To Maynooth, thank you...

This time last year, I was gearing up to begin my Screenwriting Residency with Maynooth University and Kildare Co. Council Library & Arts Service, (supported by the Arts Council).

It was a wonderful experience, from the students and staff in the university and Kildare libraries to the space it afforded me to focus on some writing projects I hadn't had the time to complete. 

I published my first book, Dad's Red Dress during the second semester, and completed first drafts of three others. 

As a result of my Residency, my next next novel, The Angelica Touch, will come out in November. In addition, Write That Script! my new non-fiction screenwriting book, geared to help writers complete their first screenplay as painlessly and creatively as possible, is due out in October. 

There were the coffee shops and cafes in Maynooth that I was only just getting to know - too busy writing, teaching, running evening events, doing a couple of readings and mentoring students to do so until towards the end.

It took me until May to work out the best time to drive over - I normally got the train, and which was the best car park! 

 Oh Maynooth, I will miss you already but your legacy will live on in the acknowledgement pages of my next few books! (Dad's Red Dress is for sale still in the Maynooth Bookshop.) And in the friendships I have made. 

So a huge thanks to Lucina Russell of Kildare Co. Council Library & Arts Service, to Oona Fralwey and Maria Pramaggiore of Maynooth Uni, to Tracey O'Flaherty, Amanda Bent and Ann Byrne for your help through the year, to all the students and tutors and other writers I met during the year. Also to all the talented people who took part in the events I ran on indie film making and interactive and game narrative.