Bláithín O'Reilly Murphy interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

Hello, I'm Bláithín, an Irish gal with an American twang. My name means little flower in English. I retired in 2017 from my business and career as a wedding planner to start a family. I bake when I'm stressed, drink far too much coffee and I'm a true magpie; instantly distracted by anything shiny. I love to entertain -especially to host dinner parties and I'm a crazy cat lady in the making. I live near the Irish coast with my current husband, adorable son and our four fur babies.

When did your love of books begin?

I think it began before I could read. I don't remember a time when I wasn't surrounded by books. My father was a school teacher when I was young, he too is now a writer and translator of books. Ours was a home where whole rooms, walls and wardrobes were and still are devoted to books. As a child, I was obsessed with Nancy Drew and devoured all those stories and novels, now my tastes are a little more eclectic. I now read cookbooks, romance, literary fiction, books on organising, crime, and as a busy mum and author I recently got into reading short stories as they give me an instant feeling of 'reading a whole book' because I can normally consume them over a coffee break - very satisfying indeed!

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

This is an interesting one that started early but took some time in the end. From about eight years old I was prolific at writing poetry. I was about 10 when I was first published in a book on the history of life in Ireland. Writing stalled completely after that for me until I finished school and I was considering what to do with my life. I wrote 3 goals for myself at that time, one of which was to write a book. It was a further 7 years later until I would actually get around to doing it. So you could say the seed was sown from a very young age, and in a way, I suppose I was a young author, but in reality, I was 25 before I wrote and had published my first book, a non-fiction book, entitled; Distinctive Weddings; How to Tie the Knot without the Rope Burns.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

It's been a challenge, lonely, filled with self-doubt - but now a liberating learning curve. I'm dyslexic, I also spent primary school learning through Irish and so while English is my first language I do struggle with it greatly; from a technical side of things. Time and practice have helped me improve but a large part of being an author is about writing, so there is definitely a daily struggle. But big qualities any author needs are determination and perseverance and I have those in bucket loads so that helps!

What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

Do it! Only you can. Sure you're going to need help along the way. But ultimately you have to sit down, plan out the idea you have, create the characters and write the scenes, then edit, edit, edit, Send out to some people, some of who will love it and others will hate it, you make the changes that will help your plot, your characters and your story and then edit, edit, edit and then send it out to the world [either through agents and a publisher or as a self-published author.]

That all said, learn your craft too. Join a writers group and class, learn to take feedback positively and also how to identify what is useful to you and your story and what is just personal opinion. And almost more importantly - learn about the publishing industry. How it works, how books sell and how to sell books. Being an author suggests you want to write multiple books that multiple people will read; writing a book is only a small part of that.

Tell us about your book/books:

My first book, Distinctive Weddings; Tying the knot without the Rope Burns is a book on how to plan your wedding. It was the first of its kind written by an Irish Wedding Planner in Ireland. It was published by Veritas in 2008. Available through Veritas, good bookshops and Amazon in both Kindle and Paperback.

My second book, The Meaning of Purple Tulips is currently out of print, first published in 2012 it will enjoy a revival and be republished in the Summer of 2022. It is the story of Faye Winters, a woman with a coloured past and a future fraught with tough decisions. 

We meet her as the ‘love of her life’, Nathan [Nate] Locke, flings aside their 5-year relationship just as they begin to plan their wedding. Distraught, she throws herself into a tirade of pointless relationships until she meets Brandon Donohue. Falling blindly in love again, she sets herself up for fall after fall with this selfish American journalist. We’re left wondering if Faye will ever get what she wants as we discover a number of family secrets and her biggest burning desire! Out this July in Kindle and Paperback.

The latest book I'm published in is More than Mistletoe - this is a fabulous festive collection of 12 Christmas Romance Stories by twelve amazing up and coming authors. My story in the book is called Sealed with a Christmas Kiss and is a prequel to a novel I'll publish in the Autumn of 2022 called It Started with a Gift.

Earlier this year I was shortlisted for the Penguin Christmas Love Story Competition. In eager anticipation of the winner being announced a group of those shortlisted found each other online. When the publishing contract was awarded 12 of us didn't want that to be the end and so we chose collaboration over competition and decided to publish a book of short stories together, The Christmas Collective was born and 5 months later More Than Mistletoe was published! I'm particularly proud of my involvement in this anthology its the most fantastic medley of stories, all festive, all a little romantic, all very different! It's a must-read this Christmas. Available in Kindle and Paperback through Amazon and several great bookshops in Ireland, England and soon Scotland.

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

The support, the encouragement and the laughs! Everyone is rooting for the other and there with a virtual shoulder, a little feedback or that word you just can't put your finger on.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

Thank you! Thank you for choosing my book, my story and using your precious reading time to read something I wrote. I hope you enjoyed it, that it gave you something; escape, pause for thought, a laugh, a cry - something!

Some say write for yourself, but I write to be read - so I really appreciate that you chose me [and I hope you will again ;)]

Where can people connect with you?

I overshare in IG stories as https://www.instagram.com/whatbladidnext/

I try to sound witty and relevant on Twitter as https://twitter.com/whatbladidnext

And you can catch up with me on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/BlaithinOReillyMurphyAuthor