The Good Son

The Good Son The Irish Times Book Club Choice

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Some exciting news. The Good Son has been chosen by The Irish Times as their Book Club choice for next month, July. During the month there will essays & reviews by authors & my UK and foreign publishers, and interviews with me. It will culminate with a live event in Dublin at The Irish Writers’ Centre where I’ll be interviewed by Martin Doyle, assistant literary editor of The Irish Times on July 19 at The Irish Writers’ Centre.

What have you got to look forward to?

The original, 17 yr old, short story The Good Son is based on.

Maybe even a lost chapter never before published…

Contributions from…

Lisa McInerney – winner of the Bailey’s & Desmond Elliot Prize

Laura van den Berg – who Salon.com calls ‘the best young writer in America’

Alison Moore – Booker-shortlisted author of The Lighthouse

Lucy Caldwell – winner of the Dylan Thomas & Rooney Prize among many others

Paul Burston – author of 7 novels & founder of The Polari Salon & Prize

Sarah Hutchings of City Reads Brighton

Danielle McLaughlin – short story wonder and New Yorker contributor

My agent Carrie Kania and publisher Jen Emery-Hamilton & more…

It’s going to be a wonderful month.

New Book Cover

Currently finalist for The People’s Book Prize & longlisted for The Polari Prize
Chosen as Brighton’s City Reads 2016
Shortlisted: The Guardian’s ‘Not The Booker’ Prize
Shortlisted: The Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award
ELLE Magazine Best Books of 2015
The Irish Independent Top Reads of 2015
One of The Reading Agency Staff Picks Best of 2015
Wales Arts Review – Fiction of the Year
Number 1 Beach Read The Pool
A Gransnet Best Christmas Read for 2015
Savidge Reads and Pam Reader Blogs Books of the Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those Killer First Chapters: July 2

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Those Killer First Chapters: How to grip your reader right from the beginning. Get the attention of literary agents and editors. Literary agent Carrie Kania will give her insights and will read your submission letter when you’re ready.

Simon van Booy will pop in to answer your questions on getting attention on both sides of the Atlantic – for novels, short stories and non-fiction.

Free entry into the evening salon and a copy of The Good Son. Saturday July 2 Waterstones Piccadilly.

More info here.

New Book Cover

Currently finalist for The People’s Book Prize & longlisted for The Polari Prize
Chosen as Brighton’s City Reads 2016
Shortlisted: The Guardian’s ‘Not The Booker’ Prize
Shortlisted: The Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award
ELLE Magazine Best Books of 2015
The Irish Independent Top Reads of 2015
One of The Reading Agency Staff Picks Best of 2015
Wales Arts Review – Fiction of the Year
Number 1 Beach Read The Pool
A Gransnet Best Christmas Read for 2015
Savidge Reads and Pam Reader Blogs Books of the Year

Novel vs Short Story: me, Simon van Booy & Fiona McFarlane

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Honoured to be sharing the stage with Fiona McFarlane and Simon van Booy in my favourite venue in the world! Hope some of you can some. Here’s the skinny…

Tonight three authors will debate the pleasures and pitfalls of the two forms as readers and writers of both. Award-winning Simon van Booy joins us from the USA and Fiona McFarlane visits us from Australia, making her first UK appearance. Paul McVeigh, author and co-founder of London Short Story Festival completes the panel with literary agent Carrie Kania chairing. Lively readings, engaging conversations and signings with a glass of wine.

Simon Van Booy is the author of three collections of short stories and three novels, with his most recent novel ‘Father’s Day’, just published in the UK by One World. In 2010, he won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award for his collection Love Begins in Winter. His fiction has been translated into seventeen languages.

Fiona McFarlane’s novel, The Night Guest, will be published in 19 countries and 15 languages, and won a NSW Premier’s Prize and Fiona was named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist for 2014. Fiona’s short stories have been published in the New Yorker her debut collection ‘The High Places’ is out now.

Paul McVeigh’s debut novel ‘The Good Son’ was chosen as Brighton’s City Reads 2016 and has been shortlisted for numerous awards. His short stories have been published in journals and anthologies and read on BBC Radio 4 and 5. Paul is also the co-founder of the London Short Story Festival and associate director of Word Factory the UK’s premier short story salon.

£5 tickets are available in store, by telephone 020 7851 2400 or by email:piccadilly@waterstones.com

City Reads Interview at Brighton Festival May 29

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BF Logo

Sunday May 29 at Brighton Festival sees the closing of this year’s City Reads. Over 200 tickets already sold which blows my mind! I’ll be interviewed about The Good Son by author and journalist Laura Lockington. That it’s part of the historic 50 year anniversary of the Brighton Festival makes it all the sweeter. I hope to see some of you there – grab the few remaining tickets here.

Book Marks

My class ‘Those Killer First Chapters: Getting the attention of agents and editors’ is back. Waterstones Piccadilly, London, July 2.

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My class ‘Those Killer First Chapters: Getting the attention of agents and editors’ is back. Waterstones Piccadilly, London, July 2.

Thank you and congratulations Felicia Yap: “I attended Paul’s workshop two weeks before I went on submission. A truly enjoyable day and I learnt a lot. Sometimes, a single technical idea can make a real difference to our journeys as writers. I came away from Paul’s workshop with not one but several exciting possibilities. And yes, THE DAY AFTER YESTERDAY did get lots of attention merely two weeks later!” Selling for a 6 figure sum.

Click for more information and tickets.

Guter Junge – The Good Son, Germany

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German Books Arrive

So the advance copies of Guter Junge (The Good Son German translation) have arrived at the offices of Wagenbach and are about to be sent out to reviewers and booksellers.

German Book 2

The English and French versions of the novel came out in paperback only so this is the first hardback edition of The Good Son and the first hardback of my work – ever. It’s the little firsts that give the most excitement.

Wagenbach brochure

My publishers seem to be as excited as I am as they’ve put the novel on the cover of their Autumn catalogue and produced thousands of postcards to send around bookshops all over  Germany. there are 3 which have different quotes from the book.

Bochure 2

Inside, there’s a great, big spread of the brilliant photo taken by Roeloff Bakker who is also a writer. You should check him out.

Brouchure 3

There’s also a short interview. All of this at the front of the catalogue too. I’ve been invited  over to The Berlin International Literature Festival to read from the novel and I can’t wait.

More news soon…

The Good Son Review – Pank Magazine

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A wonderful review of The Good Son by Cath Barton in Pank Magazine. You can read the whole thing here.

“Paul McVeigh navigates the choppy sea of Mickey’s shifting experiences and rapidly-changing emotions with skill and verisimilitude. (he) traces the physical geography of Ardoyne with as much precision as he depicts the geography of the human heart.  As a reader you run up and down those streets with Mickey, onto the wastelands where kids sniff glue and bombs explode unpredictably. He navigates the tricky first person narrative style with assurance and peoples the story with vivid characters… they step off the page…

Mickey Donnelly deserves to take his place in the litany of boy literary heroes. Paul McVeigh’s prose sings from page one in the accents of the North Belfast streets, and is rich in detail. While The Good Son does not have the same breadth, it has something of the spirit of Dickens or Zola, transformed for our times. Gritty realism with a human face. Not only is it hugely enjoyable, but it also conveyed to me more of the atmosphere of the Troubles than any number of factual accounts.”

Happy St Patrick’s Day: Reverb Radio Broadcast

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Happy St Patrick’s Day! I hope you have a good one. I’ll be spending tonight celebrating at the sold out City Reads event – it’s going to be fun.

St Paddy's

If you fancy hearing an Irish accent on St Patrick’s Day…

I spent the afternoon on the ‘What’s The Craic’ show on Radio Reverb. It was a great chat about the process of writing The Good Son and the issues in the novel.

I also chose a couple of songs. I hope you like it.

Radio pIc