About Me

Hello and welcome to my website.  I’m a best-selling Irish author and if you browse the pages here, you can find out a bit more about me and my books.  For up to the minute chat, you can connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.  You can also email me via the contact page here, whether you want to talk about my books, writing or how to make the perfect Victoria sponge!  I’m not fussy – I love a good old gossip!  Thanks for taking the time to check out the site and I look forward to chatting to you.

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A little bit of me

I grew up in the heart of Dublin with my parents and brother and although I’ve travelled a lot, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I now live in the lovely village of Lucan in County Dublin with my husband, Paddy and my four children, Eoin, Roisin, Enya and Conor, and our crazy dog, Bella.

After I left school a few years ago (okay, maybe it was more than a few!) my first full-time job was in the bank. To be honest, it was the last place I would have imagined I’d end up – I suppose you could say I fell into it by accident. I spent my time there telling people it was just a stop-gap until I found what I really wanted to do. Fifteen years later, I was still spinning people the same line and still dreaming of the day I could wake up and actually look forward to my job. But by that time I’d started to have my family and gave up my job after my third, to become a full time mammy.

I’d always had the writing bug. In school, I wasn’t necessarily good at the structural part of English – the dreaded learning by heart of poems and dissecting stories. But give me a title for an essay and I shone. I’d write page after page, and completely lose myself in the story. I remember even back then, thinking that I’d some day write a book.

Fast forward to 2010, and through a serious of fortunate events which you can read about here, I found myself being signed up by a top literary agent. By May 2011, I had a two book deal with Hachette Ireland and my debut novel, Any Dream Will Do, was published in November 2011.

I know writers are supposed to be able to express themselves really well but I honestly can’t put into words the absolute pride and joy I felt that first time I held my book in my hands. But I will say to any aspiring writers out there, or indeed any writers who feel they have a mountain to climb, please don’t give up. Follow your dreams and I can assure you, it will be worth it in the end.

I now have eight books published, the latest one being The Getaway. Some of these books have also been translated into Portuguese, Italian, German, French and Turkish. Two of my books – A Love Like This and Falling Softly – have been published in the USA and it was a highlight of my year in 2018 to visit New York to do some media for the books and also see them on the shelves of Barnes and Noble! Another dream come true!

To all my readers, I want to say a sincere thank you. Without your support, I’d be still chasing my dreams and I hope I can continue to entertain you for many years to come.

Maria x