The Author-Agent

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Congrats to Sarah-Jane Stratford

Happy Publication Day to Sarah-Jane Stratford who's also represented by Margaret O'Connor of Innisfree Literary. Her new novel is about the good old BBC in its infancy a.k.a Auntie Beeb and a threat to its existence emanating from Englishmen enthralled by Germany’s rising but menacing influence. Loosely based on a formidable real-life female producer at the BBC, she explores through the eyes of Masie—her shy but increasingly ambitious secretary—the bigotry, treachery, machinations as well as vagaries of the rigid British class system played out both hilariously and tragically inside the BBC’s offices at Savoy Hill. RADIO GIRLS is a timely novel reminding us of the importance of the freedom and independence of the press and media at a time when corporate interests and wealthy individuals are attempting to manipulate public opinion and the news to their advantage.

Radio Girls - Penguin Books USA The Great War is over, and change is in the air, in this novel that brings to life the exciting days of early British radio…and one woman who finds her voice while working alongside the brilliant women and men of the BBC. London, 1926. American-raised Maisie Musgrave is thrilled to land a job as a... PENGUIN.COM

[theauthor-agent-blog]

My novel’s Publishers Marketplace announcement

ABA Booksense Pick, Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist and Lambda Literary Awards finalist for his debut novel A SON CALLED GABRIEL, Damian McNicholl's THE MOMENT OF TRUTH, pitched as inspired by the life of the first American female matador in 1950's Mexico; full of lush descriptions of the Mexican landscape, the lavish clothing worn by the matadors and of course the choreographed acts within the bullfights themselves, it evokes the authenticity of a bygone era and through his protagonist, a woman ahead of her times, to Claiborne Hancock at Pegasus, with Katie McGuire editing, for publication in Summer 2017, by Margaret O'Connor at Innisfree Literary (World English). Translation: [email protected]

[theauthor-agent-blog]

My new novel to Pegasus Books

I am extremely pleased to let everyone know my latest novel, THE MOMENT OF TRUTH, has been acquired by Pegasus Books. Years before women sought full equality alongside men in the workplace and before bullfighting was seen as decidedly cruel, Kathleen Boyd dreams of a career fighting the bulls from the moment her late father takes her to a bullfight in Mexico City as an eight-year-old. Loosely based on the life of a real lady bullfighter, Kathleen struggles against her mother’s plans for her daughter, a fiancé anxious to begin the American dream of home and cozy domesticity and a complicated Mexican trainer, an ex-matador, who has his own selfish plans for her. Concomitant and following a major rewrite, an ebook of my first novel, A SON CALLED GABRIEL, will also be re-issued. I am grateful and thank my agent and now friend, Margaret O’Connor of Innisfree Literary, who loved THE MOMENT OF TRUTH from the get-go and guided it to its happy home at Pegasus.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Announcing a new opportunity

I’ve joined the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency as an associate agent. In today’s world, it’s become commonplace for people to do a variety of work in their pursuit of happiness and I was finding the writerly life a tad too solitary for my taste. I love interacting with friendly and interesting people more than just at social events and dinner parties and, in my opinion, writers and editors fall four-square into the category of interesting people. This exciting opportunity comes at the perfect time because I can continue to write my own books as well as utilize my skills as an attorney and discerning reader and thinker to help other authors get their manuscripts into the hands of the right publisher. 

[theauthor-agent-blog]

The finch by the door

Just has a visit from the Jehovah Witnesses. Second visitation in a year. Maybe they're capitalizing on the recent death of their most famous member. Or they've gotten around all the neighbors in the interim and thought the Spring weather might make us more conducive. A bad sign was the Purple finch nesting in the dwarf Alberta Spruce by the door fled in a whirl of feathers and bits of desiccated grass from the rim of her nest as soon as the man laid his highly polished shoe on the first door step. (I was watching from behind the lead glass door.) The finch is sitting on four pale blue eggs and never abandons them when we sit on the step. I thought it rather ironic since the Jehovah's Witnesses specialize in abandoning their LGBT young. So I tossed out a chuckle and remarked on our little fleeing bird as I regarded the tip of the spruce where the nest is ensconced and then affected a look of deep musing. They oohed and ached, he fiddling with the Watchtower. Looking very severe behind thick rimmed black eyeglasses, she said how lucky I was to have a bird nesting there. He asked something about whether I knew where the real Kingdom on earth was. Quick as a flash, I turned back and asked if they'd any members with gay children who'd been shunned. The woman's ear tips turned crimson and her momentarily parted lips revealed an elliptical of blackness. He smiled and said one family had a child who'd fallen into evil ways and refused to repent. "Are her parents still part of the congregation?" They actually looked amazed at the question. "The entire family worships there." "The daughter,too?" "She's not part of their family anymore." I turned my head with slow deliberation to the Alberta Spruce for a moment and then looked qt them. "The mother needs to return to her eggs. You guys need to leave." I shut the door.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Exciting Development

I will be reactivating this blog and am in the process of updating the information. Several years ago, I joined Facebook and Twitter and it was easier to post my goings on. However, new opportunities have arisen that compliment my writing career which I will announce next week. Stay tuned.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Updated via Twitter

I've added a Twitter widget and this blog will be updated only by live twitter feeds. Occasionally I'll add a post in the form of film or book reviews or something that moves me. But the era of blogging has passed and I much prefer Twitter and its 140 characters. Concentrates the mind.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Guest on Caroline Smailes Blog

Novelist Caroline Smailes invited me to do a guest spot on her blog so I wrote about the challenges of writing a screenplay out of a novel. Here's the link

[theauthor-agent-blog]

YA and this adult reader

Just finished reading The Hunger Games. I loved it. And that's saying something because YA is not something I read. I couldn't even get past page 20 of the first Harry Potter but did watch the movies. I think The Hunger Games appealed because it's lean and focused in that it gets to the main conflict quickly and doesn't lose track throughout the narrative. It also helps that the characters are relateable and the plot's set in the real world, albeit that it's in the future and has some futuristic qualities. I think that's why it's appealing to a wide audience that includes adults. Good story that's suspenseful. Good characters. Looking forward to tucking into Book 2.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

North London Book Group

Just did a great interview with the above book group. I love great interviews like this. Here's the link

[theauthor-agent-blog]

I'm a guest on Strictly Writing Blog

I was invited by Gillian McDade (we're both from Northern Ireland) of the excellent Strictly Writing Blog to be a guest so I wrote a piece for it. It's about writing a second novel after all the hoop-la of getting published settles down. Here's the post.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Author Patricia Wood's comment on my new novel

Twisted Agendas has been published recently in UK and Ireland and it's going really well. I had a great interview on BBC Radio Ulster's Arts Extra. Marie Louise Muir posed some tough questions about my work that kept me on my toes. Very excited because of this gorgeous praise from Patricia Wood whose novel Lottery was shortlisted for UK's Orange Broadband prize. Here's what she says. In Twisted Agendas, Damian McNicholl has created a compelling and entertaining romp through other people's inter-tangled lives. All Danny wants to do is strike out on his own in London but from the very moment his path crosses with Piper's nothing is what it seems. From terrorists to lovers to meddling fathers, Damian deftly weaves comic misunderstandings with a larger more ominous theme of authority going slightly mad. Once I started reading I could not put Twisted Agendas down for a moment until I reached the satisfying conclusion. This is a novel that book clubs will certainly want to read and discuss."

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Chopping Wood and return of Hornet

A tree feel near our house last week as a result of the violent storms we've been having of late. I was up in the office and heard it crash on the ground. So, when a tree falls in the forest--yes, it can be heard, Virginia. Spent yesterday and today cutting it and chopping it into pieces for firewood. It felt really good to do that kind of exercise as opposed to working my ass off on an elliptical at the Y. On the subject of the Y, it's looking brilliant as a result of its multi-million dollar facelift. My old nemesis, the Hornet, continues to ride rough shod and hog the latest equipment. She's working out too hard now and is looking like one of Tom Wolfe's Social X-Rays. Still as rude as ever. As I just finished a 50 min session on fat burner mode (yes, 50 mins) on my (and her) favorite elliptical, she approached as I was wiping down the machine. She got on, opened her magazine without even a thank you and then said "The floor has a lot of your sweat on it, too." She peered down at it bug-eyed. I looked at it, looked at her, looked at it again. "Keep your voice down," I said. "The others'll be jealous if they find out." And off I walked to the hoots of laughter of a lady nearby.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Sucking Up Yellow Jackets

Jeanne Denault is in my writers group, The Rebel Writers of Bucks County. Her memoir Sucking Up Yellow Jackets has just released from O-Books and it's a funny, witty and sometimes poignant account of her raising a son with Aspergers Syndrome. From climbing out of his cot within a few months of his birth to climbing a telephone wire hand over hand high above their terraced home in Philadelphia and then, as a teenager, dismantling a motor cycle simply because his mother demanded he had to get rid of it and he took that to mean literally, Jeanne depicts in precise, wry prose what it was like to bring up this super intelligent child at a time when Asperger's wasn't even understood by the medical community. She thought she was going mad or had spawned the devil's child. Jeanne and her family moved around the states while Max was growing up--Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois where Jeanne's attempts to fit in among the 'meat and potatoes' women of the area drew their scorn when she made a gourmet dish featuring a mild curry sauce for a block party and incited their wrath. The family relocated to Pennsylvania again after Max had a few run-ins with the local police and judges. His teachers, some of his counselors and even her husband blamed her for some of his excesses. A fast, dazzling and very enjoyable read.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Goings on

I really haven't blogged for a while. Has blogging become an oxymoron? I used to read blogs and now seldom do. Why? I don't have the time and so many blogs are rubbish. Besides, I do 140 character updates on Twitter that uploads automatically to my Facebook and blog. And any time I do have should be spent on writing related to my fiction. Anyway, the good news is I just finished a short story which I sent off to Booktrust in the UK who run a short story competition in conjunction with the BBC. I'm sure there will be tons of entries and chances are very slim, but if you're not in you can't win. In any event, it got me writing fiction again which is important. I've been working very hard on the screenplay of a Son Called Gabriel And meanwhile my UK publisher is wanting to move on my second novel--which is great but will require more work. Shouldn't complain. I'm not. Good to be busy. And on top of that, I've just read that Primeminster David Cameron has apologized for the massacre on Bloody Sunday in 1972 in Derry. That is the proper thing to do. My Mum and Dad were at that march and my Mum returned with her knees all bloodied. She'd crawled along the streets as the bullets flew over her head. We kids were terrified when we saw her. You never think of your Mum and Dad being a passionate civil rights marcher

[theauthor-agent-blog]

Rereading one's work

Started rereading the new novel Twisted Agendas again and have decided I need to make some changes. Was terrified it would suck as some of one's work does depending on one's mood. On that point, I do wish some published writers would take their time and not churn out books. Some are really badly written and edited. Instead of building an audience, they're losing readers. Am happy to report my novel reads pretty good. At least it dos to me, though I think I'm going to rewrite from a different point of view. Also just finished reading a book on writing techniques and feel inspired. We'll see.

[theauthor-agent-blog]

About publishing

I'm about to start edits on my new novel Twisted Agendas, which my publisher in UK seems interested to acquire. Now with iPad, Kindle and Sony and B&N readers, I'm wondering if I should self-publish as so many people seem to be doing these days. Publishers seem to make all the money in deals with writers and only a few of their authors breakout and make real money. Gone or going are the days when self-publishing has been regarded as the step-sister of legitimate publishing. And James Joyce and a host of others self-published. Changes are definitely coming with the advent and gaining popularity of e-books. I guess I'll mull some more---