Jan Carson

Had such a brilliant evening chatting to Sebastien from Librairie des Halles in Niort this evening. Thanks to all the lovely French readers who came along.

First US review of #FewAndFarBetween and its very positive

Thank you so much for your careful and considerate reading of my book. I really appreciate this.

Thanks Chris. Glad you enjoyed it

Wide words from one of the wisest word people around.

Thanks Sir. Much appreciated

A quick read with some timely advice for those about to have a book

March is full of brilliant new Irish books for young readers of all ages, from toddlers to teens. Check them out! Together let’s help children and teens #DiscoverIrishKidsBooks and see themselves on the pages of the books they read.
Please do share these new titles posters widely.

What To Expect When You're Expecting A Book — Jan Carson Here are ten things you might expect to feel in the run up to the launch of your book.

I wrote about managing your expectations in the run up to publishing a book, (very flippantly)
www.jancarson.co.uk/blog/what-to-expect-when-youre-expecting-a-book

Did anyone else just get an email from a publisher offering to pay £200 for a positive blurb on a forthcoming novel? The words fresh and hell spring to mind

Should not have been so cocky with my French… Am consequently enjoying a ‘delicious’ lukewarm Americano. I don’t know what I told the barista

Hotel receptionist “it’d be hilarious to put the writer in Room 101” AGAIN!!!

And now a kind man just carried my bag down all the metro steps for me. What has happened to Paris in my absence?

I have been in France for twenty five minutes and have already been given a free cappuccino- probably not coming home.

In France for an immersive reading experience (complete with photo bombing French man) #myyearwithhm

You do indeed. It is a wee cracker.

February was such a stand out reading month. Discovered a couple of brilliant authors I’d never read before and read some fabulous translated lit. Here are my 9 favourites

Writing a novel is not necessarily difficult.

Finding the time and money to be able to write a novel, however, is very difficult.

Well said

What a beautifully put together sentence this is. “There was a spirit abroad in the village that discriminated so thoroughly against pretension that it also discriminated against ambition, even literacy.”

The Mantels are so good I’m flying through them. Fludd is my 4th of the year, it’s always been a favourite. It’s a perfect mix of acidic observation and the miraculous. #MyYearWithHM

Tonight we celebrated our amazing children’s book writers with Laureate na nóg, Patricia Forde. Every child in Northern Ireland deserves to see their experiences reflected in the books they read and now they can. Reading guides available from Children’s Books Ireland

When I was wee there were almost no books for kids set in the North or written by Northern Irish writers. There are 44 books for kids written and illustrated by Northern writers in this new Reading guide and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I have my ticket for Saturday

Dooneen Check out Dooneen - <p>Bartholomew Port, known to all as Mew, steps into the bushes in a London park and steps out of the bushes in a Dublin one. Not only that – there are no cars; there are moving fo...

You can pre-order my debut novel Dooneen on @bookshop.org here. It's my sixth debut novel. Pre-orders, as I'm sure you know, are essential to the healthy continuance of society. If you don't pre-order right now, you're basically destroying everything beautiful.

Yup there’s a Coleraine one in May. Should be sharing Irish dates next week

That’s the train I was on. I just didn’t get my phone out of my pocket quickly enough and it doesn’t stop for very long

And this knock back lifted from Lisa Alther’s introduction reminded me so much of when Shirley Jackson told a disgruntled reader, “if you don’t like my peaches don’t shake my tree.” Sublime stuff.

#MyYearWithFOC

I think this is my favourite one liner in all of O’Connor’s work- “Mrs Hopewell had no bad qualities of her own but she was able to use other people’s in such a constructive way that she never felt the lack.” (From Good Country People)

It’s my second Flannery O’Connor read of the year and my umpteenth time reading these amazing stories, though every fresh read throws up something new.

#MyYearWithFOC