Darragh Ó Bradáin

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  • I’ve been told I can wallpaper my house with these!

    That’s right, I got my first rejection email yesterday. I was on my way to see Toy Story 5 with my wife and children, and just before we entered the nearly-empty Screen 6, I got a lovely email from the editorial administrator of a well-known Irish publisher. I quickly glanced at it, told my wife…

  • A story taking shape

    When I last wrote here about my new story idea, it was mainly just a concept. Now, I’ve written a whopping two scenes! Yes, two! At this stage it could have been more, but the awful heat we’re experiencing in Ireland right now does not a productive writing environment make. So much for making loads…

  • Another novel in the works

    I was at Mass last Sunday and my mind very briefly wandered. During my distraction, I thought about a future world where religious practices had disappeared, and only existed within historical archives. I thought about what a disruption to such a society would look like. And so began the idea for my second novel. Yes,…

  • Poetry as a new beginning

    Last week, I spotted a post on the Irish Writers Centre website about a competition for their anthology. Winners will have their piece featured. I hadn’t given poetry real consideration up until that point, so I sat on my new chair and thought about what was current for me. I settled on a topic which…

  • My long-term writing setup

    Up until now, my writing setup has been my laptop tray which I bought in Lidl one January, and my couch, with an optional cushion for my free arm. It’s served me well and I’ve achieved a lot with it. It’s not always ideal when I need a bit of quiet time. The time has…

  • Finishing the first act

    As I’m writing this post, I’m taking a quick break from writing the final scene in the first act of Lessons in Absence. I’ve written the opening, and the rest of what will become the scene will wrap up the first third of a project I toyed with the idea of just over ten years…

  • Creating an unplanned character; earned moments

    One of the things I’ve loved so far in the process of writing “Lessons in Absence” is when a new character comes to me. Before I started, I had the bones of the story. I knew the beginning, middle, and end. I had imagined what the main character, Seán, would have to deal with and…

  • Working on other projects

    I took a break from Lessons in Absence for about ten days. During this time, I didn’t step back from writing, I was working on two other projects. One of them was the now-completed manuscript for The One-Legged Head, a children’s book. The other was a short story for entry to the Frazzled Lit Short…

  • Taking the next step

    Yesterday, I submitted the completed manuscript of “The One-Legged Head” to O’Brien Press. It was one of those moments where I hovered over the ‘send’ button for a while before I clicked it. It was a welcome feeling of accomplishment, regardless of the outcome. Today, I took it a step further and submitted the manuscript…

  • Moving from idea to submission

    I took my idea for The One-Legged Head and went from a character I had created at the age of seven, to a fully fleshed out story, with a town, supporting characters, and something interesting happening to the people he encountered. As I wrote the story, I could see the pictures perfectly in my head.…