This Much I Know - Irish Exminer

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Make Readers Care About Characters....

Great overview of Dublin Book Festival in the Examiner,including my few words of wisdom on crime fiction writing....

'Speaking at the Irish Writers Centre, crime writer Louise Phillips urged her audience to “make readers care about characters by developing strong emotional bios thus creating intimate relationships,” adding “make villains human by giving an interesting backstory.' She also discussed using time factors to help build suspense, “short, sharp punchy sentences to create rhythm,” “bite-size chapters” and even “have characters do something to surprise readers.'

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My Mother's Hands

I've been very touched by the amount of people who read the story in the Irish Examiner and who've made contact with me in one way or another. 

It got me thinking about a poem I'd written a long time back. It was about my mother's hands. I realised I didn't have a copy of it anymore, but like all words that come from a place deep inside, they never really leave you. 

So I've put the poem below. I hope you enjoy it. The angels referred to are the two children my mother lost. Many others have suffered too, but here are a few small words about her. 

The image below is of my Mom as a young girl. At the very bottom are YouTube links to Mount Pleasant Buildings and the poverty within it. Thank you.

My Mother’s Hands

Her hands held little fingers with cold front door keys,

wrapped a red coat over, 

protecting me from more than rain,

pushed prams, peeled spuds,

no lady hands, but lady owned.

skin like alabaster, soft not weak,

hands of pain, hands of an optimistic soul,

sprouting blood bubbles in pin-pricked old age,

folded quietly in gentle melancholy, 

stolen by her mind’s disease,

in death as in life, 

angels drawn.

Part 1 of 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJhtNOkB07I

Part 2 of 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t3L-FPpd9U

Haunted by Mount Pleasant - Irish Examiner

Image by Nick Bradshaw - Irish Examiner

Haunted by Mount Pleasant 

Monday, December 09, 2013 - Victoria White

STANDING up, as she’s about to leave, Louise Phillips, author of the just-named Irish Crime Novel of the Year The Doll’s House may have cried as she told me about the dark place where her novels originate.

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Very Atmospheric!!!

Huge thanks to, Luke Ryan -Camera, Clark Wickstone -Audio and SFX, Elizabeth Wilson -Editing, Dave Barnaville - Production Manager, and Colm O Searcoid -Graphics and Director, for producing such a brilliantly atmospheric trailer for RED RIBBONS, paperback, due to be released in May.

I love it - I hope you do too! 

Click on Image to View

And let me know what you think :-)

THE TOP 10!

Okay, perhaps I'm childish, (although being childish isn't always a bad thing) but either way, as the two Irish newspapers I picked up yesterday, the Irish Examiner, which had a piece on RED RIBBONS by Sue Leonard, only printed the Top 5 Bestsellers, and the Irish Independent, didn't list them at all - here is the TOP 10 Bestsellers in Ireland for original fiction this week.

(Also, word of mouth is still the best way any novel, especially one by an unknown writer, can be promoted, so if you've read RED RIBBONS, and feel like recommending it to others, I would be really grateful.)

 

 

1. Wanted Man - Lee Child
 
 

2. Wrath of Angels - John Connolly

3. This Child of Mine - Sinead Moriarty

 

4. Sweet Tooth - Ian McEwan
 

5. Ancient Light - John Banville

6. Very Accidental Love Story - Claudia Carroll
 

7. Red Ribbons - Louise Phillips
 

8. Bones are Forever - Kathy Reichs

 

9. Last to Die - Tess Gerritsen

10.Criminal - Karin Slaughter

Incidentally, Sue Leonard gave RED RIBBONS the thumbs up - 'Dark, spooky, but believable.'  The Irish Examiner.

 

 

You can order RED RIBBONS (paperback or on kindle) using this Amazon link HERE or by clicking on the image of RED RIBBONS in the side panel, if ordering from Ireland.