Welcome to Writing.ie!

Writing.ie is an online magazine site for writers and readers of all ages – if you are an author and feel you could contribute to our Writers Tool Box pages, or would like to discuss your genre in Meet the Authors do please get in touch! If you have a book review or feel there is any other part of the site you can contribute to, drop us an email.

If you have a literary event, reading or book launch coming up tell our visitors (we have over 60,000 a month!) about it - it's free to add events and a backlink from writing.ie will help your site visability.

Contact us by email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if your enquiry is urgent by phone to 087 2835382.

Writing.ie is about all about reading, writing and you - we welcome your suggestions.

At the moment we have a strong fiction offering but we are particularly keen to hear from poets, song writers, screen & script writers, and writers who write in the Irish Language who can contribute to the site.

The copyright of all photographs featured on this site is held by photographer Gerry Chaney. His landscapes are truly amazing and marry the magnificence of our Irish country and cityscapes with brilliant new photographic talent. To discuss any of the pictures seen here, or to see more, visit www.gerrychaney.com.

Advertise with us: As Ireland’s leading writing resources website we have a loyal audience who return again and again to check out our constantly changing content, and as a niche domain we have clearly targeted traffic. If you would like to advertise your product or service (subject to it being appropriate for our users), please get in touch using the contact form.

About Us:

Writing.ie has been developed by Vanessa O’Loughlin who runs The Inkwell Group. Vanessa is a publishing consultant and literary scout who has assisted many authors to publication. 

Vanessa has been writing since 1999 when her husband set sail across the Atlantic for 8 weeks and she had an idea for a book. She is represented by Sheila Crowley of Curtis BrownLondon, has been a finalist in several national competitions and has had many short stories published, including Every Second Counts in the Mums the Word, the best selling anthology edited by Sarah Webb featuring 32 of Ireland’s top women writers. In 2010 Vanessa worked with Hazel Larkin and The Hope Foundation to compile The Big Book of Hope, a collection of over 40 fiction and nonfiction stories from Ireland's leading writers, business, political and media personalities.

Vanessa speaks regularly at literary events, to businesses and groups. As well as giving invaluable advice on how to start writing, how to improve your fiction and how to get published, Vanessa is a motivational speaker covering many topics from starting a small business to time management. If you would like Vanessa to speak to your group, contact her This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Follow Vanessa on Twitter @InkwellHQ and Facebook

The Writing.ie Team

The Bloggers:

Self Printed: Catherine Ryan Howard·

CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD is a writer and blogger from Cork. She self-published her first book, a travel memoir called Mousetrapped: A Year and A Bit in Orlando, Florida, in March 2010.· Her first novel - women’s commercial fiction with a side serving of satire - has a big “FOR SALE” sign on it and the second is making the arduous journey from her brain to her Mac.·In her previous life she worked as an administrator in the Netherlands, a campsite courier in France and a front desk agent in Walt Disney World. She wants to be a NASA astronaut when she grows up.·(She’s 28.)·Visit her blog at www.catherineryanhoward.comor follow her on Twitter @cathryanhoward.·

Random Acts of Optimism: Alison Wells

ALISON WELLS lives in Bray, Co. Wicklow with her husband and four young children. Her short fiction been published in magazines and online and print anthologies and she has been featured on Sunday Miscellany. Shortlisted for the 2009 Hennessy New Irish Writing Award and this year’s Bridport, Fish Prize and inaugural WOW awards, she is completing a themed short story collection Random Acts of Optimism and a literary novel. To read Alison's full blog, visit Head Above Water.

Poetic Licence: Kate Dempsey

KATE DEMPSEY is a writer and a blogger living in Maynooth. She writes fiction and non-fiction as well as poetry and is widely published in Ireland and abroad, in magazines, anthologies and on the radio. She fits this around her·family and·a full time job, writing·on the sofa, on the train and in that little coffee shop on the corner. Poetry can be a solitary activity and· she appreciates the·support she·received·from the online community, particularly when·starting out. She is excited about continuing the·dialogue with her blog here and at·emergingwriter.blogspot.com.

From The Front Row: Elizabeth Rose Murray

Elizabeth Rose Murray lives in West Cork where she writes full time, fishes and grows her own vegetables. Represented by Sallyanne Sweeney at Watson Little, she writes mainly for children and Young Adults. As a content writing and social media specialist, Elizabeth has been heavily involved in the Irish literary scene; she was the official blogger for the Dublin Writers Festival, (2009 & 2010), the Cork Spring Literary Festival (2011) Listowel Writers’ Week (2011), the Dublin Book Festival (2011) the Frank O’Connor Short Story Festival (2011) and more. She also travels the country, helping writers and artists unravel the mysteries of social media so they can establish online profiles. Her poetry and fiction has been published in various online and print magazines, and she was shortlisted for the 2009 Aesthetica poetry prize. Follow her on Twitter @ERMurray or visit her website www.ermurray.wordpress.com  to find out about her rural life.

The Book Seller's Blog: Mary Burnham

MARY BURNHAM loves books! She says: if I were a book, I’d choose to be A Woman in Berlin.  Not that I’ve ever lived in a war torn city with an advancing army of hot blooded Cossacks about to ravage everything in sight!  But I am a survivor, someone who knows how to compromise, get the job done, and go against the grain even if it costs me everything.  Luckily, I work in Dubray Books, Dun Laoghaire, where my colleagues make the daily grind a pleasure and where I do what I do best, surrounded by my beloved books. Sometimes they even let me out to help book clubs of all sorts and sizes get started, and for the occasional literary dinner...

Word Play - Caren Kennedy

Caren Kennedy lives in Dublin, Ireland, where she writes personal essays and all sorts in between working as an editor, proofreader, writing tutor and researcher.  She is the creator of a television series currently in pre-production with Warner Bros TV, co-author ofFake Alibis (BenBella Books, 2009) and guest blogger for www.writing.ie.  Her articles and essays have been published in many different countries. 

In conjunction with INKwell Writers' Workshops, Caren reveals how she started writing for television in her online course Writing TV Treatments.  Over 8 weeks (4 modules) she gives one-to-one mentoring and instruction on writing for television and developing ideas into storylines.  By the end, students who complete all assignments will have created a polished Treatment showcasing their own idea for a TV series.

For more about Caren, please visit: www.carenkennedywrites.com 

SongBook - Derek Flynn

Derek Flynn is an Irish writer and musician. He has an Honours Degree in English Literature and Philosophy. He’s been published in a number of publications, including The Irish Times, and was First Runner-Up in the 2011 J. G. Farrell Award for Best Novel-In-Progress. His writing/music blog – ‘Rant, with Occasional Music’ – can be found here: http://derekflynn.wordpress.com and on Twitter, he can be found here: http://twitter.com/#!/derekf03 

Crime Scene - Louise Phillips

Born in Dublin, Louise Phillips began writing in 2006, when her youngest son turned thirteen. Since then, Louise has won the Jonathan Swift Award with her story Last Kiss. She was a winner in the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice Platform, short-listed for the Molly Keane Memorial Award, Bridport UK, and long-listed twice for RTE Guide/Penguin short story competition. Louise has been published as part of many anthologies, including County Lines from New Island, and various literary journals.

Editorial director Ciara Doorley bought Irish and UK Commonwealth for Louise's first novel Red Ribbons, due out in September 2012, with her second novel The Doll's House to be published in 2013. Red Ribbons centres on the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old school girl and the main character is Julie Pearson, a criminal psychologist who is drafted in by the police to help them find the killer.

Doorley likened Phillips to Sophie Hannah and Tana French, and said: "She subconsciously creates parallels between her characters, and this really challenges the reader. Her writing is tense, atmospheric and we're really excited to be launching a new voice in Irish crime."

http://www.louise-phillips.com/

Centre Stage - Barry Houlihan

Barry Houlihan is a professional archivist and specialises in theatre and literary archives. He has catalogued the Project Arts Centre archive (1967-2003) at the National Library of Ireland, established an archive for the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and produced a research guide on the history of Smock Alley Theatre. Barry has worked as a researcher for ‘Cultureshock’ program on Newstalk FM radio and also recently acted as researcher for the RTE Radio 1 documentary series ‘From Stage to Street’. Barry is currently working for NUI Galway Library where he is cataloguing the archives of Druid Theatre Company and the Galway Arts Festival. You can follow Barry on Twitter @stagedreaction.

Carry On Writing - Hazel Gaynor is a blogger and freelance writer, specialising in parenting and the modern family. Hazel’s blog 'Hot Cross Mum'·offers an honest, frank and humorous insight into life at home with two young boys. ‘Hot Cross Mum’ was listed in·The Independent Top 50 Parenting Websites and Blogs in October 2009 and has been ranked in the UK's Top 100 Parenting Blogs index since September 2009. ‘Hot Cross Mum’ was shortlisted for the 2010 Irish Blog Awards and was awarded a gurgle.com blog award in July 2010.

When she's not blogging, chasing around after her two children or avoiding the ironing, Hazel writes·features for the Irish Examiner, The Irish Independent and Modern Mum magazine and·contributes regularly to parenting websites. She has also written a weekly column for The·Leinster·Leader and·blogs for Hello magazine in 'Off the Shelf'.

Hazel·has appeared on national radio and TV and was featured in The Sunday Times Magazine in January 2010.·In addition to running the Inkwell Blogging & Beyond online workshop, she is currently working on her first fiction novel.

Hazel lives in Co. Kildare, Ireland, with her husband, two children and a kitten which is intent on destroying her leather sofa.

Behind the Scenes:

Editor in Chief: Barbara Scully

Barbara has been published in Irish newspapers including The Irish Times, The Sunday Independent, The Examiner. Her work has also featured in: Irish Tatler, Woman's Way, Irish Homes, Interiors and Living, Home and Home and Beautiful Kitchens. Barbara is a regular contributor to The Morning Show with Declan Meehan on East Coast FM. She had a weekly slot on Anything Goes with Gareth O Callaghan on 4FM on Saturday mornings, Headlines and Highlights, which took a look back over the week that was and the week ahead. The programme ran from January till June 2011.Barbara is also a regular contributor to Sunday Miscellany on RTE Radio 1.

MARESE O SULLIVAN Twenty-year-old Marése O’Sullivan can usually be found scribbling new stories in a notebook, travelling around Europe, or in the corner of a small bookshop, counting how many freshly written and alluringly scented books she can carry home. 

She loves history and photos, has documented over one thousand people in her family tree, and plays the classical flute. She studies English and French literature at the National University of Ireland, Galway, where she specialises in Creative Writing and drinks copious amounts of tea.
 
You can find her on her A Younger Theatre blog, 'Want to Write?', talking about her literary loves. Marése is a freelance journalist and has had articles published by renowned local newspapers The Kerryman and The Kerry’s Eye. She is currently working on her first novel, as well as updating her blog about her adventures (mareseosullivan.wordpress.com). Luckily, her creative ambitions have always been supported by her amazing family: Mum, Dad and sister Sharon.

JULIE MURPHY is a student journalist from Dublin and is currently doing an MA in Independent Colleges. She graduated from UCD in 2004 with a degree in English and Philosophy. Since graduating, Julie has worked in a number of industries from tourism to broadcasting. In 2007/2008, she worked in the BBC while living in London and before returning to Dublin to continue her education Julie spent six months travelling. On her travels she visited South America, New Zealand, Fiji and Australia and her experiences there inspired her to fulfill her ambition to study journalism.

SARAH DOWNEY·is a recent graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology, where she studied Journalism and German and was lucky enough to spend a fun filled Erasmus semester in Munich.·She now attempts to blog, does freelance work, interns and daydreams of one day being a successful Editor ala Anna Wintour except nicer and friendlier, obviously! Sarah enjoys a bit of everything- travelling, reading, music and fashion- and of course loves to write about them all.·She now lives in Naas, Co. Kildare with a collection of (barely worn) shoes, a slightly dodgy laptop and a lovable mutt called Mel!

CHRIS MILLS Chris has worked in bookselling in the UK and Ireland for several years, and writes on books, bookselling and general cultural stuff for several online journals.

Chris says she is also slowly but surely being sucked into a fascination for social media, although she still finds time to read.

AOIFE MOORE·was born in Dublin in 1988 and is currently studying for a B.A in English Literature and History in Trinity College Dublin.·She has always had an interest in writing, starting at the age of 11 when she tried to email her “novel” to Poolbeg. Needless to say, they didn’t go for it. Her hobbies include reading, shopping, avoiding college work and volunteer work with the St. Vincent De Paul Society. Amongst her favourite writers (though the list changes a lot) are Marian Keyes, Jodi Picoult, Jane Austen and Phillipa Gregory. Her favourite poets include T.S Eliot, Walt Whitman and Seamus Heaney. She also has an unhealthy interest in online blogging, though hasn’t got around to writing one herself. Her dislikes include the rain, being late for anything and writing about herself in the third person.

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