Ask the Author: Dervla McTiernan
Answered Questions (7)
Dervla McTiernan
Hi Sarah, thanks for reading! You can definitely read out of order. I wrote the books knowing that readers will pick them up and read out of order sometimes, and I really wanted the books to be satisfying stories on their own. So yes. You can go ahead and read The Scholar without having read The Ruin. Of course I think they are best read together but not necessary : )
Dervla McTiernan
Hi Mizzya,
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond to your question! I chose Galway because it is the place I know best in the world. We moved there when I was thirteen, and I went to secondary school and university there. I went to Dublin for work for a few years but moved back to Galway again and lived there until I emigrated to Australia in 2011. So it is a very comfortable setting for me to write in - minimum research required! I also think it's a good setting for crime novels. Just the right kind of moody weather, and plentiful pubs : )
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond to your question! I chose Galway because it is the place I know best in the world. We moved there when I was thirteen, and I went to secondary school and university there. I went to Dublin for work for a few years but moved back to Galway again and lived there until I emigrated to Australia in 2011. So it is a very comfortable setting for me to write in - minimum research required! I also think it's a good setting for crime novels. Just the right kind of moody weather, and plentiful pubs : )
Dervla McTiernan
Hi Josie,
It's dervlamctiernan.com Thanks for asking!
It's dervlamctiernan.com Thanks for asking!
Dervla McTiernan
Hi Julie,
That is a very good question! When I was editing The Ruin and writing The Scholar I had an idea for the storyline for the third book that had to be set no later than 2015 for it to work. So we had to set the first two books in 2013 and 2014. And then of course when it came to writing The Good Turn I went with a completely different idea where the year didn't really matter at all! So in the end there was no real reason to it, but there was a kind of logic at the time of writing.
That is a very good question! When I was editing The Ruin and writing The Scholar I had an idea for the storyline for the third book that had to be set no later than 2015 for it to work. So we had to set the first two books in 2013 and 2014. And then of course when it came to writing The Good Turn I went with a completely different idea where the year didn't really matter at all! So in the end there was no real reason to it, but there was a kind of logic at the time of writing.
Dervla McTiernan
Hi Clancy,
Thanks so much for reading! The Roommate was the very first piece of writing I ever finished, a very short story I originally wrote for a competition. Last year I took it out and rewrote it, (hopefully!) improving it and making it quite a bit longer. Then I asked the wonderful Aoife McMahon, who narrates my audiobooks, to narrate it for me. Aoife very kindly agreed, and once it was recorded I made it available directly to readers on my website, for anyone who subscribes to my newsletter. Basically it’s a thank you from me to my readers, for all of your support. If you go along to my website and register for my newsletter you will get the password that will allow you to start listening to The Roommate for free straight away. And if you’re not the kind of person who likes to get newsletters, you can just unsubscribe at any time no problem. Thank you so much again, for reading, and for asking the question : )
All my best,
Dervla.
Thanks so much for reading! The Roommate was the very first piece of writing I ever finished, a very short story I originally wrote for a competition. Last year I took it out and rewrote it, (hopefully!) improving it and making it quite a bit longer. Then I asked the wonderful Aoife McMahon, who narrates my audiobooks, to narrate it for me. Aoife very kindly agreed, and once it was recorded I made it available directly to readers on my website, for anyone who subscribes to my newsletter. Basically it’s a thank you from me to my readers, for all of your support. If you go along to my website and register for my newsletter you will get the password that will allow you to start listening to The Roommate for free straight away. And if you’re not the kind of person who likes to get newsletters, you can just unsubscribe at any time no problem. Thank you so much again, for reading, and for asking the question : )
All my best,
Dervla.
Dervla McTiernan
Going on tour can be great fun - you get to visit the most amazing places. Literary festivals can be a blast (Harrogate is particularly boozy, and Byron Bay utterly beautiful) and really, you meet such wonderful people. The nicest thing about festivals and events is that when you meet readers you're reminded that really, you're with your tribe. We are all booklovers, so you have that immediate connection.
I also really enjoy working with my editors. When you've been working alone on a book for months and months it's so nice to get a pair of fresh eyes on it, and advice on how to bring it to another level.
But really (and sorry if this sounds cheesy!) the best thing about being a writer is the writing itself. It is so lovely, after a tour or some other great distraction, to come home and sit at your desk in the quiet and start weaving together another story.
I also really enjoy working with my editors. When you've been working alone on a book for months and months it's so nice to get a pair of fresh eyes on it, and advice on how to bring it to another level.
But really (and sorry if this sounds cheesy!) the best thing about being a writer is the writing itself. It is so lovely, after a tour or some other great distraction, to come home and sit at your desk in the quiet and start weaving together another story.
Dervla McTiernan
Hello and thanks for your question : )
I usually start thinking about the next book while I'm still editing the previous book. This means I've often been thinking about my new book for at least a few months, on and off, before I put pen to paper. When I'm thinking I'm really looking for a character who inspires very strong feelings in me, positive or negative. That character is the first little seed from which I will grow the book.
I usually have a scene in my mind that gives me an insight into the character. For example, with The Ruin, the scene I had was a scene with Maude and Jack. In the scene they are children, Maude is 15, Jack only 5, and they are sitting on the stairs in that crumbling Georgian house, holding hands. It's getting dark outside, it's freezing in the house, and they are afraid. That's all I had at the start of the book. I had to write the rest to find out how they got to that place, and what happened to them next! But by then I cared desperately about both of them, and I felt I knew them so well, and that gave me what I needed to carry me through the sometimes difficult process of writing the novel.
I could bore you to tears about the detailed process I use to write - the very short version is that once I have the key character around whom I'm going to build the book, I do a long character study for her and at least four or five secondary characters, sometimes more, and then a sketch outline (maybe a paragraph or two ) for eight or nine scenes I think would be fun to write. Then a rough synopsis, then I write twenty thousand words or so. At that stage I usually re-read and reconsider the synopsis, write a more detailed synopsis/outline, and then re-write the first twenty thousand words (by then I know the characters and story a lot better so it's worth going back and fixing it up). Then continue on to finish my first draft. I do work to outlines but I am always willing to bin them if they lose that organic feel.
It takes me about four months to write a rough first draft, and then I will spend another year, off and on, editing the book to get it into shape.
I hope that helps!
I usually start thinking about the next book while I'm still editing the previous book. This means I've often been thinking about my new book for at least a few months, on and off, before I put pen to paper. When I'm thinking I'm really looking for a character who inspires very strong feelings in me, positive or negative. That character is the first little seed from which I will grow the book.
I usually have a scene in my mind that gives me an insight into the character. For example, with The Ruin, the scene I had was a scene with Maude and Jack. In the scene they are children, Maude is 15, Jack only 5, and they are sitting on the stairs in that crumbling Georgian house, holding hands. It's getting dark outside, it's freezing in the house, and they are afraid. That's all I had at the start of the book. I had to write the rest to find out how they got to that place, and what happened to them next! But by then I cared desperately about both of them, and I felt I knew them so well, and that gave me what I needed to carry me through the sometimes difficult process of writing the novel.
I could bore you to tears about the detailed process I use to write - the very short version is that once I have the key character around whom I'm going to build the book, I do a long character study for her and at least four or five secondary characters, sometimes more, and then a sketch outline (maybe a paragraph or two ) for eight or nine scenes I think would be fun to write. Then a rough synopsis, then I write twenty thousand words or so. At that stage I usually re-read and reconsider the synopsis, write a more detailed synopsis/outline, and then re-write the first twenty thousand words (by then I know the characters and story a lot better so it's worth going back and fixing it up). Then continue on to finish my first draft. I do work to outlines but I am always willing to bin them if they lose that organic feel.
It takes me about four months to write a rough first draft, and then I will spend another year, off and on, editing the book to get it into shape.
I hope that helps!
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