Around the World with Book Connectors and Trip Fiction - Ireland with Carolann Copland

The Around The World Blog Tour is a partnership between TripFiction and #BookConnectors ~ bloggers and authors, travelling the world, through fiction.

TripFiction was created to make it easy to match a location with a book and help you select good literature that is most pertinent and relevant to your trip. A resource for armchair and actual travellers, it is a unique way of exploring a place through the eyes of an author. We blog, and chat books and travel across Social Media, and love to meet authors and bloggers as we take our literary journey.

http://www.tripfiction.com/

Book Connectors was created as a place on Facebook for Bloggers, Authors and small Publishers to share their news.

We encourage book promotions; information about competitions and giveaways; news of events, including launch events, signings, talks or courses. Talk about new signings, about film deals .... anything really.

Book Connectors is a friendly group, there are no rules or guidelines - just be polite and respectful to each other.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1466353170351020/

The current stop on this tour is Ireland and today I have a Q&A with the lovely author Carolann Copland. She has also very kindly agreed to giveaway signed copies of her two novels to one lucky winner, read on for details on how you can enter below.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

I’m the founder of Carousel Creates, a writers' centre in the Dublin Mountains. I have a Bachelor of Education in English and Drama and have been a teacher for sixteen years. My first book, Summer Triangle was published by Emu Ink in October 2013, followed by Scarred, launched in June 2015 and a third novel is currently underway. I’m from Dublin, Ireland and I’ve also lived in the Middle East and the United Kingdom. I’m married to Neil and am a mother of three children aged twelve to twenty-four. Through mentoring writers of all ages; from all walks of life; I’m happiest when I’m sharing my passion for writing. I’m a member of two writing groups and I work to promote other writing groups in Dublin.

What inspired you to start writing?

I didn’t know I wanted to write until my mother told me to when I was forty. And I always do what I’m told. (Ahem!) But as usual she was right and I became addicted to the escapism writing provided and it very quickly became a huge part of my life. Now I wonder how I lived for forty years without it.

What is your favourite part of being a writer?

Mostly, I love getting an idea that makes the hair rise on the back of my neck and being desperate to sit and write it out. Also, the friends I have made with other authors and the privilege of sharing with other writers and readers just make life perfect.

What is your most recent book about?

Scarred explores the fact that time doesn't heal everything...

The main character, Rory Mc Gee, is obsessed. The man who murdered his girlfriend, Maria Dooley, must be brought to justice.

Ex IRA activist, now politician, Fergal O’ Gorman, is accused of murder on live television during elections, causing a media frenzy. Rory’s quest to expose the truth threatens to destroy the family he fought so hard to rebuild, and he’s dragging Maria’s daughter Shona Moran through the mire with him.

Rory needs to overcome his guilt about Maria’s death going unpunished. It’s a story of buried love and exhumed hatred where revenge can only be achieved at a cost.

Do you have a work in progress at the moment?

I have just spent the summer in Andalucia, writing a novel set between Spain in post-civil war years and modern day Ireland. I am deeply in love with all things Spanish and it was inevitable that it would creep into my writing eventually.

Was it important to you to set your books in Ireland?

Very much so. Both my parents are Irish and I have lived most of my life here so it was inevitable that much of my writing would be set in Ireland with Irish characters. But my travels around the world have meant that my characters and plots travelled to many countries too and my readers can savour the wonderful experiences that I have had.

What is your favourite place to visit in Ireland?

Mountains and sea are important to me no matter where I am. But childhood holidays in Donegal have given me a heartfelt connection with that county. My second book is set there and part of book three also.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I have a yearning to go to India. My mother-in-law was from Calcutta and my fourth novel is partly set there; based on the stories that she drip fed to me in the time that we spent together before she died.

What’s your favourite book you’ve read so far this year?

I would have to say it was a draw between Jax Miller’s Freedom’s Child and Louise Phillips’ The Game Changer. I’m new to reading crime within the last five years or so and both these novels were read in one or two sittings. That’s the sign of a fantastic read, when you can’t bring yourself to leave the pages.

What are you reading at the moment?

Martina Devlin’s About Sisterland. I’m almost finished and I’m loving it. It’s so different to anything I’ve ever read before. In fact it’s very different to Martina’s usual genre. I’m out of my normal comfort zone reading (it’s set about 100 years in the future) but it’s wonderful.

When and where would we most likely find you reading?

In bed. In the woods. By the sea. On the bus. In a café. Anywhere. Anytime. I go nowhere without some reading material (and writing material) in my bag.

How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?

Author Website: http://www.carolanncopland.com/

Carousel Writers’ Centre Website: http://www.carousel-creates.ie/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolann.copland

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarolannCopland

And finally, if you could meet any character in any book you have read, who would it be and why?

Alice. (Surrounded by her friends from Wonderland of course.) I’m besotted. Alice finds her way into all my teachings with children and recently she seems to be cropping up in my adults’ creative writing classes too. She is the most intriguing and versatile character I have ever met. I am fifty next month and I have treated myself to a beautiful piece of artwork by David Morrison entitled Alice on a High. That’s me!


Giveaway!

A comment left on this post will be picked at random and will win a signed copy of Summer Triangle and Scarred (open to residents of the UK and Ireland only).

The competition will close on the 25th October at Midnight (GMT). Please make sure you comment with a profile, and not just as unknown to be counted, or please ensure that you include your twitter handle (if on twitter), so I can find you easily if you win. You will need to hit preview and then publish your comment. Good luck everyone!

Summer Triangle is available here.

"One terrible moment changes everything...

Shona and Majid are living very different, but ordinary, lives on opposite sides of the globe, when both their worlds are shattered.

Majid, who witnesses the death of his fiancé, a bomb victim at an Irish/Saudi festival, is so distraught he runs from his problems – right into the arms of Islamic fundamentalists. Together his new allies and he plot to show Ireland exactly what they think of its cooperation in the US war against terror, but will Majid really get the closure he so desperately craves?

Meanwhile Irish teen Shona falls pregnant following a drunken party and stumbles through early motherhood in a haze of alcohol. An overheard conversation about her past leaves her wallowing in the self-pity of betrayal and ripe for falling into the wrong hands.

When 08/08 threatens to become Dublin’s very own 9/11 will a chance meeting of the two teenagers hasten their road to self-destruction or help them rise from the ashes of the past?

Particularly when there are darker forces at work…"

Scarred is available here.

"Time doesn't heal everything...

Rory Mc Gee is obsessed. The man who murdered his girlfriend, Maria Dooley, must be brought to justice.

Ex-IRA activist, now politician, Fergal O’ Gorman, is accused of murder on live television during elections, causing a media frenzy. Rory’s quest to expose the truth threatens to destroy the family he fought so hard to rebuild, and he’s dragging Maria’s daughter Shona Moran through the mire with him.

Rory needs to overcome the guilt he feels about letting Maria’s death go unpunished. In a story of buried love and exhumed hatred, revenge can only be achieved at a cost. But how much is Rory willing to pay?"

I'll be excited to read these in the near future and review them on here!