A huge thank you to Kristi Thompson for the following post:
Chairman Niall MacMonagle set the tone for this event addressing the dreaded second novel, pointing out that the second house, the second baby, the second car, the second novel– all can be problematic. Kudos to the selection committee for presenting two distinctly different authors. Paul Murray gave a “bawdy humour alert” before his reading of Skippy Dies, presenting the comedic, probing, often daft but entertainingly real mind-set of youth; while John Lynch commanded absolute, rapt silence during his reading from Falling Out of Heaven, a painful portrait of the fallout a man experiences after being raised by a parent with a dark addiction.
Niall: Did either of you have a Harper Lee moment, fearing your first novel might be your last?
John Lynch, known for his work as an actor (Sliding Doors, In the Name of the Father) said he was so caught up in the adventure of writing his first novel, with the intention of hiding it under the bed if it was bad, that he didn’t have time to think of a second novel. Writing, for him, was about definition, defining emotion. It’s where the imagination and emotion meet, putting names to these events.
Niall introduced Paul Murray as someone who writes big books on a big canvas. Skippy Dies, 700 pages, took seven years to complete. Paul said he knew it would take a long time, admitting that when his agent initially signed him for a two-book deal he didn’t have a name let alone an idea for his second book. Paul did have the confidence for this ambitious project, and encouraged all writers to have faith in themselves, and sit down every day to write.
John Lynch dove into his writing from a slightly different angle in that he’s never had a creative writing course. His work as an actor has helped in creating characters and scenarios, saying that as a child he used to enact death scenes for his classmates: “death by poison” or “death by gunshot”. Joseph Campbell’s books gave him a good foundation, as well, ex. Hero With a Thousand Faces.
Niall: Were there any difficulties writing about Seabrook College, which is loosely based on your alma mater Blackrock College?
Paul said he was initially worried, but he wanted to write about what he knows. The Celtic Tiger boom was an important moment in recent history, bringing a kind of aristocratic entitlement, greed, and lack of care for society at large that we hadn’t really seen in Ireland.
John’s inspiration for Falling Out of Heaven was in part from the saying, “We all fall out of the heaven, just that some of us remember the fall.” The novel begins when his protagonist is in an alcohol induced psychosis, believing he is literally falling through the sky. As the story continues his memories build. John shared that he’d had an issue with alcohol and stopped drinking 11 years ago. It was important for him to go into the darkest places along with his protagonist, with graphic honesty, but to leave a “trail of bread crumbs, to find my way back out”.
Many thanks to Paul Murray and John Lynch– for showing us the places you go in your writing.
Guest blog post by Kristi Thompson
John Lynch and Paul Murray.
Chairman Niall MacMonagle set the tone for this event addressing the dreaded second novel, pointing out that the second house, the second baby, the second car, the second novel– all can be problematic. Kudos to the selection committee for presenting two distinctly different authors. Paul Murray gave a “bawdy humour alert” before his reading of Skippy Dies, presenting the comedic, probing, often daft but entertainingly real mind-set of youth; while John Lynch commanded absolute, rapt silence during his reading from Falling Out of Heaven, a painful portrait of the fallout a man experiences after being raised by a parent with a dark addiction.
Did either of you have a Harper Lee moment, fearing your first novel might be your last? John Lynch, known for his work as an actor (Sliding Doors, In the Name of the Father) said he was so caught up in the adventure of writing his first novel, with the intention of hiding it under the bed if it was bad, that he didn’t have time to think of a second novel. Writing, for him, was about definition, defining emotion. It’s where the imagination and emotion meet, putting names to these events.
Niall introduced Paul Murray as someone who writes big books on a big canvas. Skippy Dies, 700 pages, took seven years to complete. Paul said he knew it would take a long time, admitting that when his agent initially signed him for a two-book deal he didn’t have a name let alone an idea for his second book. Paul did have the confidence for this ambitious project, and encouraged all writers to have faith in themselves, and sit down every day to write.
John Lynch dove into his writing from a slightly different angle in that he’s never had a creative writing course. His work as an actor has helped in creating characters and scenarios, saying that as a child he used to enact death scenes for his classmates: “death by poison” or “death by gunshot”. Joseph Campbell’s books gave him a good foundation, as well, ex. Hero With a Thousand Faces.
Were there any difficulties writing about Seabrook College, which is loosely based on your alma mater Blackrock College? Paul said he was initially worried, but he wanted to write about what he knows. The Celtic Tiger boom was an important moment in recent history, bringing a kind of aristocratic entitlement, greed, and lack of care for society at large that we hadn’t really seen in Ireland.
John’s inspiration for Falling Out of Heaven was in part from the saying, “We all fall out of the heaven, just that some of us remember the fall.” The novel begins when his protagonist is in an alcohol induced psychosis, believing he is literally falling through the sky. As the story continues his memories build. John shared that he’d had an issue with alcohol and stopped drinking 11 years ago. It was important for him to go into the darkest places along with his protagonist, with graphic honesty, but to leave a “trail of bread crumbs, to find my way back out”.
Many thanks to Paul Murray and John Lynch– for showing us the places you go in your writing.
