I’m Caroline and I’m fascinated by all things books and publishing. I’m passionate about sharing everything I learn along the way with aspiring authors so that they can make their writing dreams a reality.
So what’s my back story?
I’m a journalist originally from Longford in the middle of Ireland, now living by the sea in Dublin with my two children and one small dog who spends a lot of time barking at his own reflection.
I’ve been writing for The Irish Times since 2005. I currently write the Irish Times Home from Home series of author interviews.
In 2009, I co-wrote a personal finance book The Money Book (Blackhall) with my Irish Times colleague and friend Laura Slattery.
In 2019, I was long-listed for The Write Stuff competition at the London Book Fair.
In 2022, my novel The Husband Whisperer was longlisted for the Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award.
My fiction is represented by the wonderful literary agent Kesia Lupo of The Bindery Agency.
Why did I start this blog?
I wanted to create a blog that would help aspiring authors to cope with the rejection that’s so often part of getting published, and encourage them to persist with their writing so that they fulfil their potential.
After all, as one of our featured authors Ian Flitcroft said, “Bloody-minded persistence is an absolute requirement, beyond anything else.”
What have I been up to?
When I’m not writing features or working on my blog (or playing with the above-mentioned children and dog!), I absolutely love going to literary events and book launches. I adore getting to know other writers, and over the last year I’ve been lucky enough to meet up with several authors featured on My First Book Deal.
A highlight of 2023 was definitely being asked to launch Wider than the Sea, the stunning verse novel by the Serena Molloy, in Dubray’s bookshop in Galway.
It was a pure joy to see Serena achieving her dream of becoming a published children’s author and I can’t wait to go to the launch of her second book The Tree that Sang to Me later this year.
Another highlight was getting to know 18-year-old author Roisin Coyne and her fiercely proud mom Anne. Roisin is an absolute inspiration. She is on the autism spectrum and was non-verbal for many years. However, writing and self-publishing a novel gave her the confidence to start speaking up… and now she can talk for Ireland!
You can read Roisin’s incredible story here:
Roisín Coyne (18): “If you can dream it, you can do it!” – My First Book Deal
I was also lucky enough to catch up with Charleen Hurtubise (author of The Polite Act of Drowning) at the launch of Siobhan MacGowan’s gorgeous debut novel The Graces in Eason’s in Dublin.
I also loved meeting up with fellow journalist and author, and all-round incredible person, Yvonne Reddin in Dun Laoghaire a few months ago. I got to know Yvonne when she wrote a really interesting guest post for My First Book deal on self-publishing. You can read her article here:
5 Effective Ways to Promote Your Self-Published Book (so that it actually sells) – My First Book Deal
I can’t wait to get to know more authors, and to share their success stories.
WHAT DO YOU NEED HELP WITH?
I want to learn how to successfully QUERY an agent
I want to know how successful authors got AGENTS and BOOK DEALS
Hi Caroline,
I loved learning about who you are and what drives you. It’s very easy to understand your passion for writers and writing. Finding your blog has been extremely helpful to me as I am most certainly not your average aspiring writer. For a start, I’m 78 years old and published my first book at the age of 75. The good thing about reaching this great age is discovering more about myself. I most definitely have ADD, learning that has made sense of my school days and my early life. I was a huge disappointment to my father, but in all honesty, my father was a great disappointment to me. The strange thing was that I never felt ordinary. I’m not quite sure why that was but I attribute my Sligo Granny for that. Granny never treated me as a child, she understood me, for I was much more like her than I was to my wonderful mother. Granny’s house was always a bit chaotic, but her welcome, , the cosiness and the freshly baked scones, home made jams and smell of TCP are the things I can still bring back simply by closing my eyes. My mother, the eldest of the three Glenn sisters, found the chaos disturbing and irritating. When I first got married it became obvious that I was following in my grandparent’s footsteps. Hilariously, my daughter Christina is scornful of my messy kitchen as her grandmother, my mother, was her biggest influence.
My book Marjorie and Claudette was based on two ladies I had the good fortune to meet. I didn’t quite understand that I was, in fact, self publishing when James Essinger of Canterbury Press immediately offered to publish my book, two days after receiving it. How naive I was, but I have not really totally regretted my decision. Sadly, although I sold a few hundred books, mainly thanks to Facebook, but James has not yet paid me. I don’t believe he is dishonest, just a little foolish to say the least.
I have several more books written but although hundreds of people seem to value my writing, I have not attempted to find myself a publisher or agent. I have, however, received a request for my manuscript for my book, Meredith’s Story from Marianne Gunn O’Connor, largely thanks to your advice on your blog. Now I’m going to take your advice even further by looking at other agents you recommend. I just felt like telling you how informative and encouragement your blog has been for me. I liked your photos also, you have a lovely, open face. Thank you!