Celebrating a Milestone: Two Memoirs, Seven Editions
A Journey 29 Years in the Making
It is accomplished! I couldn’t sleep last night. It took me 26 years to write my first memoir. Three years later, I’ve two memoirs, in seven editions!
The Losing Religion, Finding Myself Series
I have tweaked the proofs and signed off on six editions of the two books in the past three days—the hardback, paperback and Kindle editions of the first two memoirs in the series Losing Religion, Finding Myself.
New and Updated Editions
Combined with the audiobook of In My Gut, I Don’t Believe, there are now seven new or updated editions of both books. They will be available within 72 hours on Amazon, except for the Kindle edition of the new book which won’t be released until 7 November. My next task will be to record the audiobook of Saved by a Woman.
Reflecting on a Writer's Journey
Finding My True Vocation
I was thinking earlier today about the buzz I felt when my first piece of writing was broadcast on RTE Radio One. I never got to tell Gay Byrne how my words, performed by a professional actor on his show, helped me find my true vocation.
The Joy of Writing
I savoured that special feeling again when my first play was performed and published.
I’d the goosebumps again when I’d my first article published in The Irish Times.
I felt it again when Men’s Health—the Commonsense Approach, came out, based on Man Alive—my first column in The Irish Times.
And there were echoes of that pleasure with each subsequent translation of that book.
Unexpected Surprises: A Book in Hebrew
A book plopped through my letterbox one Christmas Eve. I assumed it was a book I’d been sent to review. But this unexpected package was in Hebrew! I guessed I’d been sent it by mistake and, with the Hebrew alphabet, I didn’t recognise my name. The publisher had forgotten to tell me about that translation. It was a delightful Christmas surprise!
Write Way to Stop Smoking: A Proud Author Moment
I was thrilled when Write Way to Stop Smoking was published. Frank Marshall, who had used it to quit his lifelong pipe-smoking habit, stole the show at the launch. Micheál Martin, then Minister for Health, did the honours.
RTE Doc on One: A Cathartic Experience
I was overjoyed when I heard my RTE Doc on One broadcast. Making it had been cathartic. It preserves the beautiful voice and vibrancy of Marist Father, Denis Green, since deceased. And it tells the important story of my former confrère, Declan Wynne; who has also since passed away.
Holding My Magnum Opus: In My Gut, I Don’t Believe
I think my greatest professional joy was holding the first copy of In My Gut, I Don’t Believe. It had taken me more than a quarter of a century to write. Holding it, I felt I could die in peace, my story told.
How a Man was Saved by a Woman
Happily, it now has a companion volume, telling the story of the next six years after I left the Marist Fathers—the story about how a man was saved by a woman.