Decisions, decisions

For an hour earlier this morning the outside world went all Springy, bright enough to make me fill the washing line (what a mistake that turned out to be) and notice the grubby handprints on the kitchen windows (I presume the rain now falling will take care of them). I know – so far, all so uninteresting.  But the brief lack of winter also made me realise how soon I’ll be packing my toothbrush and the newly-published The Heart of Everything (publ. March 3rd) to head off to the Ennis Book Club Festival. Over the first weekend in March, there’ll be talks about books, about writing, about reading. Susan Mckay, Lemn Sissay, Conal Creedon, Catriona Crowe, Ivana Bacik, Marian Keyes… I’m already struggling to figure out how much of the weekend’s programme I can fit in. I’m speaking with Evelyn Conlon about historical fiction on Saturday morning at 10am. (Not The Same Sky is her novel about three women who were among the thousands of orphaned Irish girls shipped off to Australia after the Great Famine. My novel What Becomes Of Us is set at the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Rising.) Booking for all events here.