Mary Teresa
asked
Felicity Hayes-McCoy:
I'm enjoying your book 'The Library at the Edge of the World'. I purchased it in Baile an Fhiritearaigh last week. I'm Irish, live in the USA, and have strong links with Corca Dhuibhne through my late aunt who lived at Baile Loisce. My question is: Do you do most of your writing in Corca Dhuibhne or in London? It seems to me that Kerry is the ideal place to write, but I can't imagine myself staying indoors there!
Felicity Hayes-McCoy
Hi Maire,
Great to know you're enjoying 'The Library at the Edge of the World' ( I think you put a kind comment on my FB Author Page the other day as Gaeilge?).
Readers often ask if I write more in London or Ireland but I suspect that only someone like yourself who knows Corca Dhuibhne would make that perceptive comment about the difficulty of staying indoors there! The short answer is that I write each day wherever I am - including on the plane on days when I travel to and fro. Normally, I'd spend roughly half of any given month in each place so, when you're working to deadlines, it's a matter of keeping up a daily discipline.
The long answer, of course, is that while we have little flat in an inner-city block in London we have a house with a garden in Corca Dhuibhne, so there's a lot more pressure to keep one's eye on the screen when you have vegetables needing weeding and grass wanting cutting just outside your window. Not to mention music in the village and neighbours dropping by to talk! On the other hand, there are galleries and concerts to go to in London, and neighbours to chat to there as well. So, in a way, it's six of one and half a dozen of the other.
The seasons and the weather make a subtle difference too. In terms of fetching and carrying and cleaning and clearing, keeping an open fire going in winter takes an inordinate amount of time, especially when compared to switching on central heating in a flat ...
I hope you'll get back to Corca Dhuibhne soon yourself. You must have had pretty good weather for your recent trip, though there was a northerly wind there for a while that was a bit unusual.
All good wishes and many thanks for getting in touch.
Beir bua.
Felicity.
Great to know you're enjoying 'The Library at the Edge of the World' ( I think you put a kind comment on my FB Author Page the other day as Gaeilge?).
Readers often ask if I write more in London or Ireland but I suspect that only someone like yourself who knows Corca Dhuibhne would make that perceptive comment about the difficulty of staying indoors there! The short answer is that I write each day wherever I am - including on the plane on days when I travel to and fro. Normally, I'd spend roughly half of any given month in each place so, when you're working to deadlines, it's a matter of keeping up a daily discipline.
The long answer, of course, is that while we have little flat in an inner-city block in London we have a house with a garden in Corca Dhuibhne, so there's a lot more pressure to keep one's eye on the screen when you have vegetables needing weeding and grass wanting cutting just outside your window. Not to mention music in the village and neighbours dropping by to talk! On the other hand, there are galleries and concerts to go to in London, and neighbours to chat to there as well. So, in a way, it's six of one and half a dozen of the other.
The seasons and the weather make a subtle difference too. In terms of fetching and carrying and cleaning and clearing, keeping an open fire going in winter takes an inordinate amount of time, especially when compared to switching on central heating in a flat ...
I hope you'll get back to Corca Dhuibhne soon yourself. You must have had pretty good weather for your recent trip, though there was a northerly wind there for a while that was a bit unusual.
All good wishes and many thanks for getting in touch.
Beir bua.
Felicity.
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