Michael Devlin, from the Strabane Chronicle, wrote a really great story in the newspaper about Emerald Witch today. The town holds a very special place in my heart. I attended school there, spent my teenage years on those streets, and still have many, many friends there.
In this interview Michael and I talked about how my experiences in St Colman's High School and the people I met there influenced certain parts of the book.
Derry author, Leona O’Neill says the town of Strabane provided no small amount of inspiration for her new novel, Emerald Witch.
Leona
(née Breslin), who grew up around the town, who attended St Colman’s
High School and whose father William was a popular and well-respected
teacher at the former centre of local academic excellence, says the
people of Strabane are a constant source of magical motivation for her.
The Irish News columnist, who also runs the online newspaper, www.newswireni.com
just last month published Emerald Witch, the story of a teenage girl
who discovers shortly before her 18th birthday that she is a witch and
who has direct blood links to the ancient Celtic Goddess of war, death
and destruction, the Morrigan.
“Part
of the book is very much modelled on St Colman’s,” Leona said. “The
main character in the book at one point is called to the principal’s
office and I was able to use personal experience for that scene because I
was called to the principal’s office at St Colman’s on a regular basis!
“Former
pupils will be familiar with that corridor in the school leading to the
office, it was very dark and almost strange; it’s a part of the school
that was lower than ground level, so in that sense it was a bit weird.
“The
character isn’t based on me, but I was able to draw on my experiences
at St Colman’s to write the book. Some of the girls in the book are even
modelled on girls I knew from my time at school.”
Emerald
Witch, which saw its sales rating soar from 175,000th on the Kindle UK
Bestseller's List to number 12,691 in just a few weeks, is currently
available from Amazon.co.uk
“Just another 12,000 or so to go before I hit number one,” Leona laughs.
“I
suppose it’s a departure for me,” she adds. “People are familiar with
seeing my name beside news stories on the website, or beside my column
in the Irish News.
“Writing
about witches, wizards, power-crazed Goddesses and underground worlds
beneath the streets of Dublin is light years away from my day job but I
love contemporary fantasy novels and always wanted to write one myself.
“My
novel is an adventure from start to finish. The story rolls out in the
wilds of Donegal, romps through the streets of Dublin, and rampages
through Derry city, my hometown.”
As
her “labour of love”, the mother-of-four also revealed she wrote her
novel in the evenings, stealing time in between working in the
newspaper, bath times, homework and bedtime routines.
“I
wrote while a newborn slept on my shoulder, whenever I could. I wrote
while a toddler re-enacted Thomas the Tank Engine crashes at my feet. I
wrote as I was breaking up squabbles between my older boys. I wrote in
every available minute!”
Leona
began writing her novel while her father - William Breslin, one of the
leading lights in the Civil Rights Movement - battled cancer two years
ago.
“The former Strabane pupil explained how the writing took her mind off her despair as her father lost his fight for life.
“I
would visit my father in the Foyle Hospice and come home and write,”
she said. “It was my way of escaping into a world devoid of hospital
visits, medication, nurses, and the utter despair I felt as my beloved
father slipped away from us. I didn’t want to live in the real world
then, it was too awful. Being able to escape to this alternative world
full of wonderful magic helped to heal my heart, soothe my soul.
“I
told my father about my story, of the characters and the plot. He
always encouraged his children to chase our dreams. He told me I should
write it. So I did, and I dedicated it to him.”
She added, “Writing has always been a big release for me but this time it really helped me cope with things.
“I didn’t want to talk to people at all, I just wanted to lock myself away and write and that’s what I did.”
Opting
for the self-publishing route as a means of remaining in control of all
of the finer details, Leona, as a trainer designer can truly say the
book is all her own work.
She
would also advise anyone who has written a book or who is thinking of
penning a novel, to consider self-publishing as a viable alternative to
the tried and testing method of applying to publishers and/or agents.
“I
have a number of friends who have publishing deals and who have spent
maybe five or six years finding an agent and getting their books
published. I didn’t want to go down that road. I don’t have the
patience.
“It
probably helped that I’m a control freak, so I was able to design and
format the whole thing by myself. At the same time if anyone wanted to
offer me a publishing deal I wouldn’t turn them down because it’s hard
work. The downside is: You have to promote the book yourself.
“I
would say to anyone, don’t wait around for a publisher or an agent to
give you the green light for your book. If you have a book in you, just
do it.”
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