I took up the open call from Jami Gold on her blog, Jami Gold Paranormal Author, about the writing process. Thanks Jami!

Without further ado, here are my answers:

What am I working on?

The second part of my Faerie Apocalypse series. Blurb for the first part published last week, Faerie Apocalypse – Aoife’s Tale, below:
“December 21st 2012, the day the world as we knew it ended.

Ireland’s ancient inhabitants, the Tuatha Dé Dannan, are free from the subterranean prison in which the Celts trapped them thousands of years ago. And the Tuath Dé, or Faeries, waste no time in making the world theirs again.

Aoife O’Neill, a former surgeon, lives on the rugged west coast of Ireland. She lies low, using her wits to avoid the cruel faerie courts that roam the country. Mourning the death of her younger brother, killed by the first explosive wave of Faeries to escape confinement, Aoife researches the Celtic lore for a way to bring an end to the Faerie Kingdom.

Dallada, a powerful arrogant faerie obsessed with Aoife, learns the hard way that she is stronger than she appears. He will stop at nothing to exact revenge for her insolence in refusing him.

Andrew Tyler, a seasoned British Army officer, leads a small band of soldiers in the Yorkshire dales in hit and run missions. Andrew can see no end in sight, but he’s determined to keep fighting.

When Aoife stumbles onto Andrew’s battlefield, he has a choice. Join her in a desperate attempt to defeat the powerful Faeries, or keep the Irish surgeon against her will as part of his military staff.

‘Aoife’s Tale’ begins the fight against the devastating power of the Faeries.”

Aoife’s Tale was published on Amazon last week. Part Two is Aidan’s Tale and I’m about 2,000 words in. It’s tough enough going given I have a full time job and can only write in my spare time. But it’s something I enjoy and so on I go.

How does my Work Differ from Others of Its Genre?

I tend to write fantasy with a romantic element but always with a strong Irish theme. (I’m Irish you see.) No disrespect to any other authors who write Irish-themed romances, but so many I picked up had wildly inaccurate portrayals of Irish history and culture. I mean severely eye-wateringly embarrassing Darby O’Gill-esque stuff. Maybe there are some awesome ones out there that I haven’t seen yet, so I don’t want to condemn them all. But when I write, I try to set the record as straight as I can based on my own knowledge and experiences of being Irish.

Why do I write what I do?

I’ve always been curious about the bits of history that have some mystery still attached to them.
For example, how did the Milesian Celts successfully banish the previous inhabitants from Ireland when they came over here from Galicia, Spain three or four thousand years ago? Hence Faerie Apocalypse.
How come the Roam Empire never made any significant inroads into Ireland in the two centuries BC? They took Britain, why stop at good old Hibernia? Laziness? Or did something go wrong for them? Hence my next series, tentatively entitled The Roman and the Goddess.


How does my writing process work?

I have no idea really.
I tend to just start with a scene in my head and go from there. Sometimes I have an idea of where things should be headed and sometimes things head away on their own with scarcely any input (it would seem) from me at all. Sometimes that works well, other times I end up painting myself into a corner.

And now I’d like to tag Catherine Ryan Howard with this tag, hope she doesn’t mind. She’s a Cork author like me who runs a wonderful blog that simply has to be checked out if you’re new to self-publishing and you want to be informed as well as entertained. Her book Self Printed is a must have for anyone considering dipping their toes into the world of self publishing.