An Interview with Ciara Hegarty

Macmillan New Writing Week

A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Will Atkins, Editor at Pan Macmillan imprint, Macmillan New Writing. MNW is that rare thing among big name publishers, a place that not only accepts unsolicited submissions from new, unagented writers, but a place that actively encourages them.

The initial reaction to MNW from the publishing world was, well, mixed. Some people thought it was great as it opened up another avenue to publication for aspiring writers, others thought that their standard contract was exploitative. Three years on and the critics are a lot less vocal, while MNW has built itself an impressive looking list.

Will was great at shedding light on how manuscripts were chosen from the MNW slush pile (and really, if you're thinking about submitting to them, go check out his interview), and gave some insight into how the editorial processes work, but it got me thinking: what is it like to be on the other side of this publishing experience?

Luckily, the Macmillan New Writers are quite a pro-active bunch, who run a rather cool blog. With a lot of help from the lovely Matt Curran (interview on Saturday!), seven Macmillan New Writers have taken part in brief interviews about their books and their experiences to help give you an idea about how MNW works, the opportunities it provides and the limitations it has, and hopefully to encourage you to consider MNW as a possible route to publication.

So, without further a do, I declare Macmillan New Writing Week officially open!

Day One

An Interview With Ciara Hegarty

What started you writing? How long have you been writing for?

I have always written, ever since I was a child. Even when I am not working on a novel, I still find myself writing other things - a poem, a letter to a friend, stories for my children - putting pen to paper is a daily necessity for me.

The Road To The Sea only turned into a novel when, after months of scribbling bits down here and there I began to put them onto the computer and realised that they could comprise a book - it took a while to gain the confidence to think it might be a book worth publishing but, as writing is what I have always wanted to do, I took the plunge.

Why MNW?

I knew of MNW through a friend so this was the first route I tried, and I have been very lucky to be published by such a wonderful team.

Has anything about the publishing process surprised you? Is there anything you know now that you wish you’d known right at the start?

The fact that I have been published at all still surprises and delights me! I do find close re-reading of my work quite difficult and you don't really think about that part of the process as you're writing, but you soon get used to it and it's all for the good!

What do you do when you’re not being a successful novelist?

I worked as an artist before writing full-time, but I take on much less work now as I am focusing on my career as a writer. I also have two young children and various animals who keep me busy!

In terms of your literary career, where do you go from here?

Well, I'm currently writing my second novel, so we shall see where that takes me!

Tell me about your book!

The Road To The Sea is quite a sad story that focuses on the character Kathleen, who lives in a small farming community in 1940s rural Ireland. We know at the beginning that her twin sister died a few years before, and soon begin to see the effects this has had on Kathleen, her family, and those surrounding them. Kathleen's relationship with her father is a central thread of the story - she has had to step into her mother's role and things between them become confused...I explore how this affects them and the other family members.

And finally, can you sum up a key piece of advice to aspiring authors in one sentence?

Write what you would like to read.


Many thanks to Ciara for her answers! if you would like to learn more about Ciara and her writing, then her website can be found here.

Coming Up Tomorrow: Alis Hawkins!