Pig-Headed Determination and Storytelling. There’s a certain type of camaraderie that emerges in the trenches of writing; especially when history, military interests, and storytelling collide. Stephen Callaghan, a well-respected military historian (and someone I greatly admire) offered a few kind words of support recently on my writing journey. In reply, I shared a quote that... Continue Reading →
Bertra
In the shadow of the Holy Mountain,Joyous days of my youth,Chasing impossible wolves of the sea,On beach rocks washed by the mighty Atlantic.Happy days tasting of salt & sunshine,
If you're a writer of just about any kind you should #JoinAUnion The Irish Writers Union is the main advocacy body for Irish writers and it is open to Irish writers & writers of Irish interest publications, wherever they are based. #NiNeartGoCurLeChéile https://irishwritersunion.org/join/
I have the great pleasure to say that this will be my first Christmas as Regional Technical Lead for the Ireland Region of the RNLITo all my friends and family may you have a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.As we close out 2025, a year of significant change, I have the privilege... Continue Reading →
Damien Larkin's Motherland Climax is a genre-blending spectacle, merging alternative history, political intrigue, spy thriller, and science fiction with provocative, and at times brutal, satirical wit. The story is authored, in this alternative timeline, by Vladimir Vladimirovich Puting, and is set in a universe where the Rus Empire battles internal decay and external threats, this... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: “Writing in the same room as a modern refrigerator is like sitting in the cinema next to a perpetual grazer; hum, fizz, plop, fart.” Inspiration and Observation:I write at the kitchen table, downstairs. Normally it’s just the dog for company, however once it gets quiet, you really start to notice that god-dang fridge.... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: “I sat gazing toward Inis Déach, in silence amid the pebbles at the end of Betra Beach, witness to a rainbow beneath the rushing tide; a Sea Wolf twists under the summer sun.” Inspiration and Observation:I walked home this evening and was struck by how certain sounds and smells will bring you back... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: “John and Mary O'Leary reside at No.1 Cherry Tree Gardens. They have three chicks.” Inspiration and Observation:There is a pair of Great Tits, who have staked out our birdhouse since I began feeding the birds at the start of last winter. The bird feeders hang from the branches of our cherry tree. I... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: “The column clawed its escape skyward, a pale tendril spiralling into space, while the valley held its breath for a secret launch.” Inspiration and Observation:Today, while driving in Wexford, I saw a factory chimney rising high above an industrial plant in a valley below the road. The afternoon was fantastically warm, and there... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: "They must become more flotsam in a river of souls, moving inexorably toward an uncertain future." Inspiration and Observation:This is a line from my current work in progress. This is my first novel. I'm just doing a final round of checking chapters before sending them to a very kind friend of mine, who... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: "Here in the land of plenty, the well of dignity is empty: good enough to fight the wars and pick the fruit, but not to stay." Inspiration and Observation:This is the closing lines of my poem, New Triangles. I really had hoped that the wave of cruelty would ebb with the defeat of... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: "The secrets of field and stream; of the small, wild things are best known by the child of spring and most useful to adult of autumn who has forgotten them." Inspiration and Observation:The rhyme of the heralds of changing seasons, lodged in my head when I was young. The Bee, the Bumble Bee,... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: "The shift is felt below as you pass Roche's Point to the sea and we go into the South, to find coffin ships anew in the Middle Sea." Inspiration and Observation:On Saturday, 12th May 2015, the LÉ Eithne slipped from Haulbowline Island in Cork, and sailed toward the Mediterranean. Under the command of... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: "When the night has settled in, it's hard to turn the face unto the page and seek within the empty spaces the fullness of life." Inspiration and Observation:It's late, and I am tired. I think back to Hemmingway's quote at the start of this daily writing exercise. “Do not worry. You have always... Continue Reading →
Today’s sentence: "Elizabeth walked out under a white flag, past those who had died since the killing began on Wednesday, up to the barricades atop Moore Street, where The O'Rahilly had charged and fell." Inspiration and Observation:On Saturday 29th April 1916, the rebels of the Easter Rising surrendered. Nurse Elizabeth O'Farrell walked out of 15... Continue Reading →
Paper Never Refused Ink! 
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