BB10-Q (vol7) – Brian O’Sullivan

Buckmaster Books is very happy to have grabbed Brian O’Sullivan for a quick chin-wag, as I have enjoyed immensely his Fionn series and Liath Luachra books. If I use the word “immersive” more than once here, it’s because his books really do pull you into the world of Iron Age Ireland and surround you with all manner of sensory experiences.

Let Brian O’Sullivan take you back to 2nd century Ireland.

http://irishimbasbooks.com/

Although Brian was born in Ireland, he is currently based on the other side of the world, in New Zealand. So his two homes are the Emerald Isle and Middle Earth. Nice!

Let’s get straight into it and let Brian do most of the talking. Hello, and how are you?

I’m probably doing a lot better than many people at the moment being in New Zealand. We were lucky enough to have a government who put the health of its population ahead of commercial interests. Between that and our island status, we’ve therefore been remarkably untouched by the global pandemic. We’ve also had a gorgeous summer so like most people living here, I feel incredibly lucky and privileged.

An image taken from the newzealand dot com site. An enviable place to be!

Can you briefly describe the kind of books you write?

I tend to write across a number of genres but all my work is linked closely with Irish culture and ancient Irish belief systems. I have three fiction series on the go. The first is the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series. That’s based on the ancient Fenian Cycle narratives (i.e. orally-based stories of Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna) which I’ve adapted from the original manuscripts for a more contemporary audience. The second series (The Irish Woman Warrior Series – or the Liath Luachra Series) is a spin-off with one of the most popular characters – Liath Luachra – from the Fionn series.

I also have a series relating the adventures of a ‘mythological detective’ on the rugged Beara Peninsula (where my family hail from). This is called ‘The Beara Trilogy’ although I have only one book available at the moment. Finally, I also have a series (the Celtic Mythology Collections) which explores ‘Celtic’ mythology (and I use the term ‘Celtic’ with caution). This comes from a series of short story competitions I’ve run – based on ‘mythology’ from Ireland, Wales, Scotland etc. I publish the winners of the competition in a compilation and add contextual analysis and background on the mythology/folklore associated with their tales.

Liath Luachra is one of the most compelling characters I have met throughout my many reading journeys. I enjoyed reading Brian’s latest LL book under the cherry blossom.

Are you an architect-writer or a gardener-writer?

In terms of my overall work and series, I’m an architect – actually a complete control freak. In terms of individual works/books, I’m far more of a gardener. I potter a lot.

I’m glad Liath Luachra is back this year. Can you tell us more about this new chapter in her tale?

The current Liath Luachra adventure was based on a proposed outline I made for a full season of a potential television series. In book form however, that simply turned out to be too long, so I’ve had to split it into a two-part story (i.e. two books). The first part is ‘Liath Luachra: The Seeking’ (released 1 May) The second part is called ‘Liath Luachra: The Metal Men’ and should be out later this year.

Television series!? That would be awesome!

Do you have any other work to be released this year?

I’m hoping to release the fourth book in my Fionn Series (which is already half written) but that’ll depend on how busy my independent freelance work keeps me. One project that will definitely be released is ‘Camhaoir Fuilsmeartha /Dark Dawn’ – probably be sometime in May /June 2021. I’m reluctant to say too much about it at this stage apart from the fact that (a) it’s experimental, (b) it’s linked to the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series and (c) it’ll be available in Irish and English. If I have time, I’ll also release some non-fiction ‘mythology’ guides.

Dark Dawn (taken from Goodreads): A dying warrior is assigned to defend the isolated settlement of Ráth Bládhma (future home of Fionn mac Cumhaill) from an incursion of enemy scouts.

You’re a busy man! I’m intrigued about Dark Dawn.

Last year was a tough year for the world. What lifted your spirits or kept you focused?

Work, I guess. My workload in 2020 was so intense, I barely had time to think about the whole Covid thing. When New Zealand went into lockdown, I was doing some heavy contract work related to Covid. At the same time, I was also in intensive negotiations for a potential television series for Liath Luachra, trying to finish two books and making sure my family had the support they needed during and after lockdown. By October, I was burnt out and had to take next three months off (apart from writing). I ended up ignoring the pandemic and avoiding interaction with the rest of the world. Fortunately, New Zealand was a place where I could do that.

お疲れ様でした！…as we say in Japan. Literally, “You must be tired!” (said to a work colleague who is leaving the office, or in any situation where you’ve put some effort in). I’m just going to put another photo of NZ in here because I loved it there and want to go back.

“They’re taking the Hobbits to Isengard, to Isengard, to Isengard!”

You live in New Zealand but were born in Cork. What took you to the other side of the world and what do you miss about the Emerald Isle being in NZ?

I was pretty much lured to New Zealand by my partner (same story for me) . She’s Maori and deeply involved with her own iwi (tribe) development so it was too much to ask her and my kids (who’ve had a very strong Irish and Maori upbringing) to move back to Europe.

In terms of what I miss, I certainly miss my (extended) family but I also really miss the landscape of Cork, particularly, Beara. And accents like my own. I’ve been lucky in that Wellington has a good Irish ex-pat community (we even have our own Irish speaking group!) which allows me to keep certain aspects of my culture alive. The internet has almost meant that I’ve managed to set up a creative company allowing me to continue dabbling in elements of Irish culture that fascinate me, despite the fact that I live on the complete opposite side of the planet.

Let me encourage everyone to visit Brian’s site and have a listen to the pronunciations of various words within his books. The first thing I noticed was that what I was saying in my head as I read the books was totally wrong! Listening to these is a pleasure in itself. So great to have a second language.

http://irishimbasbooks.com/gaelic-pronunciation/the-liath-luachra-series-pronunciation/

So glad I am finally pronouncing the Grey One’s name correctly!

An aspect of the Liath Luachra books I very much enjoyed was the immersion into Iron Age Ireland. In my review for The Swallowed, I said “you can almost feel the marsh round your legs, or smell the myriad forest scents, or share the encroaching sense of unease for the Grey One”. How do you achieve this level of description and atmosphere? Can you say a little about the process for this particular aspect of your writing?

I suppose it was always my intention to make the land an actual character/personality in the Liath Luachra books (to reflect societal beliefs at the time). To be honest, I don’t really overthink the descriptions when I write. I usually just pull up evocative memories from my childhood which involved a lot of wandering through woods, wading through mud etc. I was lucky to have some half-wild parts of my childhood in Beara, where I wandered around without too much supervision. Living in a city – albeit a very nature friendly one like Wellington – I guess it was a level of freedom my own kids have never experienced.

And the characters. Can you say a bit more about them?

The characters in my Fionn mac Cumhaill Series are very much based on the established Fenian mythology – which is neither mythology nor history (a bit too complicated to explain here). The characters from the Liath Luachra Series – including Liath Luachra herself – were generated from a single name that was mentioned (without context) in the Fenian Cycle. When I started the Fionn series – where Liath Luachra first turns up – I decided to use that reference as a character that was (a) female and (b) gay, as it fit where I wanted to take the story.

Ironically, my work in non-fiction mythology and the popularity of the character have meant that, where it comes to Liath Luachra, some people seem to have confused the two. Prior to the book (Liath Luachra: The Grey One) being published there was barely a single online reference to Liath Luachra. Now, it bemuses me to find so many people posting (with comical self-assurance) that Liath Luachra was a legendary, lesbian banfénnid (female fian warrior). I must admit, I wasn’t expecting that.

Credit to the realism in your work!

I’m sure there are many, but could you name one misconception about Irish mythology or history that you hope your books can set straight?

I guess the biggest misconception is that mythology is ‘fantasy’. Unfortunately, most western people have been raised to think like that. Cherry-picking elements of someone else’s culture for fantasy purposes tends to have a diminishing and eroding effect on that culture. Fantasy writers have been happily nicking elements of Irish culture for over two centuries – in most cases blissfully unaware of the damage they were doing – and through my own work – fiction and non-fiction – I’m trying to explain and (one day) help rectify that.

I’ll have to hide my head for this one as I definitely picked at a variety of cultures for my first trilogy.

I’m hoping to speak to Brian about this aspect of fantasy & mythology in the future, so watch this space!

What other world mythology fascinates you, and why?

Because I’m in New Zealand and my family are Maori, this obviously has a key relevance for me. Maori mythology is more interesting in that large elements of it still form an integral part of their daily life.

A public domain image of Rangi and Papa, taken from Wikipedia. Rangi and Papa appear in a myth concerning creation.

I feel like I need another BB10-Q with Brian to talk about Maori mythology and culture.

And now we get to the fun questions, asking Brian about his current reads and other book stuff.

Q1) What book are you reading now? OR What was the last book you read?

I usually have several books on the go that I pick up depending on how much time I have and where my mind lies at a particular time. Of the most recent batch, I’ve nearly finished ‘The Royal Changeling by John Whitbourn – it’s quite mad and parts make me shake my head but it’s hilariously entertaining. I’ve just finished rereading ‘Holy Fire’ by Bruce Sterling for the fifth time – a very thoughtful book about an old woman who regains her youth in a near-future Europe. On the Irish cultural research side, I currently have a book called “Early Christian Ireland: Introduction to the Sources” – that I miraculously picked up second-hand in a Wellington shop. I also have two graphic novels that I intend to devour this week – Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ ‘Incognito’ and De Campi’s ‘Smoke’ and a book called ‘Gideon the Ninth’ which I’ll get to at some stage.

Q2) What genre of books do you usually read?

Ha ha. Given the above, I guess, pretty much anything.

Q3) What was the last book that made you cry or laugh out loud or gave you pause for thought?

A book called ‘The Imaginary Indian’ which I picked up in Vancouver airport while flying back to Ireland a few years ago. It was fascinating to find that someone from a completely different culture had independently picked up the same cultural patterns that I’d found and come to such similar conclusions.

Q4) What book do you remember fondly from your childhood?

Ooh, Jeez. There was a series of Irish-language school books called ‘ Soilse’ (which means ‘brightness’ or ‘light’) that I quite enjoyed. The books were all about colourful animal friends doing kid stuff but they had a nice ‘warmth’ to them. I actually picked up the whole series for my own kids (I taught them Irish at home) so they were reared on that as well. My kids are much older now, but we still make jokes about those books.

Q5) Apart from reading, what hobbies do you have?

I used to run regularly until I bust my ankle last year so, nowadays, I tend to tramp or at least walk through the Wellington bush 3 times a week. Mostly I enjoy exploring – places, cultures and people and finding out new things I can learn from. Covid’s kinda knocked travel on its head but, fortunately, there’s still plenty to see and learn here in New Zealand.

Q6) Where is your favourite place to read? (Ex. In bed, on the sofa, in a park, in a coffee shop etc.)

I have a battered armchair by the window in my bedroom. That’s really the place of choice for reading in our house but there’s some fierce competition for it. (You need to get up before dawn and put a towel on it to save your spot!)

Q7) What book would you like to see made into a TV show and who would you like to play the lead character?

Hmm. Bit of an overwhelmingly wide choice there so I’ll default to the cowardly option of my own Fionn: Defence of Ráth Bládhma. I’ve always wanted to see an authentic screen version of the Fenian epic and people who know the stories are often mystified why it’s never made it to the screen yet. Lead actor … Cillian Murphy, of course! It helps that he comes from Cork too. (Cillian Murphy!? Yes!)

Ironically, Carnival Films (the people who make Downton Abbey) approached me last year with an interest in optioning that book and Liath Luachra (while I was already right in the middle of ongoing negotiations for Liath Luachra – talk about timing!). In the end they decided against it.

In terms of the proposed Liath Luachra television series, I did see an early ‘preferred’ list of potential actresses for the role but that was shared in confidence so I can’t really say who they were. Some seemed fairly good choices to me, others I struggled to imagine but, then, I’m no expert. (My mind is whirring now!)

Like almost every other production in Hollywood, Covid had an impact on the proposed series. I have very little to do with the screen development stuff now but, as a project, I get the impression it’s a kettle simmering on the heat rather than boiling on the fire. Episodes are still being written/adapted from the book (which is nice) but the truth is that the whole screen industry is undergoing massive upheaval at present. Given the huge investment costs (and for most series filmed outdoors, Covid apparently upped production costs by $500,000/episode), I really can’t blame anyone for delaying projects to see where the post-Covid industry is going to land. At this stage, therefore, it’s just a watch and wait. (It must be thrilling that there’s a chance of this happening. Here’s hoping the planets align and we will see The Grey One on screen!)

Q8) If you could meet a fictional character in real life, who would it be and why?

I’d be keen to meet Spider Jerusalem (from ‘Transmetropolitan’) just to see if he’s as crazily intelligent as in the graphic novel series. I’d also be keen on meeting Lagertha from ‘The Vikings’ television show as I’m sure I could learn a lot from her.

Q9) What literary world would you like to experience/live in?

To be honest, I’ve always had a bit of a hankering to go visit Scott Lynch’s island city of Camorr. I reckon I could be a good Gentleman Bastard.

Q10) If you could say something to the entire world today, what would it be?

I think I’ll jump onto the political soapbox with this. Hold your political leaders to account. Help to force the update of dysfunctional democratic systems that actually represent current populations. And, for feck’s sake, social distance!

Hear, hear! I’m dismayed at the sheer volume of misinformation suffocating the internet. People are existing in echo-chambers and not challenging what they are told. COVID seems to have exaggerated this situation. Critical thinking seems like a lost art these days.

Buckmaster Books thanks Brian O’Sullivan for a robust and fascinating interview. I really hope I can catch him again to go a bit deeper on some topics mentioned. If I’m lucky, I’ll grab him one day for a pint when he’s making a connection in Tokyo on his way back to Ireland.

Giveaway quiz question & details will be in the Facebook post, so please be sure to join in the fun! I can’t recommend Brian’s books enough. If you want to truly enter an Ireland of old, I encourage you to seek out his work. Please check out reviews from myself and fellow author & Liath Luachra fan, Elle Lewis, on Goodreads if you need any more convincing!

Brian O’Sullivan (Author of Irish Imbas) | Goodreads

Take care, everyone. We’re still in a crazy world but we can survive the madness by showing a bit of empathy and compassion, I believe. Hoping you are all well wherever you are, and that today will be a good one for you. Till next time!

Slamming some sashimi & saké whilst appreciating the Fionn series. Books 1 & 2 read, next up is 3.

And if you need one more stunning photo of NZ…