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Q & A with author Peter Murphy
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Do you feel that your background had any influence on the tone of your work, such as the supernatural part. Magic seems to be a more common background in Ireland.
If I understand correctly, you've been living in Canada for the last 30 years. So, do you consider yourself to be more Irish or Canadian? Thanks.
Do you find yourself casting your characters or are you able to fully develop their construction within the confines of your own imagination?
Did you self publish or do you have an agent/publisher? What are your thoughts on the subject with today's technology and ease of access to everyone.
Leslie wrote: "Do you feel that your background had any influence on the tone of your work, such as the supernatural part. Magic seems to be a more common background in Ireland."Good Question Leslie. I think magic is still acknowledged in Ireland - even at a subconsious level. Part of it is fun but - as anyone who has wandered through Ireland at night might attest - the past lingers there. This was one of things that I feared might be lost in Ireland's economic boom but as I discovered during a recent visit - I worried in vain! That said magic is what you make of it and none of us live beyond the shadows of the past.
Marianne wrote: "If I understand correctly, you've been living in Canada for the last 30 years. So, do you consider yourself to be more Irish or Canadian? Thanks."Actually I think of myself more as a global citizen because, as welcoming as Canada is,emmigrants risk becoming a little stateless within themselves. (This is theme I am threading into my next book.) My family in Ireland consider me a 'Canuk' but when my chidlren were young they often reminded me that this (Canada) was their country!
All of that said, the influences of childhood have a far bigger influence on who we are regrdless of all that we do thereafter.
Ali wrote: "Do you find yourself casting your characters or are you able to fully develop their construction within the confines of your own imagination?"Thanks Ali. Characters come from everywhere and while some are the effort of the writer to create a certain person to fulfill a role within the story - they pick up mannerisms and traits from others - usually people that left some impression on the author.
I know in the case of Lagan Love some of these creations bear remarkable similarities to actual persons and in some cases, by sheer coincidence, share names and haunts.
Ali wrote: "Did you self publish or do you have an agent/publisher? What are your thoughts on the subject with today's technology and ease of access to everyone."I published through the Fiction Studio which is a writers collective helmed by Lou Aronica – a former mainstream publisher of note. Check them out @ http://www.fictionstudiobooks.com/Fic... if you are interested.
On the subject of ‘today’s technology’ – it has never been easier to get your writing out there but is probably harder to gain an audience. But I think that, as we get used to all of the recent changes, good books will float to the top.
excellent - thank you for answering my questions. I look forward to finishing your novel. (I'm only a few chapters in...)
Ali wrote: "excellent - thank you for answering my questions. I look forward to finishing your novel. (I'm only a few chapters in...)"Good I hope you like it. Some people found it a little different but loved it by the end.
I have to go and take a brief nap as I have been up since 4 AM trying to add pages to my next book but I will be back so keep the questions coming.
I like your comment about emigration leaving you somewhat stateless. It's got me wondering if that's why searching for identity is a recurring theme in my books. They say you can "never go home." D'you think that's right--and d'you think it helps you write?
Sheila wrote: "I like your comment about emigration leaving you somewhat stateless. It's got me wondering if that's why searching for identity is a recurring theme in my books. They say you can "never go home." D..."Sheila, I am not familiar with your books but I will check them out when I get a chance. In answer to your question I would think it depends on what we mean by home. The physical place that I belonged to has been distorted by changing times and I am okay with that. I have changed too! We all have but we keep an image inside of us that we can revisit anytime we want and that, for this wandering Celt, is good enough.
Hope you've cuaght up a bit on your sleep:)Very interested in the chat about 'identity' and what is 'home'. I read a report by the UN on refugees, which (very briefly) said that the emotional consequences of forcibly being removed from one's home, and not being able to return to it, can be devastating. I think this sort of suggests we can only keep a place/image inside of us to revisit it, as long as that place has never been forcibly taken from us. If we don't have that special place, we are adrift. Anyway, after all that, only one question ... what is your attraction to the supernatural - is it an area you have always been interested in (and will your next book also include supernational elements) or is it more of a plot device? Cheers!
Marianne wrote: "Hope you've cuaght up a bit on your sleep:)Very interested in the chat about 'identity' and what is 'home'. I read a report by the UN on refugees, which (very briefly) said that the emotional cons..."
Yes, one hour naps revitalise me even if they do cause me to suffer two ‘mornings’ per day. I think napping should be mandatory and believe that the world would be a lot less cantankerous if we all took time out to refresh.
I think most immigrants can relate to the point you raise even if they are reluctant to voice it for fear of insulting their hosts. I believe that regardless of how we are removed from home we spend a part of our lives in longing for it even if we fill our new lives with wonderful things.
And finally, to answer your question: I do not see the supernatural as supernatural! I think it is a term to describe much that we no longer understand. The old beliefs have been superseded and part of that process was to ‘demonise’ what went before. The reality was probably far more innocent and natural as was our relationship to the world around us. For instance how many ‘witches’ were nothing more than mid-wives and homeopaths who lived in closer harmony with the natural order? I don’t know but I have to imagine that much of our current views are the products of the distortion of history. And yes, it will continue to be a part of the worlds I describe.
Do have a suggestion to writers unable to afford to travel to a place they are specifically writing about. I am doing an abundance of research and getting first hand knowledge of places, but cannot go due to constraints. I am of Celtic heritage and have always felt the pull that I should not have been born on the North American continent. Do you think a reader would know the difference, if in the writer's heart, they knew that was their 'home' even if it wasn't. Sorry, that was wordy....
I'm all for naps :0) Yes, "Home" is a powerful thing! Ah! And now I understand what you mean by the 'supernatural'. I agree with a lot of what you say and am even more intrigued by the book! Thanks!
Ali wrote: "Do have a suggestion to writers unable to afford to travel to a place they are specifically writing about. I am doing an abundance of research and getting first hand knowledge of places, but cannot..."That might depend on the writer’s skill. The now famous Maeve Binchy once published a travel article, in a very prestigious newspaper, based entirely on research never having visited the place!
But the risk is in the details and if they are not correct the informed reader might spot them and lose faith in the author. For myself, I have set my next, next book in Rome. I have visited the city a few times but I will have to find a way to go and live there for as long as it takes for the place to seep into my blood.
Perhaps you need to take a risk – if you believe in yourself.
Ali wrote: "Believe in myself - not a problem :)"Then you have most of what it takes.
Marianne wrote: "I'm all for naps :0) Yes, "Home" is a powerful thing! Ah! And now I understand what you mean by the 'supernatural'. I agree with a lot of what you say and am even more intrigued by the book! Thanks!"
Good. Let's talk more after you read it.
Peter wrote: "The physical place that I belonged to has been distorted by changing times and I am okay with that. I have changed too! We all have but we keep an image inside of us that we can revisit anytime we want and that, for this wandering Celt, is good enough. " Very nicely put. It doesn't matter that the image doesn't fit the present--home is timeless. Always nice to meet a fellow wandering Celt, and Lagan love sounds fascinating.
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A.F. wrote: "I'm curious, what drew you to writing a love story?"Love is a fascinating topic to write about, especially when you step back and look at it in all its forms. I think love is our most misunderstood emotion and I wanted to explore that. Also, in addition to what passes for love between people, there is love of homeland and times past. There is love of people that inspire by just getting up every day and getting on with it regardless of what the world throws at them. I wanted to capture some of all of that.
Paul wrote: "Congratulations on your book, Peter. You have the same name as a friend of mine who is our local football team's captain and he too is Irish, from Dublin. Which Irish writers, if any, are your favo..."Thanks Paul. I have a long list of favourite Irish writers but there were two that hovered over my shoulder during the writing of Lagan Love. James Stephens, who wrote ‘Crock of Gold’ and Austin Clarke, whose poem ‘The Blackbird of Derrycairn’, had to be included. ‘Crock of Gold’ was the first book I read where worlds ancient and modern were mixed and that idea stayed with me.
Austin Clarke lived just down the road from where I grew up and I looked at him with awe as he was a poet. He was an old man by then and, as mentioned in the story, liked to stand on the bridge and watch the river. His work echoed the tradition of the Gaelic Bards but with a distinct disdain for the parochialism that subjugated all that the ‘Celtic Revival’ aspired to.
Paul wrote: "Interesting, Peter... And since your move to Canada has there been any Canadian writers who have stood out for you"Guy Vanderhaeghe (without hesitation!)
How difficult was it for you to write from a woman's perspective and do you feel there is still much you can learn about the other gender?
Hmmm!It was difficult in that I wanted to write three very different women who could interact convincingly and yet hold very differing views. It was also difficult in that cliché and stereotype constantly haunt the development of any character.
As for the second part of your question any man who claims to know all there is to know about women is a fool. (I would imagine the reverse is also true?)
Your book left me feeling that women in Ireland are a hardy breed. Was this an impression you were left with growing up there? Is there anyone in particular from your past that helped form your views on Irish women?
I think the best answer I could come up with is the song composed by Seán Ó Riada, words are written by Peadar Ó Dornín (?1704–1769).There's a woman in Ireland who'd
Give me a gem and my fill to drink,
There's a woman in Ireland to whom
My singing is sweeter than the music of strings
There's a woman in Ireland who
Would much prefer me leaping
Than laid in the clay and my belly under the sod
There's a woman in Ireland who'd envy me
If I got naught but a kiss
From a woman at a fair, isn't it strange,
And the love I have for them
There's a woman I'd prefer to a battalion,
And a hundred of them whom I will never get
And an ugly, swarthy man with
No English has a beautiful girl
There's a woman who would say
That if I walked with her I'd get the gold
And there's the woman of the shirt
Whose mien is better than herds of cows
With a woman who would deafen baile
An mhaoir and the plain of Tyrone
And I see no cure for my disease
But to give up the drink
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After that, he graduated and studied the Humanities in Grogan’s under the guidance of Scot’s corner and the bar staff; Paddy, Tommy and Sean. Peter financed his education by working summers on the buildings sites of London in such places as Cricklewood, Camden Town and Kilburn.
Murphy also tramped the roads of Europe playing music and living without a care in the world, until his move to Canada changed all of that. He only came over for a while – thirty years ago. He took a day job and played music in the bars at night until the demands of family life intervened. Having raised his children and packed them off to University, Murphy answered the long ignored internal voice and began to write.
His debut novel, Lagan Love, takes the traditional love story and ramps it up several notches, with a supernatural twist.
Goodreads profile: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Website: http://www.peterdamienmurphy.com/