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One of the Shadow Voices
My short story 'The Boughs Withered When I Told Them My Dreams' will be reprinted in the forthcoming anthology, Shadow Voices: 300 Years of Irish Genre Fiction: A History in Stories, edited by John Connolly.
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Storysellers Auction
For the #Storysellers auction, to raise funds to help Irish independent booksellers and comic book stores during this COVID-19 emergency period, I'm offering a bundle of items.
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Drive the Cold Winter Away
It's the December solstice in Ireland; a day that lends itself to introspection.
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Votes for Women
On this day – 100 years ago – the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, giving the parliamentary vote to women aged at least 30 who had property or a university education (and to all men over the age of 21). Irish Women over the age of 21 obtained the vote when the Constitution of the Irish Free State Act came into effect in 1922. The Irish Government is celebrating this event with the #Vótáil100 Programme, which is a series of events taking place around the country discussing women’s suffrage. As always, I feel hugely indebted to my ancestors who fought so hard and endured great hardship to…
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Dual national
I was born in the USA, and when I was three my parents whisked me and my brothers and sister back to Ireland. I don’t have many early memories of America, but I’ve been told I returned to Ireland with a Southern accent (the last place we lived was in Georgia). My mother was always ‘Mom’, and my grandparents were ‘Grandma’ and ‘Grandpa’, something I took for being entirely normal, but it was one of a number of signs of my difference. It’s only been for the last few years that I’ve come to realise how much that sense of being from another place shaped the formation of my identity…
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Dublin Women in Horror Month Event
To celebrate Women in Horror Month 2016 Acid Cane Comics are hosting the first comic/live music crossover night which is happening at 7pm tonight at On the Rox. They’re getting the comic creators and connoisseurs of horror together in an atmosphere of drinks and rock ‘n’ roll. There will be a comic book launches from Acid Cane Comics and Clare Foley as well as entertainment from Kate’s Party, Glassgears, and Solid Gold Rocketship. There will also be burlesque from The WareBitch Project. To celebrate the event ACC are publishing an anthology of work under the theme of women in horror – I have an original flash fiction in it, called…
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Story in Uncertainties
I’m happy to announce that I have a story called ‘The Light at the Centre’, in the forthcoming anthology, Uncertainties: Twenty-Two Strange Tales, edited by Brian J. Showers for Liberties Press in Ireland. The book should be on the shelves by the summer. It’s a pleasure to be in the company of such fine talent from Ireland, the UK, and the USA. Here’s the Table of Contents: ‘The Swing’ by Peter Bell ‘The Mighty Mr Godbolt’ by R.B. Russell ‘Then and Now’ by John Howard ‘Homecraft’ by Rosalie Parker ‘Half-Life’ by Steve Rasnic Tem ‘Wellaway’ by Martin Hayes ‘Closing Time’ by Emma Darwin ‘From the Archives of the Westmeath Examiner’…
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persistence and endurance
It’s the summer solstice, and the weather has proved diffident. But where is it written that on the longest day in Ireland we shall be gifted with sunshine? An island buffering the Atlantic’s whims is never granted predictability. Yet, towards the evening the continuous clouds thinned in places so I ventured into the woods, in search of beauty. I was not rewarded with a triumphant, sunny breakthrough, but there were dramatic skyscapes. Conventionally pretty? Perhaps not, but arresting nonetheless. The woods were dotted with one of my favourite summer flowers, which returns each year to a glad welcome by me: dactylorhiza fuchsii, the common spotted orchid. We tend to associate…
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Irish Comics News Awards 2014
The 4th Annual Irish Comic News Awards has opened for voting, and I’ve been nominated in two categories: Best Irish Writer Published Outside of Ireland Best Irish Creator Comic Published Outside of Ireland Both of these nominations are for my work on Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland, which I co-wrote with Kim Newman, with art by Tyler Crook, coloured by Dave Stewart, covers by Julian Totino Tedesco, lettered by Clem Robins, and edited by Scott Allie. All set in the Hellboy universe created by Mike Mignola, and published by Dark Horse Comics. Creating comics is a collaborative activity, and of course I’m deeply indebted to everyone on the team for making such a terrific comic book. Voting…
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Shamrokon schedule
Tomorrow marks the start of Shamrokon in Dublin, the European science fiction convention (Eurocon) which is held in a different country each year. After all the fun and frolics at Worldcon in London last weekend, I’m approaching this event with anticipation, tempered with a little fatigue. Here’s my schedule: Made In Ireland: Fantasy Classics By Irish Authors: Friday 15:00 – 16:00, D. Ulster Le Fanu Track: Vampire Lovers – Le Fanu and the Silver Screen: Saturday 15:00 – 16:00, C. Munster Le Fanu Track: Dracula vs. Carmilla: Saturday 16:00 – 17:00, C. Munster Women of 2000AD: Sunday 12:00 – 13:00, C. Munster Golden Blasters: Sunday 14:00 – 16:00, B. Lansdowne…
