Amy Clarkin is a YA author based in Dublin, Ireland. Her second novel, Who Watches This Place, is out now. She talks to THE GLOSS about writing, the joy of libraries and what success means to her as an author …
ON HOME I live in Foxrock in the home I grew up in with my parents — I became chronically ill in my twenties and I’m living with them while I get back on my feet — and it feels like the perfect balance between being close to the city, the sea and the mountains. Sea air and the sound of the waves is something that both inspires me and calms me, and my sister and I swim in the sea during the warmer (for Ireland!) months. Being just a few minutes’ drive away is such a gift.
ON FAMILY My childhood was, unsurprisingly, filled with books. My parents used to bring us to our local library, and I remember the excitement of searching the shelves for new arrivals. Libraries really are such a gift, I was such a fast and avid reader without them I don’t know how my parents would have kept up with my appetite for books! I was very lucky that we travelled a lot for a holidays, and my parents really instilled a sense of appreciation and curiosity for new places and the stories they have to tell.
ON WRITING I wrote a lot as a teenager and wanted to be a writer as my career, but I lost confidence in myself after University. When I got sick I started writing non-fiction as a way of connecting with people and processing what I was going through. Then when COVID-19 hit, I couldn’t handle writing about illness anymore and began writing the fiction project that became my first book, What Walks These Halls. I think deep down I’d secretly never given up on the dream of writing fiction; I took creative writing classes and workshops, I learned everything I could about publishing, I just needed the push to let myself actually try to realise those dreams.
I tend to spend a few months researching the topic for a new project, then create character outlines and a vague plot. I never fully outline it, but I’ll have specific plot beats and emotional arcs in my head that I know I’m aiming to get the characters to. I always make sure the characters feel real to me before I start writing – often when I set them loose in the plot they start making their own decisions! I function best in the mornings, so I try to spend between 10am and 2pm writing. Then, after lunch, if I’m feeling well enough (or there’s a deadline looming!) I’ll do some more, otherwise I’ll rest. I often listen to podcasts or read books that will help with research during the afternoon if I feel well enough to be productive but not well enough to focus on writing.
If people are enjoying the books I put my heart into that feels like success to me.
ON SUCCESS Practically, success means earning enough from writing that it is my sole source of income. Emotionally, success is someone picking up my book and getting what they hoped for from it, whether it’s adventure, escape, emotional release, humour, an engaging plot or good characters. If people are enjoying the books I put my heart into that feels like success to me.
ON MY DESK There is always a mug in the shape of a cauldron that is filled with black coffee, a scented candle (my favourites are from the independent Irish business Cailleach Candles), my laptop and a very precariously stacked pile of books.
ON READING I love YA (Young Adult) and fantasy, and magical realism has a strong hold on my heart. There’s a few I return to over and over: Erin Morgenstern’s books The Night Circus and The Starless Sea are absolutely stunning, to the point I have a tattoo of a quote from The Starless Sea! Moira Fowley’s YA novel Spellbook of the Lost and Found is a regular re-read, alongside Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. Right now I’m reading Catfish Rolling by Clara Kumagai.
ON BOOKSHOPS Raven Books in Blackrock is my all-time favourite. They are able to find the most obscure book requests, always have brilliant recommendations, and their passion for literature in translation means I’ve read books from all over the world that I never would have discovered without them. I could lose myself in there browsing (and chatting away to the team there!) for hours. I am also very keen to visit Halfway Up the Stairs, a children’s bookshop in Greystones.
Who Watches This Place by Amy Clarkin (O’Brien Press) is out now. Available online and in all good bookshops.
