Sue Leonard

MARTINA DEVLIN never cooks. She used to. She would prepare meals from scratch, and she did some baking too, but a few years ago she gave it up, deciding it was a mug’s game. So it’s […]

I love book launches.  They’re a great way to celebrate books, meet friends, and chat with like minded people. Then there’s the wine…. We had a memorable  night on 5th November, when I did the honours […]

Kieran had written two novels by the time he was ten years old. The first was called The Magic Sword, and the second, The Samurai. “I’ve always written short stories, and when I left college I […]

Asking for It. Quercus, €13.99; Kindle, €8.90 AT 18, Emma O’Donahue is beautiful, smart and supremely confident. She’s also controlling and fond of getting her own way. There’s a party. Keen to prove she’s not risk averse, […]

Jo started her career as a Freelance journalist, but she’s always been interested in politics, and in 2007 she ran for election, and almost won. After that, she joined Leinster House as a parliamentary administrator, working […]

HEY,  Freak — still on hunger strike? — So starts A Lonely Note, the story of Tariq, a teenage Iraqi boy living in the states, who is bullied for being different. It’s a tough life. His […]

Mrs Engels. Gavin McCrea. Scribe.  ‘No one understands men better than the women they don’t marry, and my own opinion – beknown only to God – is that the difference between one man and another doesn’t […]

From a difficult background, Elizabeth excelled at school. “Books were my sanctuary.” Working to put herself through university, she then became a primary school teacher, working with children with special needs and emotional problems. After six […]

JOHN BOYNE has already proved that he’s a versatile writer. He had written some excellent takes on historical events even before 2006, when The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas made him a household name; and he […]

THERE’S a journalist in Elizabeth Day’s new novel. She’s called Esme Reade and, through her we gain some insight into journalism including the mechanics of a good interview. Arriving to meet the author, I’m nervous, in […]

Andrea always wanted to be a barrister. But, unable, initially, to afford the Bar, she set up as a solicitor in Donegal, hoping to do lots of advocacy. “I started writing in a casual way,” she […]

Caroline Logue is the nom de plume of the journalist Sile McArdle. After university Caroline worked in London in management consultancy. She had great fun there, but after a few years realised that business wasn’t for […]