Kathryn's Inbox

Hi everyone and welcome to the final stop on The Enchanted Island Blog tour. I've been following the tour closely and there have been some excellent posts, and now I'm massively, massively excited because it's my turn. Today I'll be chatting with Ellie about her new book, Hy Brasil the success of Reluctantly Charmed and some lovely surfers ... Hi Ellie and welcome back to Kathryn’s Inbox. When we last spoke, you were preparing for the release of your debut novel Reluctantly Charmed , which went on to be the fourth highest selling Australian debut novel of 2014. (And congratulations on that, by the way.) Were you blown away by the success of Reluctantly Charmed , or were you quietly confident all along … ? Blown away is putting it mildly!   I couldn’t believe it.   To put it in context, this was a book that had taken me years to get published, had been rejected countless times and had been recommended by one particular agent that it should be thrown on the s...

Today is my stop on the Reluctantly Charmed blog tour and to celebrate, I'm chatting with author Ellie O'Neill about her debut novel, Irish Folklore and a few other things besides ... Congratulations on the publication of your debut novel, Reluctantly Charmed . Can you tell me a bit about your journey toward publication? Is writing a novel something that you have always wanted to do? Yes, definitely.   I had that unscratchable itch that people talk about. I tried hard to develop my voice over the years by writing a lot of short stories and studying and dissecting books that I’d read and loved.   When I got the idea for Reluctantly Charmed I did something that I probably wouldn’t recommend to other aspiring writers, but at the time I felt like I’d nothing to lose, I was single, free and it was pre-recession.   I quit my job in London where I was working in advertising, and moved back home with my parents in Dublin.   I worked part time in a newsagent...

Irish folklore, fairies and modern day Dublin come together in this brilliant, funny debut by Irish-Australian author Ellie O'Neill. Reluctantly Charmed is a story about fairies. It's also a romance. Most importantly, it is also a great deal of fun with a loveable heroine and a lot of self-depreciating humour.   Kate McDaid is working in an advertising agency in Dublin and believes that her career prospects are going nowhere. She is also a little, well, concerned about her love life which seems to be going about as well as her career is. Then something completely unexpected happens, in the form of an inheritance from a great aunt who died 130 years ago. This aunt, who was also named by Kate McDaid, was a witch. In order for Kate to receive her inheritance, she must publish a series of seven poems each week. The poems each contain a surprising request--that people reconnect with the fairies of Irish Folklore. Kate publishes the first letter on an obscure website. Hilari...

Reluctantly Charmed is the title of a brilliant new book by debut novelist Ellie O'Neill and the novel will be released in October this year. Publisher Simon and Schuster has decided to have little bit of fun with this one and has sent out review copies to some the best book bloggers around. There must have been a spare copy left lying about in the office gathering dust or something because they also sent me one. (I'm kidding. Thank you very much to the team at Simon and Schuster for thinking of me and sending out a copy of the book. I'll be posting my official review closer to the release date.) Anyway, there is a bit of a competition where we book bloggers have been asked to share a favourite quote from the book, so I have posted my entry above. If I win, I'll be hosting the official cover reveal for Reluctantly Charmed in August. In the meantime, if you want to know more about the book, watch this brilliant interview will author Ellie O'Neill below ... ...