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Sinead Moriarty is the author of four novels, including her latest release In My Sister's Shoes. She has worked as a journalist on trade magazines and lives in Dublin with her husband and two sons.
To grow up as a child and see your mother writing at the kitchen table, send out her manuscript and succeed in getting published was very inspiring. When I went to her book launches and saw her books in bookshops, it made me realise that it could be done. Getting a book published was possible if you worked really hard and had some luck. There is a lot of hard work and a little luck involved in all success, as I have discovered.
To be honest I think it's the way Irish people look at life. We see humour in everything, even the darkest of situations. Irish people have a great sense of humour and are good storytellers. We like a good yarn and are very fond of exaggeration and hyperbole. I love listening to people on buses or in cafes, you hear the funniest things and can get great material for your books.
Probably Bridget Jones's Diary because it made me think that maybe I could become a writer. It was modern, bitter-sweet and had you laughing one minute and crying the next and that's what I really wanted (and still want) to achieve as a writer.
I like them all really. I think they are all endearing. If they aren't, then the book won't work. They may start out being un-loveable, but they always end up being loveable.
It's about two sisters - one of whom has breast cancer. It's about how a family copes with illness and how one sister has to sacrifice her career and move back to Ireland to look after her two little nephews while her sister has chemotherapy. It's about realising what's important in life. Although the main theme is obviously very serious, the book is full of fun and some surprising twists!
My own life was the inspiration for Emma. It took me four years to have my first baby and I found the whole process very difficult, isolating and lonely. While I was having fertility treatment, I realised how prevalent infertility was and decided to write something that I would like to have read. I wanted to make it funny, because my sense of humour had kept me sane throughout all the various tests and procedures. So I sat down and created Emma and had such fun with her and her journey to motherhood. It was very cathartic for me.
My book was published one month before the birth of my first son. A very happy time!
My next book (no title yet!) is about a mixed race relationship. It's about trying to fit in when you live abroad. It's about falling in love with the 'wrong' person. It's about trying to make your parents see past the colour of someone's skin. It's about acceptance and deeply rooted prejudices. It's a cross between Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
I'm currently reading Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It's a wonderful and very moving book about the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967-1970.
To be proud of what you write and make sure your research is thorough.
Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams. It's just beautiful. He writes like a poet. I highly recommend it.
That every writer is riddled with self-doubt and insecurity. It's lovely to know that it's normal to feel that way!