An 'interview' with my hero

My first two Irish novels were re-released earlier this week, so here’s my imaginary interview with Guy Sinclair, the hero of the first book in the Mist Na Mara series, IRISH INHERITANCE.

I’m at Dublin Airport, hoping to catch Guy Sinclair who has just arrived from New York. Oh, there he is! Guy, can you tell us why you’ve come over to Dublin?

(Guy stifles a yawn.) Yes, of course, although you’ll have to excuse some incoherency. I managed to sleep for a while on the flight, but these overnight flights are a killer, aren’t they? Anyway, yes, I’m here to visit a Dublin lawyer, Daniel McGrath.

A lawyer? Why?

Good question. My New York lawyer told me I’ve inherited a half share of a house here in Ireland from some 90-year-old dame who died last year.

You don’t know who she is?

No, never heard of her. Someone called Helena Keating. She named my grandmother in her will, and, as my father died a few years ago and had no brothers or sisters, it seems I’m the only living descendant of my grandmother.

Where’s this house you've inherited?

I don’t know and, to tell you the truth, I’m not really interested in it. I’m only here because the lawyer insisted I had to see it before making any decision about it. It would have been much easier to stay home and simply instruct him to sell it.

You said you had a half share in the house. Do you know who has co-inherited it with you?

No idea. My lawyer didn’t have that information. Maybe it’s someone who’s as mystified as I am about all this.

If you want to sell the house, presumably this other person will have to agree?

Good point, but I’m hoping there won’t be any problems about that. I’d much rather have the money than a house in Ireland.

Well, I wonder who is Guy’s co-inheritor – and whether he will change his mind about selling the house?

Irish Inheritance

The last thing English actress Jenna Sutton expected is to inherit money – and half of a house in Ireland! When she discovers the handsome American artist she’s met at the airport is the recipient of the other half of the house, Jenna wonders what kind of trick fate is playing – for she certainly doesn’t need a man complicating her life now that she’s on the verge of stardom!

Guy Sinclair has fallen on hard times and sworn off actresses after being burned by his “ex”, Suzie. Selling the house he’s inherited – or his half of it – could be the new start he’s needed to get back to painting what really matters – art, not signage. But it doesn’t take more than five minutes in the presence of Ms.Jenna Sutton to make Guy realize that there’s much more than a house at stake here – his heart could be forfeit, as well.

Curious about their unknown benefactress and why they are considered ‘family’, Guy and Jenna discover surprising links to the original owners of the house. As they begin to unravel an intriguing tale of a 19th century love affair, they have no choice but to give in to their own attraction for one another.

Unavoidable events pull them back to their separate lives in London and the United States, and tension builds over their impending decision about the house - to sell or not to sell? And once that decision is final, what will become of them?

Will their IRISH INHERITANCE bring them together - or drive them apart forever?

Reviews:

U.K: “Once this book had its hooks in me, I read from beginning to end, non-stop. I could not break away. The sense of mystery and drama is brilliantly balanced and the characters are believable, likeable, and compelling. The scenes, as they are set in the mind's eye, bring a magical quality all of their own. It is one of those stories that, when you realize it is drawing to a close, you feel you want to make it last somehow. There are not enough stars available - this is the best story I have read in a long time.”

U.K: “A lovely absorbing story of a mysterious inheritance in the superb Irish countryside, so excellently described. I empathized with Jenna and Guy, wanted things to go well, and the questions posed kept me turning the pages. I thoroughly recommend this story.”

U.S.A: “Paula's description of the scenery and charm of the Irish countryside is amazing but most of all, I love the story. What a great plot, characters and setting. Could not put it down.”

U.S.A: “A beautiful story within a story, so much more than a romance. I loved the historic puzzles that ultimately link the lives from another time to the present day characters. And a mysterious Irish estate with its own secrets that ultimately draws all the characters together. The journey uncovering family histories, long forgotten, propels you through the story as much as the modern day characters and the relationships they forge. I very much enjoyed my first trip to Ireland via this book.”

Available from Amazon USA http://amzn.to/2vizJVz

Amazon UK http://amzn.to/2hnVfSG

Connemara

My four Irish novels are all set in the beautiful area of Connemara in the west of Ireland.

On my first ever visit to Connemara about ten years ago, I was fortunate that it was a beautiful autumn day, and I fell in love with the wild open countryside, the dozens of small lakes (known as loughs and pronounced like the ‘lochs’ in Scotland), and the Twelve Bens, a range of steep-sided bare mountains.

Connemara is an area of about 12 square miles in the western part of County Galway, bordered on the east by Lough Corrib, on the north by Killary Harbour, on the south by Galway Bay, and on the west by the Atlantic.

Although I’ve been to many other areas of Ireland in the past ten years, Connemara was the place that captured my heart, and I’ve visited it several times. Most times I’ve been very lucky with the weather, but even under low cloud, Connemara is still beautiful.

The Twelve Bens (Na Beanna Beola in Irish) is a mountain range of sharp-peaked mountains. The highest one is only 2,392 feet, but they can be seen from many parts of the area and provide a dramatic backdrop to small fishing villages like Roundstone in the south of Connemara.

On my first visit (and on subsequent visits, too), we went along Sky Road, near Clifden. This is a scenic drive along (and up!) a narrow peninsula which skirts Clifden Bay and rises to a viewpoint overlooking several small islands and beyond them the wide expanse of the Atlantic stretching into the distance. I’ve used the views from Sky Road several times in my novels because I love it and my (imaginary) Mist Na Mara house overlooks Clifden Bay.

South of Clifden is an area known as the Gaeltacht, which means a primarily Irish-speaking area. It is estimated that over two-thirds of Connemara’s 32,000 population are Irish speakers, mainly in the southern part of Connemara. This area has hundreds of small lakes, peat bogs, and also some beautiful bays, large and small.

I’ve only given you a small taste here of this stunning area, but you can find out more at http://www.connemara.net/welcome-to-connemara/

Wireless and Winners

What's the link between today's cell phones and transatlantic flights? The answer is Clifden, a small town in the west of Ireland, which was the scene of two hugely significant events in the early 20th century.

The first was due to the Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi, who successfully developed long-distance wireless telegraphy. Determined to send wireless signals across the Atlantic, he established a transmitting station in Cornwall, but after some difficulties there, he decided to move his station as far west as he could. The site he chose was Clifden or, to be exact, Derrygimlagh Bog, about three miles south of Clifden.

The station officially opened in 1907, and commercial signalling began between Clifden and Glace Bay in Nova Scotia, Canada on 17th October. Buildings on the site included a power house with 6 boilers and a huge condenser building as well as houses for the workers. There was a also a massive aerial system with 8 wooden masts, each 210 feet high. The sparks from these could be heard over a wide distance and resembled lightning. Fifty people were employed at the station, and a further seventy were also employed cutting peat to fuel the steam generators.

When advances were later made in technology, a more powerful station was built in North Wales but the Clifden Station remained operative until it was attacked and burned by Republican ‘irregulars’ in 1922. It was closed down after this, and the buildings gradually fell into disrepair.

The second event came twelve years after the Marconi station opened. In June 1919 British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown left St John’s, Newfoundland, flying their Vickers VIMY biplane. Although there had been previous flights across the Atlantic Ocean, theirs was the first non-stop journey, lasting 16 hours and 27 minutes.

It wasn’t an easy journey – at one time due to thick fog, they were unable to navigate with their sextant and twice almost came down in the sea. The batteries for their heated suits failed, meaning they were freezing cold in the open cockpit – but evidently their coffee was laced with whisky! Half way through the night, they ran into a snowstorm and Brown had to climb out onto the wings to clear the ice from the engines' air intakes.

Their choice of Clifden as a landing place was deliberate because of the Marconi station. Several years earlier, the Daily Mail newspaper had offered a prize of £10,000 (over £1 million in today’s money) to any pilot who could fly an airplane across the Atlantic within 72 hours. Alcock and Brown were aware of other contenders for this prize and wanted to make sure the news of their arrival in Ireland was telegraphed to London as soon as possible.

They looked for a meadow on which to land and mistook the boggy surface near the Marconi station for hard ground. A man in the transmitter building tried in vain to warn them, but they thought he was waving a welcome! As they touched down, they sank into the mud and the plane nosed over into the soggy peat. A somewhat ignominious ending to a triumphant flight, but at least neither of them was hurt. The man in the transmitter building rushed out to them and asked where they'd come from. 'Canada', said Brown. 'We were there yesterday - and we're the only two people in Europe who can say that.' And it was a local reporter from the Connacht Tribune who got the scoop of the century by interviewing the two aviators. 

These two huge landmarks in the history of communications and transport went on to change the face of the 20th century- and Clifden saw them both. Not bad for a small out-of-the-way town in the west of Ireland, was it?

The memorial to Alcock and Brown's landing at Derrygimlagh
but (a) it's not at the place where they actually landed
and (b) for some unknown reason it shows a modern tail fin
although they flew a biplane!

Derrygimlagh Bog, taken from the site of the memorial - and the actual landing
place is the white speck in the far distance which is a large monolith. At least it is
now painted white (which it wasn't when I first visited the site!)

Pictures of Alcock and Brown, and other information about their
flight, displayed in Mannion's Bar in Clifden  

Clifden, the 'capital' of Connemara

My four Irish novels are soon to be republished (with brand new covers!) so here is an introduction to the small town of Clifden, which provides the setting for them all.

 Clifden (An Clochán in Irish, meaning stepping stones) is situated on the west coast of Ireland, between the Atlantic Ocean and the ‘Twelve Bens’ of Connemara.

It was founded by John D’Arcy who inherited the estate at the beginning of the 19th century (and built a castle overlooking Clifden Bay). At the time the area was inhabited mainly by fishermen and farmers, until D’Arcy decided to establish a town and also a road to Galway (now the N59).

John D'Arcy's castle (now in ruins)
overlooking Clifden Bay

Originally it had three streets, forming a triangle - Main Street, Market Street and Bridge Street, with Main and Market meeting at the market square, and Bridge Street linking the other ends of those two streets.

Looking up Market Street from the open area where the
market used to take place

Looking down Market Street toward the market place
and Christ Church (Church of Ireland)

Main Street and St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church

By 1839 the town had grown to 185 dwellings, most of them three-floored, two churches, two hotels, three schools, a police barracks, courthouse, a gaol, a distillery and 23 pubs, and it had a population of about 1,000. It suffered during the Potato Famine in the 1840s and didn’t recover until the end of the 19th century when a railway was built to link it to Galway.

The town from the harbour

In the second half of the 20th century, Clifden became a popular centre for many different outdoor pursuits – hiking, cycling, sailing, fishing, horse-riding and golf. For the less energetic, there is a variety of shops from sweater shops and boutiques to antiques and art, and of course the tourist souvenir shops. Needless to say, there are also plenty of pubs, some genuinely ‘old’ Irish and others more trendy. In many of them, there is live music most evenings.

It's definitely one of my favourite Irish towns! Friendly people, interesting shops, excellent food, great craic - and even better when the rain stops and the sun comes out! 

Next week I’ll tell you more about Clifden’s history and its surroundings.

A New Direction

It seems appropriate to reactivate my blog exactly one year from when I last posted anything here – and also somewhat significant since I am about to enter a new phase in my writing life.

Last year at this time, the audio version of my novel Changing the Future had just been released and the audio of Irish Inheritance was in preparation. My novels were selling steadily (not in millions but certainly in hundreds each month), and I was in the middle of writing my 4th novel set in the west of Ireland. That novel, Irish Deceptions, was released in March this year.

A month later, on April 12th, I received the devastating news that my publisher was closing due to ill-health. I’ve been with her for over 5 years, and she and her team have been the most supportive and friendly people any writer could ever wish to work with. What other publisher would receive a submission (of one of my Irish novels) at the beginning of February with my apology that I was submitting it far too late for it to be released in time for St. Patrick’s Day – and then fast-track it so that it was actually published 22 days later?

Of course I was now left with the question of what to do with my 9 novels once they were removed from online distributors at the end of August.

In a knee-jerk reaction, I sent two of my novels in mid-April to a ‘traditional’ British publisher. I must admit I was slightly put off when they made me feel like a newbie writer looking for a first acceptance, rather than an established author with thousands of sales over the past 5 years, but I accepted that I would have to wait ‘up to two months’ (as quoted by the submissions editor) for a decision. The two months passed, and then I heard that someone else had to wait over 5 months for a decision, and even longer for actual publication. At that point I came to a decision – there was no way I wanted to wait a year or more for each of my novels to be re-published (one a year = 9 years!), so I withdrew my novels from this publisher.

I then contacted Rebecca (my publisher) and asked for her advice. Remember what I said earlier about a supportive publisher? In the space of a couple of hours last Monday evening, she contacted another publisher – and came back to me with the response that they would be happy to take all my novels! Whatever you said to them, Rebecca – thank you!

I went to bed on Monday evening in part huge relief and part stunned amazement.

Since then, life has been a whirlwind of signing contracts with Fire Star Press, an imprint of Prairie Rose Publications, and providing my ideas for the new cover designs, since they want to publish my Irish books first (and all at the same time) as the ‘Mist Na Mara’ series. Those of you who have read the books will know exactly what Mist Na Mara is!

A year on from my last blog post here, my life is setting off in a new direction – and I’m really looking forward to working with Cheryl and Livia at Fire Star Press. I’ll let you know how it goes – so watch this space! J

Win a FREE download of 'Changing the Future'

Do you enjoy listening to audio books? If so, read on and find out how you can get a FREE download of my contemporary romance, ‘Changing the Future’.

This novel was first released, as an e-book and paperback, four years ago. Last year, my publisher, Rebecca J. Vickery, started to explore the world of audio books and, to cut a long story short, ‘Changing the Future’ was released as an audio book just over a week ago.

 

Here’s an introduction to the story:

Lisa Marshall is stunned when celebrated volcanologist Paul Hamilton comes back into her life at the college where she now teaches. Despite their acrimonious break-up several years earlier, they soon realise the magnetic attraction between them is stronger than ever. However, the past is still part of the present, not least when Paul discovers Lisa has a young son. They can’t change that past, but will it take a volcanic eruption to help them change the future?

The story is set mainly in North West England, but also includes a romantic interlude in New York, and a tense climax in Iceland.

Reviewers have said:

“I love this book. It drew me in. the way it is written, the reader is able to sympathize with both Lisa as well as Paul. There is an element of danger as Paul practices his profession as a volcanologist and at one point, I was hanging on every word, waiting with Lisa to see if Paul came through his adventure unscathed. This story tells how one simple misunderstanding can grow and fester until, like a volcano, everything finally comes spewing out to finally be resolved.”

“The characters were believable through and through and I'm glad they were so realistic. Oftentimes romance novels leave me shaking my head, knowing that people aren't really like the characters as they are portrayed on the page. Paula Martin created likeable, interesting characters who lead life like real people. You wanted their happy ending but she didn't make it easy for them to get there, and in reality it never is as simple as some stories make it out to be. That's what made this novel so good.”

‘Changing the Future’ is available for Kindle (only 99 cents/99 pence!) and as a paperback from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Changing-Future-Paula-Martin-ebook/dp/B0082VIXNU?ie=UTF8&ref

However, if you would like a chance to win a voucher for a free download of the audio version, please leave a comment below and tell me about your favourite time or place for listening to audio books!
(And don't forget to add your email address)

Three winners will be selected! Good luck!

A Signature in a Guestbook

‘Irish Intrigue’ was released last week, the culmination of over a year’s work, and more if I count the earlier drafts of this story.

Charley Hunter returns unwillingly to Ireland to complete the filming of a TV drama series. She still hasn’t come to terms with the tragic loss of her husband there two years previously, and the last thing she expects is an instant attraction to an Irish veterinary surgeon.

Luke Sullivan’s life is full as he tries to balance caring for his two young children with his busy rural veterinary practice. After the break-up of his marriage, he vowed to leave women well alone, but now finds himself drawn to Charley.

While Charley struggles with the re-awakening of her emotions, Luke faces a series of unexplained crises at his clinic, as well as an impending custody battle with his ex-wife.

They grow closer as their initial interest in each other develops into mutual support and then into love. But how can an English actress and an Irish vet reconcile their different worlds? And will their relationship survive when Luke believes Charley has endangered his children’s lives – and then betrayed him?

Amazon Links:
USA  http://amzn.to/1BFPm7c - 99 cents
UK  http://amzn.to/1G0npIe - 99 pence

An important character in the story is a retired actress. I’ve called her Alice Vernon, but one incident in the book originally involved a real actress.

In 2011, during one of my trips to Ireland, I visited a small village called Cong in County Mayo. The main reason was that this was where some of the movie, ‘The Quiet Man’ was filmed in the 1950s. It starred John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. The cottage used in the film is now in ruins, but one of the cottages in the village has been set up to look like the original cottage, with authentic reproduction of the rooms and some of the costumes worn by the stars.

After we’d explored the cottage and studied the photographs and local newspaper accounts of the filming in and around the village, we were asked to sign the visitors’ book. Out of habit, I glanced at the previous page of signatures and did a double-take at the one at the bottom of the page – Maureen O’Hara - Yonkers, NY.

I must admit my immediate reaction was. “I didn’t realise she was still alive!” – but when we asked the girl in the small shop, she said, “Yes, she has a house near Cork, and often visits here when she’s in Ireland.”

I knew I would use this small incident in a novel at some point – and so in Chapter 2 of ‘Irish Intrigue’, Charley visits a small cottage – and see the signature of Alice Vernon in the guest book. Alice goes on to play an important role in the rest of the story. Originally I based her on Maureen O’Hara – but somehow as I wrote her, she became more and more like Maggie Smith!