BBC Radio 4’s Open Book has Lisa McInerney discussing religion in the modern Irish novel. Her segment starts around 10.27 minutes and its a great listen – not just because ‘The Good Son’ gets a good mention in some fine company.
N Ni Chonchuir, Sarah Clancy, Lisa McInerney at our reading in Kinvara recently.
Last year I went into a recording studio in north London to read The Good Son. I had to audition (well, do a sound/voice test) beforehand and the powers that be gave me the thumbs up. It wasn’t quite what I expected (me having a laugh reading my book!). It was hard work. I’d recommend trying anything once but I’d have a good long think before doing it again because…
Reading The Audio Book
There are definitely pros and cons to reading your own book – for you and the listener. I’d say the main pros are that you feel in control of the material- that you are giving the listener what you intended when you wrote it – and they are getting insights into the text they may not have picked up on.
I think the cons are that quite soon you realise your limitations – not being someone with experience/ability in this platform. If you have 5 characters speaking in one page, are you really good enough to differentiate between them? If not, the listener won’t know which character is speaking until the end of the dialogue when you’ve assigned a name. You don’t want them stumbling, you want them seduced by the story. Also, often an actor can bring something out of the text that you hadn’t seen (just like when you’ve written a play). As writers, we are not always aware of what we are doing. Actors can also add a layer of subtly that you, no matter how good you are as a reader of your work, don’t have the training or talent to do as a performer.
I enjoy reading my work and I think the audio book will really help to bring The Good Son to life. The added bonus for the listener is, as the story is set in Northern Ireland and has some of the vernacular, the delivery can help with the understanding. I can’t wait to hear some feedback. Be gentle. It’s my first time.
The New Cover
You can buy the audio book over at Audible. You can even listen to a free sample. I hope you enjoy it.
A wonderful event last night to raise funds for the old courthouse in Kinvara. Thanks to the generosity of writers Sarah Clancy, Lisa Quackinerney and N Ní Chonchúir who gave their time and talent to the help the local community here. You are amazing. And so I say good-bye to Kinvara and head home to Brighton. Thank you to Kinvara for having me and Liadain O’Donovan whose generosity I accepted in coming to Kinvara to get space to write. I’m so lucky to have a life where the currency is kindness and generosity. I think it’s going to be a good year.
Nuala O’Connor, Sarah Clancy, Lisa McInerney and me.
Huzzah! The new print of ‘The Good Son’ is here. With new quotes and ‘Not The Booker’ badge. After a month off the shelves he’s back all whistles and bells. You can buy from bookshops and all the usual outlets but why not from Salt with one of your whole English pounds off.
I was asked for a little story about David Bowie by Wales Arts Review and I tell my fanboy story of the photo I have above my bed.
You can also have a look at this Irish Times piece where Irish writers were asked to respond to the news – some wonderful writers here like Edna O’Brien and Roddy Doyle.
I think it’s going to take a while to get used him being gone.
The Good Son has been longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award. It’s such lovely news. I had to find out about the award and if you don’t know about it you can read a little below. Click here to read the other longlisted books – its quite a line up.
From their website –
An article by Susannah Hickling about Le Prix De La Cadière was the starting point for the Waverton Good Read Award in 2003. Francois Dufour, the doctor of La Cadière D’Azur, (a Provencal village – population about 4000) had speculated that reading a good book might be as useful to some of his patients as the medication he would normally prescribe. So he set up an annual prize for the French debut novel of the year, which attracted most votes from the readers in the village.
The idea was a great success and Le Prix De La Cadière was born.
Wendy Smedley and Gwen Goodhew decided to try to replicate this idea in Waverton, a village of 2000 outside Chester. They set out to find fifty or more debut novels – first adult novels written by British citizens and published in the previous twelve months. The aim was not only to stimulate reading in the village but also to provide encouragement to British writers. It took some persistence to identify and then gather several copies of each book, although publishers became more and more helpful as they realised what was going on. Even more remarkably, more than 50 people from in and around the village were recruited to read and review the novels.
Read more here.
Thanks for reading. I might celebrate.
I join Julian Gough, Joseph O’Connor, Edna O’Brien, Roddy Doyle, Eimear McBride and more in personal tributes to David Bowie from Irish writers in The Irish Times.
Here’s an extract from my contribution. Head over to The Irish Times to read it all and the contributions from some amazing writers.
“I’ve always had guides when it came to music and I remember the when and where of every significant artist for me. As a young boy my older brother played me Al Green in our bedroom. In secondary school a friend led me to Kate Bush. I remember who introduced me to Nina Simone at a summer camp, Bessie Smith in the common room at college, Billie Holiday at university digs and David Bowie on the A406 in London.”
This is a photograph I saw for this first time recently.
What a loss.
I’ve been invited to Turkey in February to represent the UK in the field of short stories. Last year I was lucky enough to travel to Mexico thanks to the British Council. I read at events, went on TV and radio and met Mexican authors like Monica Lavin (we did an interview for The Irish Times).
Monica Lavin
I also wrote an article for The British Council’s Voices blog “Is it better to be a short story writer or a novelist?”.
I’m a big lover of the short story and set up a blog a few years ago sharing articles, interviews and submission opportunities. I joined the wonderful Word Factory which has become the UK’s leading short story salon and am now the Associate Director. I went on to be the co-founder of the London Short Story Festival with Spread the Word in 2014.
Me, Deborah Levy, SJ Naude, Marina Warner and Cathy Galvin at London Short Story Festival
I love meeting other writers and working with authors from different countries. I’ve always wanted to go the Istanbul too – I hope I get to visit there on my trip. A great piece of news to start the year. Hope yours is starting well too!
The Good Son makes another Best of 2015 list – this time from author and book blogger Lindsay Bamfield. Thanks Lindsay.
That makes 2015 quite a year from my debut novel which was…
Here’s what Lindsay said: “I’d read about Paul’s debut novel on his blog as well as number of terrific reviews. I was attending the No The Booker event at Big Green Bookshop, so intended to buy a copy. After hearing Paul read an extract I was well and truly hooked. An original and authentic voice that took me there, to Belfast in the 80s, spending a troubled summer with Mickey – wanting him so very much to achieve what he hoped for.”
If you fancy a copy then about the only place with any first print editions left is Waterstones online. Alternatively, you can buy the e-reader edition at Salt. The new print will be available mid-March.
Thanks everyone and hope your new year is going well.
Lisa McInerney on The Glorious Heresies:
“I wrote it in a bit of a mad rush, which I think contributes to the pacing and to that very peculiarly Irish gallows humour; it’s a breakneck and rowdy thing, I think. Kind of bouncy, but hinting at murk. Like a stone skipped over a lake!”
You can read the full interview here.
Paul McVeigh 