Book Club Discussion – Secrets in the Babby House

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Gloria

Are you a member of a book club? If so, do you meet virtually or in-person?

I attend a book club run by Pangur Bán Bookshop in conjunction with Craoibhín Ballina. We meet in-person once a month.

The book up for discussion last month was none other than Secrets in the Babby House written by me! I was absolutely thrilled when my book by chosen, a little bit nervous too. Will they like it? Will I be able for the criticism? Book club critiques aren’t necessarily constructive. These readers know what they like and they’re not shy about voicing their opinions.

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#100DaysOfThoseDays – Spay Day

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Gloria

Day 5 #100DaysOfThoseDays

Today is World Spay Day

Dog and cat spaying wasn’t as common back in the 70s as it is now. I remember in those days, dogs roamed the streets and puppies and kittens were born in the hedges on the back lane. Not all the time of course, but sometimes!

Once, my father found a bag of newborn kittens at the foot of a steep hill. The person who got out of their car and threw the bag across the hill was aiming for the river, but they missed!

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#100DaysOfThoseDays – Bookmark

Posted on February 25, 2023 by Gloria

Day 3 #100DaysOfThoseDays

Today is World Bookmark Day

I have several bookmarks but my favourite one is the one in this photo. It was a present from a friend. It’s not every book it suits though.

The problem with bookmarks is that they’re easily mislaid, lost, and in my case, eaten by our dog. I’ve often had to resort to the type of bookmarks I used when I was a child; a piece of cardboard, an old playing card, a length of wool, a strip of paper, a photograph or a ribbon. (I like using ribbons) But I WILL NOT bend a page as my bookmark. I have done in the past… years ago… I was a child… I knew no better…I’m sorry now! It will never happen again. Everyone did it back in those days.

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Six Years of Living in the Past

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Gloria

The day that I get to write a blog post about my published novel ‘Secrets in the Babby House’, has finally arrived.

In 2016 I took pen to paper and started putting together ideas I had for a book. Little notes here and there developed into pages and pages of babble and unrealistic scenarios.

Eventually, things started to take shape and I wrote my first draft during NanoWriMo that same year. Very little from that draft ended up in the completed book.

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