy bunny. It’s still being tweaked, but I’ve been promised a final version VERY soon â€� and you’ll be the first to see it, I swear! (Well, maybe after my parents!)

By the way, in case you’re wondering what the snaps have to do with anything (and apologies for the quality � I’m a writer, not a photographer!) they’re different views of what I was looking out at from my bedroom window each day last week. I was spending the week in the wonderful writers� and artists� retreat that is the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in County Monaghan () where I go from time to time to get a bit of intensive writing done (and get a bit pampered too!) As ever I had a great time and was very productive � got the book finished there, which was the objective. All the rooms are gorgeous but I was lucky enough to be put into Lady Guthrie’s room, which is one of the best in my opinion, being located at the front of the house with a view of the lake. The weather was mostly good, but we got two foggy days when the lake literally disappeared! I’m a big fan of fog, though � I love the magic of it, the other-worldly feel it gives to a place. And I met a really interesting group of people, from storytellers to musicians to artists and other writers. Every week I spend in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre is different, but none is ever dull�. And then of course there are the magnificent evening meals which are provided by a posse of extremely gifted local women�..it’s a real treat to go there, and I consider myself blessed to be able to.

Oh, one other thing � I’ve taken up running again. If you’ve been keeping tabs on this diary you’ll know I’m a very sporadic runner, keep stopping and starting (literally) but this time I might just last because I’ve enlisted the help of Patrick, a friend and enthusiastic runner himself who has sort of taken me under his wing. He’s making out weekly schedules for me, and I’m now on week 3, and so far so good. I’m running between 3 and 4 miles when I go out � and would you believe I’m quite liking it! I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m loving it � not yet � but I don’t dread it, which is a major step forward for me. I’m quite slow but that’s OK � it’s enough for me to get to the finish without having to stop and walk. Watch this space � apparently I’m aiming for the half marathon in the Great Limerick Run next May � help!!!!

Be good,

Roisin xx

Hello all â€� here’s me busy at work, trying hard to come up with another bestseller! September’s been quite manic, but mostly in a good way. On the home front, two of my brothers have returned from overseas, where they live and work. Colm, a Redemptorist priest, has been based in the Philippines since his ordination twenty-five years ago. He comes home every couple of years, and a few of us have been out to visit him. The Philippines is a beautiful place, both in terms of landscape and people â€� I travelled there with my mother about 4 years ago and we were utterly charmed by the warmth of the welcome we received, usually from the poorest of the poor â€� typically, the people Colm spends most of his time with. (I wrote here about that experience, I was reminded of it in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which caused so much destruction there last year â€� scroll down a bit if you want to read it). Colm will be with us till the beginning of November, so we’ll have plenty of time to catch up.Ìý And because this year is his silver jubilee we held a celebration last week to mark the occasion â€� actually we had two â€� and invited all and sundry to join us. Lovely to spend some time with people you mightn’t meet that often, and a hooley is a great excuse to round everyone up.

Another brother, Ciaran, returned from California where he’s been living for the past several years � pic shows him and Colm walking in County Clare a few days ago. Ciaran’s planning to stay for a few months too so we’re having lots of chats around my parents� kitchen table, or heading out for walks in the evenings. Interesting for Colm and Ciaran to compare the different directions their lives have taken: Ciaran is a computer programmer, living just outside San Francisco (he says his proper title is ‘computer architect�, but I suspect he’s making that up to impress us!) It’s lovely for Mam and Dad to have the boys around the place, and they’re fairly good at not making too much work for their hosts…I’m keeping an eye on that side of things � bossy big sister strikes! Of course Mam, being the quintessential Irish mother, just LOVES fussing over her sons, and does far more than they’d expect her to, but you might as well talk to the wall as try to stop her!

On the books front, I’ve sent off Two Fridays in April to my editor and agent, and I’m waiting now for their feedback. In the meantime, I want to pull out some children’s books I’ve written over the past few years for various age groups and have another look at them. I’d love to have another children’s book published � I’d particularly love to bring out a picture book for very young children � and now’s my chance before I have to dive back into Two Fridays in April to fix all the things I’ll be told are wrong with it! The cover is being designed as we speak � I saw an early version of it and it looks very promising, but I’m not allowed to flash it here or anywhere until it’s been finalised and approved. You’ll be the first to see it, promise! And publication date is March 18 � not sure if I knew that the last time I wrote here � so you won’t feel it�.

For the non-Irish readers among you, our weather’s been incredibly mild, almost balmy, for most of September. The nights are drawing in, of course � it’s now getting dark around 8.00pm � but the central heating has stayed off most of the time, and I’ve lit my first fire today after the summer, purely because I took a TUMBLE earlier today � didn’t see a bump in the path, galloping along like I usually do, went SPLAT, mortifying � and now I’m feeling a little bumped and bruised and in need of some pampering!

Oh, one other thing. This most adorable little kitten has moved in across the road (here she’s asleep on one of my kitchen chairs â€� see her pearl necklace???)Ìý She comes visiting now and again, appears on my windowsill and mews loudly until I let her in. It’s made me really want a cat of my own again, after losing my two ladies over the past couple of years â€� not sure how long more I’ll be able to hold out without one. I was waiting until after the summer so I’d be more grounded in Limerick, and not heading off to the mobile home every so often, but I’m off to Rome in a week or so, and in November I’m heading to Lanzarote for a week, and I don’t like the thought of leaving a new arrival until he/she is well settled inâ€�.so maybe after Lanzarote I’ll have a look around. In the meantime, my new little neighbour will fill the gap nicely.

Right, time to stop, or I’ll put you all to sleep! Take care,

Roisin xx

…well, not quite � but there’s been a distinctly autumnal vibe happening here over the past few days. BIt chillier, bit damper, bit greyer. And August not even finished yet: can summer 2014 be gone so soon? Seems to have lasted about as long as it would take to put a halfway decent dinner on the table. Of course I’m in denial, have no notion of lighting a fire or turning on the heating, at least until my calendar says September. Brrrr though.

On the writing front, the end is in sight for Two Fridays in April: another week or so till draft one is done, and then it’s back to page one to tidy it all up, another few weeks. No sign of a cover yet from Hachette, but should be coming soon. I figure by the middle of October I’ll be able to put the feet up for a week or two. Coincidentally, I’m going to Rome around then for a few days � nice. I love Rome, all those incredible paintings, sculptures, fountains, ruins. Not to mention the delectable pizzas, and the magnificent piazzas.

So the mobile home in County Clare has been packed up for another year, apart from a few one-night stays I’m planning in September, for walks and blackberry-picking and suchlike. I do miss the lovely view when I’m back home � the mostly dignified goings-on of the five cattle that spend the summer months in the field beyond the patio; the sparrows and blue tits and robins ducking and diving all day in the blackberry bushes that tumble over the patio wall; the vivid orange-red splashes of Montbretia growing wild on each side of the road that snakes down to the sea; and of course the Atlantic, a wide ribbon of it cutting into Liscannor Bay, a different colour every time you look at it. Wonderful.

But of course autumn brings compensations for taking summer away � crisp morning and evening air putting roses in cheeks, bowls of creamy soup in front of roaring fires, apple crumbles and spicy casseroles and mugs of hot chocolate. Great, now I’m starving. Excuse me while I raid the fridge. Oh, and autumn means a return to my Pilates and yoga classes, so yes, I’m allowed to raid the fridge (within reason).

Nom nom. Happy autumn to you. xx

Ìý