In Shanty Gold, Kamua Okafor, the African slave boy who saves Mary Boland’s life on the coffin ship, gets a job sooner than Mary after they arrive in Boston. Frankly, that pisses Mary off a lot. What’s wrong with the Irish, she muses angrily. How did Kamua do it? Well, as a neophyte […]
Galley Labor
I am buried right now in galleys. No, not boats or nautical kitchens. Literary galleys. You see, once you’ve written the book, edited the book, re-edited the book fourteen times, had an agent edit the book, had an editor edit the book, and finally, after a proofreader does a final edit of the book, […]
A Hero Named Okafor
When I was looking for the perfect name for the African slave boy who would become Mary Boland’s soul brother, I found Okafor on an African website. It felt right. And so he was born. Kamua Okafor. I nearly made the greatest mistake in my writing life by allowing him to join the sailors […]
Ahhh, the Irish!
It was raining hard and a big puddle had formed in front of the little Irish pub. An old man stood beside the puddle holding a stick with a string on the end and jiggled it up and down in the water. A curious gentleman asked what he was doing. ‘Fishing’, replied the old man. […]
An Irish Gift For You
Today, I bring you a life gift, dear reader. Recently, I was invited to a Celtic retreat featuring the work of Irish poet, John O’Donohue. Oh, sweet Saint Brigid, if only I could write so beautifully. But I’m not a poet. I’m a novelist, and Shanty Gold will be out soon. For now, though, take […]
Clonakilty
I love the lilt of the names of Irish towns. For instance, there’s one in County Cork called Clonakilty. It’s one of the most delightful places I’ve ever been—great landscapes, marvelous pubs, scintillating music and dancing, and, of course, the people. The people of Clonakilty are proud of local hero, Michael Collins, who was instrumental […]
Tools of the Trade
Who knew I needed an electronic media kit? Not me, but if you’re a writer and want to get any press for your novel, you need one, too. Said EMK must have a bio about you, plus a short bio about you, the cover of the book, pictures of you in various resolutions and information […]
Angelina, Keep Your Distance
For me to love a book, it must have a strong and compassionate narrator. Preferably, female. She must have equal measures of heart and brain, with neither outweighing the actions of the other—for long. The book must also have a credible villain putting the protagonist in some dire peril. The fun of a novel is finding […]
Another Irish Joke
Now, dear reader, if you are easily offended, DO NOT READ the remainder of this post. This is but one more gross Irish joke which happened to tickle my funny bone. Maybe it will yours, too. Taking a wee break from the golf course, Rory Mcllroy drives his new Mercedes into an […]
Things I Learned While Writing
Writing Shanty Gold and Lace Curtain One of my biggest surprises in writing these novels was the state of medicine in the mid-20th century. Women in Boston were dying in droves from something called childbed fever because doctors didn’t know about germs. They’d go from an autopsy to a delivery without ever washing […]