How did you get started ?

I have a really clear memory of being in primary school and hearing my mother talking about Jane Eyre. She had an old copy of it and she gave it to me. I couldn't read at that time and I was so frustrated. I was looking at this thing and trying to figure out how it worked. How did people unlock the story? Finally I mastered the art of reading and whole worlds opened up for me. Once I figured out how to enter the worlds created by other people I then turned my attention to figuring out how to create those worlds for myself. I wanted someone to open the pages of a book I had written and find the same pleasure I got from a new story. Being a writer is the most fulfilling thing I've ever done.
 

Have you a writing routine ?

This is the most difficult part for me to get the ideas from my brain to the paper or screen. I used to turn the computer on and move the mouse to stop it from going into sleep mode. There is only so much time you can ignore the brightly lit screen when it’s right in front of you. Once I start writing I'm fine but the initial sitting down on the chair and getting the first few lines down is the hardest. There is no easy way around this. You just have to have that wrestling match with yourself and commit to writing at least a few pages; everyday is best but as often as you can will do, for now.
 

Is there any one thing you would recommend above others ?

Yes. I recommend daydreaming. Thinking is the first step to writing. Writing a novel of four hundred and fifty pages of final draft, not to mention all the wrong turns you take along the way takes a lot of imagination. Those characters and story lines circulate inside the writer's brain first. I do my best thinking while I walk my dog.

Be your own critic, learn to part with your little darlings when they’re not working anymore. Use your delete button. It can be liberating. You might also keep a separate folder for ideas and characters, which might come in useful later. If you don’t like to delete - this folder is a perfect place for discarded ideas. You might use them later.

Writer’s need to edit and then edit again. When you finish the first draft of your book, especially when you are new to writing, the work will be rough. This is the point where you start to whittle excess, sharpen what you want to say and really give life to your characters. When Michelangelo was offered a ruined block of marble he saw his David locked inside waiting for him to be liberated. Editing is the same. Editing will liberate your masterpiece from the rough draft that surrounds it, be ruthless. You owe it to your book to cut out the dead wood and expose your story. Get rid of anything that slows the narrative and irritates the reader. You want to seduce your readers and keep them with you for a long time at least to the end this book and hopefully onto the next.

Writers should read a lot. Everybody says this but it is vital.
 

Where do your ideas come from ?

Ideas can come from anywhere such as snippets of overheard conversation, newspapers, true crime documentary or things you see on the street. These things are all full of possibility for a writer. You just need to spark an idea and then the imagination takes over.

My current book ‘Silent Crossing’ is in some ways an homage to the gothic romance. It contains many gothic elements such as the woman in jeopardy, the villain, the hero, the wanderer and the crumbling, decaying rural world of the old country house.
 

What are your favourite books or writers ?

I’ve enjoyed a lot of books but most of my favourites are ones I read in childhood - Jane Eyre, Kidnapped, Treasure Island and Great Expectations. I've always loved the classics. My favourite book from childhood is Tom's Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pierce. Though I think you really appreciate its poignancy as an adult. I re-read it every couple of years and it still touches me.

As an adult I mostly read crime but I will read anything if it captures my imagination. I don’t care what genre a books fits into as long as I enjoy the story. I love ‘Gone With The Wind and Rebecca.’ Ireland is currently producing some wonderful crime writers such as John Connolly, Tana French, Alex Barclay, Declan Hughes and Arlene Hunt. I’m also a fan of British writers Mark Billingham, Mo Hayder and Val McDermid and American writer Robert Crais.