Author: Paul McVeigh Writer

The Good Son makes SavidgeReads Best of Year List

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A lovely way to end the year by making it onto Simon Savidge’s Best of Year list; in some  mighty fine company too. Here’s what Simon had to say…

“If I told you that you should really read a book set during the Troubles in Ireland which throws in poverty, religion, sexuality and violence, both domestic and political, you would probably look at me in horror, which is why The Good Son is such a brilliant book. It has all of those elements in their unflinching rawness and yet with Mickey’s voice and cheeky sense of humour McVeigh gives us an image of an incredibly difficult and fractured time in some sort of rainbow technicolor whilst with a very black and white viewpoint. It is something I have not experienced before and I thought it was marvellous. It also gives us hope.”

Simon writes the influential Savidge Reads blog and is also the founder of The Green Carnation Prize. Head over here to read his other favourite books of the year.

 

‘The Good Son’ Best of Year in Independent

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“Paul McVeigh’s The Good Son gave us one of the most engaging protagonists of the year in 10-year-old Mickey Donnelly, who occupies a space between whimsy and horror in Troubles-era Ardoyne.”

The sensational Irish writer Lisa McInerney (The Glorious Heresies) choses ‘The Good Son’ as one of her picks of the year in the Irish Independent. Have a look at the top picks from the cream of Irish authors including Colm Tobin and John Boyne.

Hope you’ve had a great Christmas.

 

Reading from The Good Son on Film for First Time

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Well what a ride it has been. This year The Good Son was shortlisted for The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize and selected as Best of 2015 by The Reading Agency, Wales Arts Review and ELLE Magazine.

This is me reading from the first chapter at Word Factory, filmed for the first time. It was quite an informal affair with lots of friends and colleagues in the audience, as you will see (I’m Associate Director at Word Factory).

I hope you enjoy it.

The Good Son – Sold out!

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Howdy folks! The great news is that The Good Son has sold out and is going to a new print run – Huzzah! There aren’t many copies around. Amazon and my publishers Salt have sold out, as are Easons Bookshops in Northern Ireland.

There are some you can order from Waterstones bookshop in Piccadilly, Waterstones online  and Blackwells online. And of course still available on your Kindle/Reader.

If you already have your copy you’re now in possession of the First Edition! Thanks for making The Good Son a big success.

 

 

 

Savidge Reads Reviews The Good Son

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Savidge Reads Reviews The Good Son

Book blogger, reviewer, author and founder of The Green Carnation Prize, Simon Savidge, gives a wonderful review of The Good Son on his blog.

“The Good Son is such a brilliant book… unflinching rawness… something I have not experienced before and I thought it was marvellous. It also gives us hope.

McVeigh does many wonderful things with The Good Son and first and foremost of these is the character that he has created with Mickey. McVeigh excels in the use of light and shade within his writing… incredibly powerful…  Whilst many novels of the Troubles would make them the main focus and give you them in all their rawest and most shocking detail, I think McVeigh gives you something far more clever and intricate…  no word is wasted, no sentence unplanned… ”

You can read he whole interview by clipping the link at the top. You can also listen to my interview with Simon in his podcast ‘You Wrote The Book‘.

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George Saunders on Story & My Interview

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George Saunders Explains How to Tell a Good Story. Click to hear the short story master sharing his unique insights into creating a great story for The Atlantic. It’s fantastic. And if you’ve never read his work I urge to you give it a go.

 

George Saunders

George Saunders (c) Paul McVeigh

 

 

I was lucky enough to interview George, in London, on the day he won The Folio Prize. You can read that interview here – he is rather fantastic.

A little snippet…

 

P: You described your job in Sumatra as – you drilled deep down then put in dynamite and exploded it. Isn’t that a little like the writing process?
G: Well it is actually! I never thought… You’re kind of looking to see where the energy goes, that’s the same thing – you put some energy in and see how it sorts itself out.

Canadian author Lauren B Davis choses ‘The Good Son’ as one of her 10 Best of 2015.

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Canadian author Lauren B Davis choses ‘The Good Son’ as one of her 10 Best of 2015. I’m in very good company too- EL Doctorow, John Williams, Anthony Doerr… ! Thanks Lauren. Here’s a snippet.

“This book is astonishing. It’s hard to believe this is a first novel, it’s so good. A masterful combination of tragedy and humor, stirred into a batter of scathing social commentary. Paul McVeigh is a writer we’ll be hearing a great deal from in years to come.”

You can read the rest here.

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You Wrote The Book Podcast

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I was asked by book blogger (and writer) Simon Savidge to take part in a podcast interview for his wonderful ‘You Wrote The Book’ site. There are interviews with excellent writers on there: Carys Davies, Helen MacDonald and Val McDermid. It was a real honour to be asked.

I’ll warn you I’m not the most inarticulate of men. I should stick to writing things down.

Simon asks great questions and you might enjoy listening to me stutter and stumble as I try to answer. Here you go.

Bristol Short Story Prize Best Collections of 2015

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I love short stories. I love reading them, writing them and watching them being read by their authors. I work at Word Factory short story salon in London and love the short story community it has been a beacon for.

I Co-Founded the London Short Story Festival with Spread the Word and that was like diving into a short story pool and swimming in them for a few days.

The Bristol Short Story Prize asked me to pick my best collections of this year – a very difficult thing to do – and I made some choices and a hot pick for next year. You can see my picks and the those of some fantastic writers and short story champions here. There’s 5 short posts – check them out for top picks.