Introducing my book, A Posy of Promises has been so lovely. You scribble away in your hidey-hole, making up all sorts of stuff and then when you emerge, bleary-eyed to the world, you are never sure if anyone is actually interested in what you have created.
My first novel Little Bird was a crime novel, a police procedural with a forensic psychologist angle. I love writing crime and I am currently finishing my follow up. In between these two books I wrote A Posy of Promises, which comes out in June. It falls within the commercial women’s fiction branding.

Isn’t she pretty? Bombshell has produced a beautiful cover for Posy.
I read across genre – literary fiction, lots of crime in all its sub-genres, science fiction, and young adult. Thankfully, there’s no rule to say you have to be loyal to only one genre. It isn’t dishonest or cheating if you read something different.
Publishers are more open to genre blending now – the crossover YA market shows that a book can have huge potential if it appeals to more than one style of readers. Commercial fiction blended with crime works really well. Just look at the success of Liane Moriarty’s work. There is a rise in science fiction writers setting murders in all kinds of fantastical settings. I loved Hugh Howey’s Wool. Any author who pushes the boundaries of a particular genre is really exciting. Writers like John Connolly have been blending crime writing with supernatural elements. That’s something I’d love to explore. I definitely have a Gothic horror aesthetic novel within me, demanding to be written.
It’s interesting and exciting to challenge yourself as a writer. Crime and thriller writers can bring a greater sense of pace to other genres. Every book teaches something new about who you are as a writer.
On another note, I was delighted to have the fabulous Claire Allan support A Posy of Promises. She was generous enough to read the manuscript and then say some really lovely things about it. Writer Fionnuala Cassidy encouraged me in the early stages, a good while ago. I’ve said it before, the writing life can be lonely if you let, but when you reach out to fellow writers they are always kind and generous with their advice.
A Posy of Promises tells the story of three generations of women in one family. Set in Belfast, it has warmth and humour. I hope readers like it. Publication day is set for 13th of June and I am taking part in the Belfast Book Festival Lit Crawl, A Story in Two Parts where actress Aimee McGoldrick will do a reading from Posy, accompanied, by Lára Mulgrew on the harp. Come along and check us out. I will also do readings from Little Bird and Alfie and Stevie will provide musical entertainment, playing songs which were important to me while writing it.

Alfie and Stevie