Catherine Daly
www.catherinedaly.com
The official website of Irish author Catherine Daly
Hi, there!
'A French Affair' finally hit the shelves in March - and I still don't know where the year has gone!
It was written over the summer and Autumn of 2005- at a time when those of you who know me from the writeon-irishgirls forum, will know we were adding an extension at home. My husband decided he'd dispense with the services of an architect and draw up all the plans and supervise the project himself. So we didn't move out. Which meant that the novel was written with the sweet sounds of saws, pneumatic drills and builders’ chanting as background accompaniment.
So you won't be surprised to discover ‘A French Affair’ is located a million miles from Dublin - (in France, my favourite place in the world,) and that the French scenes are so lovingly penned. Every time I was interrupted to discuss the location of a radiator, the precise position of a wall or for a consultation about windows, I returned to my keyboard grinding my teeth (not to be recommended with a mouthful of plaster dust) and wishing I could escape to my beloved Dordogne.
In the end, as the water was cut off, most of the back wall of the house was removed and the heating was switched off for the last time so the installation of new heating could begin (it was October, and cold), I was so jealous of my characters cavorting in the fictional village of Ste Anne, that it’s a wonder I didn't kill the lot of them off out of shear spite!
But I persisted, they mostly survived, and my characters - Evie, Monique, Laurent, Joel, Alex and Holly are dying to meet you.
For a brief taster- the 'Blurb' from the back cover of the book click 'here'
For a longer extract- click here
My previous books, All Shook Up and Charlotte's Way, are of course still available, so Click on the cover of either book to find your way to an extract, or if you've already read them, hop straight to my contact page to let me know what you thought. I love getting e-mails from readers, and I do my best to answer them as soon as possible.
Pet Project
One of the great things about getting published is that you join a writers' community. I've got to know loads of other Irish women writers and it's been great to be able to share ideas and just chat in general about the book world. I've even started a website so that readers can join in that community too- why not drop in and see us at www.writeon-irishgirls.com and maybe even join in our on-line chats at the Irish girls Forum.
