April
I'm having a busy month so far. I'm writing SF, keeping up to my garden and attending lots of talks and social events, some focused on books.
Recently I went to an author interview with Roddy Doyle whose Barrytown Trilogy is part of UNESCO's One City One Book event. This has been running for several years and aims to bring a Dublin author or book to everyone's attention at the same time. Previous years have looked at Sebastian Barry's Ghostlight, Bram Stoker's Dracula and James Plunkett's Strumpet City. Roddy Doyle was a schoolteacher when he sat down to write about Dublin council estate kids in The Commitments, which was followed by The Snapper and The Van. These books are mentioned in my first SF work Dining Out Around The Solar System. Separately, I attended a celebration for fifty years of the Royal Dublin Society's library building.
I also enjoyed a talk on Climate-Smart Agriculture in the RDS. This brought expert farmers from New Zealand and Ireland to debate how farmers, dairy and beef producers in particular, can plant trees to offset climate heating gases and take other measures to help abate climate change problems. Adding more fibrous matter to the soil, avoiding winter poaching of the soil and smart buildings that reduce power needs are all helpful, as is bringing fodder from close by instead of long distances. I took the opportunity of the question time to make a plea for tree planting to consider biodiversity. A stand of pinus radiata or sitka spruce is a dark and sterile environment. A better idea is to mix trees including native trees, and to plant a soft edging of native shrubs like elder and hawthorn. This will increase the biodiversity present tenfold.
As always I have a wonderful bundle of books to read for review, and I'm having great fun researching my own next book. Enjoy your spring and keep reading!
Check out my latest books, writing tips, puzzles and more on my website: http://www.clareobeara.ie
Recently I went to an author interview with Roddy Doyle whose Barrytown Trilogy is part of UNESCO's One City One Book event. This has been running for several years and aims to bring a Dublin author or book to everyone's attention at the same time. Previous years have looked at Sebastian Barry's Ghostlight, Bram Stoker's Dracula and James Plunkett's Strumpet City. Roddy Doyle was a schoolteacher when he sat down to write about Dublin council estate kids in The Commitments, which was followed by The Snapper and The Van. These books are mentioned in my first SF work Dining Out Around The Solar System. Separately, I attended a celebration for fifty years of the Royal Dublin Society's library building.
I also enjoyed a talk on Climate-Smart Agriculture in the RDS. This brought expert farmers from New Zealand and Ireland to debate how farmers, dairy and beef producers in particular, can plant trees to offset climate heating gases and take other measures to help abate climate change problems. Adding more fibrous matter to the soil, avoiding winter poaching of the soil and smart buildings that reduce power needs are all helpful, as is bringing fodder from close by instead of long distances. I took the opportunity of the question time to make a plea for tree planting to consider biodiversity. A stand of pinus radiata or sitka spruce is a dark and sterile environment. A better idea is to mix trees including native trees, and to plant a soft edging of native shrubs like elder and hawthorn. This will increase the biodiversity present tenfold.
As always I have a wonderful bundle of books to read for review, and I'm having great fun researching my own next book. Enjoy your spring and keep reading!
Check out my latest books, writing tips, puzzles and more on my website: http://www.clareobeara.ie
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