Welcome to my March newsletter, and my first of 2006! Firstly I’d like to thank everyone who sent their birthday wishes during February – it’s always great when your birthday falls on a Saturday and I enjoyed a fabulous weekend!
It seems that March is a month of book festivals and I’m lucky enough to be participating in the two that mean the most to me – in my two home towns, firstly in Brentwood, Essex, and then at the end of the month in Wexford! Who ever said it was work, eh?
Essex Book Festival 2006
This month sees a huge range of authors – bestselling and up-and-coming – appearing right across Essex in an exciting and varied festival. From Irvine Welsh, Graham Swift and Germaine Greer to Tony Parsons, Joanna Trollope and Kate Adie, there really is something for everyone in the biggest reading and writing festival in the East of England region. I’m delighted to be participating in this festival for the second year running. Schedules can be checked at local Essex libraries or online at www. www.essexbookfestival.org.uk where tickets can be booked. I hope to meet many readers (and writers) at my event – The Big Book Swap, which takes place on Saturday 4th March from 10.00 – 12.30pm, where books are already being donated for this huge swapping event. Admission 50p on the door and all proceeds are being donated to the charity Bookaid. I’m also hoping to get along to some of the other events – there’s so much going on that I’m not sure whether I can fit it all in, but I’ll have fun trying. It’s always great to meet other authors too, and I’m looking forward to catching up with some familiar faces on the Essex writing network, and hopefully some new faces too.
Wexford Book Fair 2006
It looks like we’re set for a Girls Night In Take 2. Byrnes Bookshop in Wexford is setting up what looks to be an even better night than last years event, and I know that the other ‘Girls’, Catherine Daly and Marisa Mackle will be looking forward to another evening of laughs and ad-libbing. We’re due to be in Byrnes Bookshop on the evening of Friday 31st March from around 5.30pm, so please call in for a glass of wine, a few strawberries or chocolates and a chat. It is hoped that a representative from Poolbeg will be at this event ready to accept manuscripts, part or completed, to take back to their Head Offices for consideration and Dodder books may also be on the look-out for the ‘new name’ in writing!
Eve Project
I have been approached by Guildhall Press to give a few words of encouragement, advice and a few comments on the importance and evolvement of women in the arts today. This is to help promote their innovative project – Eavesdropping with Eve – an exciting new all-female project. Eve is a full-colour, hardback book which will be a highly original gathering of fictional words (poetry, short stories and song lyrics) and pictures (illustrations, photographs, images of art work) on backdrop of musical, cultural and experienced intrigue! Some of these works will celebrate toughness and resilience, some emotionally sensitive, tongue-in-cheek, feisty or just for fun, yet all with one thing in common – the wish to restore the passion of a talent and a recognition for all women of the arts to celebrate the female gift of humour, wit, creativity and much more. I have willingly given my praise and encouragement for all artists, regardless of gender, age, race or religion, along with some of Ireland’s best selling female authors such as Suzanne Higgins, Sarah Webb, Kate Thompson, Judi Curtin, Martina Devlin and Mary Hosty.
NEWSLETTER #6 - November 2005
Well, the summer is long gone and this is one newsletter that is well overdue! There’s only one consolation – at least it will be full of news, as it’s at least 4 months since the last one! Busy? Me? Never!
Three of a Kind competition winner – Holiday in Portugal
Firstly I’d like to congratulate Fiona Flanagan from Castleknock who was the lucky prize-winner of the holiday to Portugal. JWT very kindly offered a holiday in Estoril for a lucky reader of Three of a Kind, and Fiona was that reader! Well done Fiona – I hope you enjoyed Portugal and the Lisbon coast as much as I did when I was there researching for Three of a Kind. In the summer I was approached by Portugal magazine to write a feature about my trip to Lisbon and you can read this article in the issue 12 of Portugal magazine – out late November/early December.
Ottakars Bookshops – Essex
I am hoping to work alongside Ottakars in Chelmsford and Basildon during the next few months, where I will be signing books and giving talks. So keep an eye out for more news in a few weeks time.
Get Writing Classes
There’s also talk of a series of writing classes that I hope to run from January through to June. If you are, or if you know of anyone, who may be interested in further details on these beginners classes – intended to help with creative development as well as writing skills, then please email me either through the website or at alisonnorrington@eircom.net
Launches
It was a summer of launches- and I only managed to attend one of them! Firstly I went along to Hughes & Hughes at St Stephen’s Green for the launch of Chinese Whispers by fellow writer and girl-about-town Marisa Mackle. Marisa then took us all out for a few bevies afterwards and we enjoyed a great evening. Thanks Marisa! Then Sarah Webb launched Take a Chance in August. Unfortunately I missed this as I wasn’t well and was forced to spend a fortnight on the sofa watching daytime TV – (not great fun during the school summer holidays when the children are desperate to get out and about!) The September launch (that I missed!) was More Than Friends, a third novel written by my friend Tracy Culleton, which has been receiving great reviews. Well done Tracy! Melissa Hill then invited me along to the launch of her fourth novel, Wishful Thinking at the beginning of October and, once again, I couldn’t go along! I’ve spent the summer back and forth between Ireland and England, and I always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The cover for Wishful Thinking is one of the best I’ve seen – it’s really festive and I think it looks fab. Here’s wishing good luck to them all – Marisa, Sarah, Tracy and Melissa.
Research for book 4
I’ve been working really hard on my next book, Worth Waiting For and have nearly finished it now. I’m running a little behind schedule, what with trying to sell my house – you may have read about my traumas in the Evening Herald – and generally having a crazy few months! In Worth Waiting For is a character who loves surfing, and I’ve had some fabulous days at Tramore and Bundoran in Ireland and along the Cornish coast in the UK where I’ve been researching surfing and whole culture around it. I have been lucky enough to meet some brilliant men and women who have found that surfing has turned their lives around. And, on those horrendous rainy days, I’ve wimped out and snuggled in to watch the amazing documentaries on the Extreme Sports channel on Sky.
Party Animal Anthology
I was asked earlier in the year to contribute a short story for an anthology, due to be published on 1st December, entitled Party Animal. It’s the brainwave of Marisa Mackle, who asked many of us to write a short story involving an animal tale. The proceeds of the book will go to animal rescue centres in both Ireland and the UK, so please keep an eye out for it – it could make a great Christmas present! And look out for my story The Love Birds, a tale about a budgie named Henry who travels with his owner, Emer, all the way from Cork to Barcelona….
Just as a last mention – check out www.fleetmusic.com. I was lucky enough to see these great guys (and girl!) when they gigged in London a few weeks ago and, judging by the newspaper reviews, there’s a great future for them. Their first single Get Down was released at the beginning of October.
So, you can see I’ve had a busy summer, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the articles I’ve been writing, the new ‘secret’ book that I’ve started which I hope to have published under a pseudonym (I might reveal it at a later stage!), and then there’s the children’s book that I’m halfway through…..
As I always say, thank you for checking out my website – it has been rather neglected during the summer months – and please feel free to contact me, I love hearing from readers and writers. Apologies to all of you who have emailed me via my website, only to receive an ‘out of office’ reply. I have had terrible problems with receiving emails that come through the site, but this is all rectified now. Please continue to send in your emails- I really enjoy hearing from you all.
If you would like to receive this newsletter every month by email, just complete the ‘subscribe’ box and each new monthly newsletter will be sent direct to your computer screen!!
Alison.xxx.
NEWSLETTER #5 - July 2005
Hi everyone!
Firstly I’d like to welcome all the new readers who have subscribed to receive my monthly newsletter.
Well, this will just be a short one this month – what with the school holidays looming and book 4 to complete I know I’ll be snowed-under with things to do!
Competition Deadline
Well, the deadline for the competition in Three of a Kind has gone! It was 1st July, and I will let you know who the lucky winner of a week for two in the fabulous four star Estoril Eden Aparthotel on the Lisbon coast in Portugal is as soon as Poolbeg let me know. If it was YOU then I’d love a quick e-mail letting me know how the holiday went for you…
Girls Night In – Essex - RESCHEDULED
Unfortunately, the Girls Night In which was planned for 5thJuly has been rescheduled. It seems that the date clashed with a lot of other bookings and there were problems for some of the other writers, so it has now been incorporated into ‘Word on the Street’ – a one-day book festival in Essex in November. There are talks of possibly a breakfast launch – Breakfast with the Essex Girls maybe - so keep an eye out. But I’ll post further details up here as soon as I know.
Ottakars Bookshops - Essex
I have been invited into Ottakars in Chelmsford and other venues in Essex for informal chats on Saturdays in August. At the moment the date for the Chelmsford visit is Saturday 13th August, and I’m still waiting to hear about some other venues and dates.
Launches
I really enjoyed the launch of Suzanne Powers’ latest book Love & The Monroes. I made the big mistake last month of saying that it was the launch of The Virgo Club – I knew I’d been doing too much lately – that was her last book! Marian Keyes was there to launch the book and The Dublin Bookshop on Grafton Street was absolutely jam-packed on a very hot June evening. Suzanne, as always, was lovely and completely charming and I wish her all the best with the book.
Marisa Mackle postponed the launch of her latest book Chinese Whispers and I’m hoping to go along and enjoy her evening with her in a couple of weeks time. By the time September’s here I should have loads to tell you as I’ve also been invited to Sarah Webb’s launch in August too.
As I always say, thank you for checking out my website and please feel free to contact me – I love hearing from readers and writers. I’ve been lucky enough to have been included on 2 ‘writers’ websites – check www.irishwriters-online.com for my entry and also www.fantasticfiction.co.uk.
If you would like to receive my newsletter every month by email, just complete the subscribe box and you will receive a new newsletter by email every month. I’m really grateful to every one who has ‘stuck their pin’ on the map on my ‘Contact’ page – please feel free to add your name and message. The more the merrier!
I’d just like to congratulate Emma Hetherington whose short story was picked as a winner to appear in Woman’s Way – well done Emma and get cracking on that novel – you’ve definitely got it in you!.x..
OK – so bye for now then - I’ll probably skip August and will be back in September – hopefully with loads to tell you by then….
Alison.xx
Just as a last note – don’t forget to lend your support to the Make Poverty History campaign. Check out their website for more news – here is just a small update on events as emailed to me by them:
“The Make Poverty History Rally on 2nd July is the beginning of a massive week of action calling upon the leaders of the G8 countries to make poverty history. We know that thousands of you are planning to be there, and it is incredibly important you are.
We wanted to let you know about another event happening on the eve of the leaders arriving in Scotland and an exclusive offer to say thank you for everything you have done so far to help make poverty history.
'Edinburgh 50,000 - the Final Push' takes place in Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh on 6th July. Doors open at 5pm and the show starts at 7pm. Confirmed performers include Texas, Annie Lennox, Travis, artists from Womad, Snow Patrol, Sugababes, Ronan Keating, McFly, Bob Geldof , Lenny Henry, Peter Kaye, Natasha Bedingfield, The Corrs, Beverley Knight and Jamie Cullen.
It will be the culmination of all the activities since the Make Poverty History Rally and will be the the final mass moment before the eyes of the world turn to those 8 men in that 1 room - one final chance to say 'now is the time, this is the year, YOU can make poverty history.'
Tickets for this event are available through a simple competition, all you have to do is answer the following question and make sure you can get to Edinburgh in time for the event:On average, how many children die every day as a result of poverty?
A) 1 thousand
B) 20 thousand
C) 30 thousandEnter by texting a, b, or c to 84599*
(ask the bill payer's permission).
We're really looking forward to seeing you on 2nd July in Edinburgh. We hope you'll also take this opportunity to send a final message to the G8 at Murrayfield on 6th July.”
NEWSLETTER #4 - June 2005
Hi everyone!
Can’t believe it’s June already – where has the first half of the year gone? No doubt it’ll only be a matter of time before we’re all going through agony just to get a small bit of colour and we’ll have to take our chances on the few days that we can safely call ‘Summer’!
Three of a Kind made it to number 11 in the bestseller lists, and I was absolutely delighted! It seems that everybody keeps saying how “the market is flooded” when it comes to contemporary women’s fiction, and then with the likes of Patricia Cornwell, John Connolly, Michael Connelly and Dan Brown really dominating that top 10 slot, I have to admit that I was thrilled to reach number 11. I’d blackmailed and bribed everybody I knew to help shoe-horn it into the top 10, but it just wasn’t to be. It’s all been great fun anyway and I always really enjoy the few weeks after a new book comes out, but now it’s back to the reality of writing Book 4!
Competition Deadline
Don’t forget the deadline for the competition in Three of a Kind is 1st July – only a month away, so if you haven’t sent in your entry, then you only have a few weeks left. Good luck to everyone and I will let you know who the lucky winner of a week for two in the fabulous four star Estoril Eden Aparthotel on the Lisbon coast in Portugal is.
Short story anthology
I took time out from writing my next book, Worth Waiting For to write a short story for an anthology of short stories, due out near to Christmas. My story is called The Love Birds, and the anthology is the project of fellow writer Marisa Mackle who is expertly prising animal stories from Irish writers and all the proceeds will go to Animal Rescue Centres in the UK and Ireland. I’ll keep you posted when I get more info from Marisa.
Girls Night In - Essex
I would love to see as many of you as possible at another Girls Night In event. After the success of the event in Byrnes Bookshop, Wexford I am now taking part in an event in Ottakars Bookshop, Chelmsford, Essex. The date has been arranged for 5th July – which I think is a Tuesday, and we are hoping for a 7.30 or 8pm start. I’m hoping that JoJo Moyes will be joining in too, but we’re still in the planning process. Any more information that I get over the next few weeks will be sent to you or posted on my website, so keep an eye out. It should be a fun evening, if the event in Wexford was anything to go by. It’s an opportunity for us to meet you, the reader and also for a very informal and fun discussion about how we got into writing, our side of the story and we can have a few glasses of wine and answer questions too. Please try and join us – it looks like it will be a fun summer evening!
Wexford Book Festival
I attended a ‘Thank You Party’ a few weeks after the Wexford Book Festival, which was followed on by the launch of Eoin Colfers fourth book – The Opal Deception. The Wexford Bookshop was mobbed with people and Eoin signed (and sold) many books. I took my 2 sons along with me, and they were pleased for the chance to talk to Eoin, and share some ‘boys will be boys’ jokes with him.
Sticking Pins on my Map
Thanks to everyone who has ‘stuck their pin’ on the guest map on my website. It’s fabulous to see Monica in Australia and Helen in Canada. If you haven’t yet placed your pin, then check the ‘Contact’ page of my website and click on the icon that reads GUEST MAP. It’s really simple and great to see the list growing. I try to personally reply to everybody that sticks their pin on – so have a look and see what you think!
Launches
I’ve been invited to 2 launches this month and am really looking forward to going. The first will be Marisa Mackles as she launches her book ‘Chinese Whispers’, and then a week later I’ll be going to Suzanne Power’s for the launch of the excellent ‘The Virgo Club’. Suzanne is expecting Marian Keyes to launch her book – a fellow Virgo you know – and I’m really looking forward to going. I might have some photos for you in the next newsletter – let me see how things go!
So that’s it for this month. I’m currently in the process of trying to sell my house and I was lucky enough to get some publicity through the Irish Independent newspaper, which was fantastic, but so far no buyers, so keep your fingers crossed. It’s just awful trying to live in a ‘show house’ (as if!!), and so difficult trying to function on the bare essentials. I have so much packed into my attic right now that I’d be better off living in there!
As I always say, thank you for checking out my website and please feel free to contact me – I love hearing from readers and writers.
If you would like to receive this newsletter every month by email, just complete the subscribe box and you will receive a new newsletter by email every month.
Thanks once again I’ll be back again in July
Alison.xx
NEWSLETTER #3 - May 2005
Hi everyone,
I’m sending you the May newsletter a little late, as I’ve been off for a well-earned break after all the publicity and promotion for Three of a Kind. It has all been really good fun, as usual, and to be number 1 in the Tesco book charts in Ireland has been brilliant! It’s really weird going in to do your shopping and to see your name at the top of their list! And then things took another turn when I heard that it had jumped from number 40 to number 11 in the national charts in only a few days. It’s been great fun and completely breathtaking!! I’m so excited at how it’s racing up the Irish bestsellers list and I’m still grinning, and hoping that Three of a Kind will nudge itself up another place and make it into the Top 10. There’s a fabulous competition inside the front cover too, so get your friends to buy the book, available from bookshops in Ireland or online at www.poolbeg.com or www.amazon.co.uk.
To celebrate the release of Three of a Kind, Poolbeg and Joe Walsh Tours are offering one lucky reader the chance to win a week for two in the fabulous four star Estoril Eden Aparthotel on the Lisbon coast in Portugal. To enter all you need to do is answer a simple question inside the front cover of Three of a Kind. It’s so easy – honestly! I went to Lisbon last year for research purposes (!) and spent 3 days trekking up and down the reputed seven hills (although there’s definitely more than 7). I went with my brother Ian and we took trams and elevators around the city, checking out the amazing views across the River Tagus, over the bridge, which is startlingly similar to San Fransisco’s Golden Gate. We spent a day in Cascais, where Fiona lives in Three of a Kind, and I absolutely adored the whole place. I’d jump at the chance of entering the competition, but I’m not allowed. Anyway, it’d be nice if one of you guys won it. Let me know if you do! Good luck….
I wrote 2 articles for the Irish Star in conjunction with issues in Three of a Kind. One article was about the counselling services that are available to women after the emotional and physical trauma of abortion, and an article on the legal implications of the Hague Convention – the scary subject of child abduction and the legal implications of giving birth abroad, if your partner is from that same country. If you would like to read these two pieces and missed the Irish Star at the beginning of April, you can read them on the Articles section of my website – www.alisonnorrington.com.
The 2nd annual Wexford Book Festival ran from 12th – 17th April and was a resounding success. With Eoin Colfer as the patron of the festival, Wexford greeted such authors as Don Conroy, Tracy Piggott, Liam Griffin, John Quinn, Paul Carson and many others. I was lucky enough to finally meet with Suzanne Power, who has recently moved to Wexford and is a truly multi-tasking writer – she has a problem page every week in Woman’s Way, a weekly column in the Evening Herald and still finds the time to raise twins of toddler age and write her latest novel, The Virgo Club, which has just been published by Hodder Headline. So, well done Suzanne!!
As part of the Wexford Book Festival I had a fabulous, fun evening in Byrnes Bookshop in Wexford where we had a ‘Girls Night In’, along with Marisa Mackle and fellow Poolbeg author, Catherine Daly. Catherine has written Charlotte’s Way and All Shook Up, and Marisa is the talented author of Mr Right for the Night, So Long Mr Wrong and The Mile High Guy. Her fourth novel, Chinese Whispers is out later this month, so keep an eye out for that!
Well done to Melissa Hill. Her latest novel, Never Say Never has steamed up the charts and hit the number 1 spot! Melissa and I started with Poolbeg at around the same time and it’s great to see her flying like she is. All the best Melissa, and keep doing what you’re doing… x
So, I’m nearly half way through book 4 – and running behind schedule!! It’s always fun researching new things for a book and then always hard to strike a balance between being out and about researching and then sitting, barricaded in my office, typing away till my fingers go numb. At the moment I’m trying to check out ‘a day in the life of a City vet’ (it can’t all be delivering calves and ponies! – but would like to think it’s a little more than hamsters and kittens too!!) If any of you know, or even are a City vet then please don’t hesitate to contact me – you may be able to help me shed some light!!!
I have recently added a couple of features onto my website and I would love for you all to sign my guest book and make full use of the Tell a Friend button!! I am trying to see how many ‘hits’ I can get on my site before the fabulous competition date runs out – which is 1st July 2005! So please, pass on the news and get your friends to log on!
Thanks again, to all of you for taking the time to check out my website and to everyone who has already bought Three of a Kind. Please feel free to contact me – I love hearing from readers, and writers – it makes all the hard work worth while. If you would like to receive this newsletter every month by email, just complete the subscribe box and you will receive a new newsletter by email every month.
Thanks once again & speak to you all again in June! (seems ages away doesn’t it…)
Alison.xx
NEWSLETTER #2 - April 2005
Welcome to my April newsletter!
It’s been fantastic hearing from you all – please continue to send me your questions and e-mails – it’s great getting to know you all…
Three of a Kind is now in the bookshops in Ireland and I’ve posted an excerpt on my website, just to get you going. The exciting news is that JWT are offering a fabulous competition prize in connection with Three of a Kind – a week for two in a four star Aparthotel on the Lisbon coast! I visited Lisbon and Cascais on my research for Three of a Kind and a weekend simply wasn’t enough. But what a fantastic place – full of history and culture and the weather was glorious too. So good luck to all of you who enter – please let me know who the lucky winner is? The question isn’t too hard – you simply need to read the book.
I’ve been really busy on the run-up to the launch of Three of a Kind. I have written two articles for the Irish Star, to run in their W Supplement. Both articles tie-in with the Three of a Kind storyline, but you’ll have to keep your eye out for it – I can’t give the game away too early! Tesco Ireland have selected Three of a Kind for their book of the week which is great fun, and that will be the week of 11th April.
I have spent been busy in my home county of Essex, where I was invited to partake in the Essex Book Festival. It’s the fifth year of the festival and this one has really been the biggest and best so far. I joined other Essex writers on the launch day, which also coincided with World Book Day and we had a great morning meeting readers and chatting. I also gave a ‘talk’ at Wickford library on Sunday 13th March and we had a lot of fun, discussing writing, reading and books in general. Thanks to all of you for such complimentary and encouraging feedback – I was really nervous before the talk, but you were all so kind!
The Wexford Book Festival is running from the 12th – 17th April and I am running a Get Writing Workshop at The Arts Centre, Wexford on Saturday 16th April at 3.30pm. The workshop is for everybody and anybody who wants to start writing and I’ll talk through the fundamentals of writing, how to get ideas and inspiration and how to approach publishers and agents. See www.wexfordbook.com for further details.
So I’m now gearing up, ready to read the reviews in the national media for Three of a Kind – biting my nails down to the quick already? Me? But I am steaming into book 4, which I have now decided to call Worth Waiting For – I only hope that it lives up to it’s name!
Thank you all once again for taking the time to ‘check out’ my website and please feel free to contact me. I love hearing from readers – it helps make all the hard work worth while. If you would like to receive my newsletter by email, then please fill in the ‘subscribe box’ and I will email you each new newsletter – hopefully every couple of months.
Thanks once again!
Alison xxx
NEWSLETTER #1 - March 2005
Welcome to my first newsletter. I hope you’ll find it interesting and it’s a way of letting you find out more about what I’ve been doing and how excited I am about the launch of Three of a Kind on 1st April!!I’ve been really busy for the last couple of months, editing Three of a Kind, trying hard to make it my best book ever! It’s a painstaking process, the editing one, and I have reshuffled paragraphs until my brain has been turned to mush, but it’s so crucial to try and get it right. (Although you never really know whether you have!)
In Three of a Kind, as in Class Act and Look Before You Leap, I have tried to tell tales about love and friendship, work and marriage, in a light and yet very real way, and Three of a Kind has a couple of ‘darker’ contemporary issues lurking behind the happy-go-lucky story.
I have written a piece on the Hague Convention and also on Post Abortion Syndrome, both of which link in with Three of a Kind, and these will be published in the Irish Star over the next few weeks.
So I am now steaming into book 4 – which I don’t have a name for as yet, but is the story of three women and a man, Megan, Chloe, Claire and Chloe’s brother Jim, who are all at turning points in their lives, (although they don’t all know it until much later). I’ll give you more info on this as it develops and if anyone comes up with a fabulous title, then I’d be delighted to hear it!
Sarah Webb organised yet another hugely successful Readers Day in Deansgrange library on 12th February and although I was unable to attend, I hear it was completely booked out with a gigantic waiting list too. Sarah has told me that there will be another in October in Fingal, with dates to be announced, so keep an eye out for that.
I am taking part in the Essex Book Festival in March and will be there to help launch World Book Day with other Essex writers such as Martina Cole, Nasser Hussain and Maureen Lee on World Book Day on 3rd March at Chelmsford library. I will also be at Wickford Library on 13th March to give a talk, so I am very busy at the moment!
The Wexford Book Fair runs from 12th – 17th April and I hope to participate in that also.
So thank you once again for taking the time to ‘check out’ my website and, as I said before, I will answer all emails and queries, so please feel free to contact me. I love hearing from readers and it makes all the hard work so worth while.
If you would like to receive my newsletter by email, then please fill in the ‘subscribe box’ and I will email you each new newsletter – hopefully every couple of months.
Alison xx