Last week's FFF featured five contemporary Irish children's authors, all of them traditionally published. This week, it's the indies' turn, and I am highlighting five Irish independent authors of children's and young adult books. All of this is to tie in with the excellent campaign currently being run by Discover Irish Children's Books.
1. Chris Spence
Chris’s Rock Happy is the first in a near(ish)-future trilogy of dystopian thrillers. The adventures kick off fifteen years after a shock disruption of a presidential election in the United States. Alex is accustomed to his MeChip providing him with entertainment, not making him see things others don’t see. There are implants, ‘Fixers’, a mysterious old man, and unexpected enemies, and the school’s battle-of-the-bands to contend with. Books 2 and 3 are due for release next month. Chris also writes non-fiction on environmental matters.
2. Eliza Green
Eliza writes science fiction for adults and young adults. Her YA Resistance Files series starts with newly-orphaned Anya’s placement in a training facility, where she is pitted against fellow-trainees, and where eventually the facility's sinister motives are revealed. Over the course of the series, she is trapped in the Collective, takes refuge with rebels, and eventually has the opportunity for a fresh start. There are eight Resistance Files books. Eliza also writes paranormal romance as Kate Gellar.
Pat, who scarcely needs introduction, has written prose, plays and poetry for younger readers as well as for a general audience, and has hosted television shows for children. Until 2015, he sold his poetry directly to readers in and around Westmoreland Street, College Green, and (as far as I recall) Grafton Street. He is still involved in the Dublin arts scene (although apparently, some of his books claim to be protected by the ‘Bratislava Accord’, meaning that his work is not to be included in, among other things “anything with the word ‘Arts’ in it.”) Though some of his poetry was published by traditional publishers, since the 1990s, he has self-published his work through Willow Publications.
Valinora Troy is a children’s fantasy author. Her Lucky Diamond trilogy (ages 8–12) is the story of five orphans and their adventures in Nivram, a country in the guardianship of the King of Diamonds and his family. They rescue the princess, face down the vengeful Queen Rose, and discover the last remnants of evil in the Nivram’s Great Forest. Aside from writing, Valinora regularly reviews books and writes newsletters; she was a panellist for the Cybils Awards in 2021, ably supported by a hard-working spaniel.
5. Me (you weren't expecting modesty, were you?)
Though Good Red Herring was traditionally published (thank you, Little Island!), the second book in the Muinbeo Chronicles—which is called A Wild Goose Hunt and is with the editor as we speak!—will be indie-published by my imprint Bibliotheque des Refusés. The very same BdR published And the Wildness, the first of the Flux Avellana series, set before the Muinbeo Chronicles start, but intersecting with it later. It will also publish a collection of four Flux Avellana companion stories (or I will want to know the reason why), which is my WIP, and called Storm Watchers. I also write for adults, or at least those who like irreal, speculative, and sometimes experimental literature.
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