The author in my spotlight is ...J. A. Corrigan

**Happy Publication Day **

Accent Press
14th July

 I am delighted to welcome the author J A Corrigan on the publication day of her novel

Falling Suns

Hi Julie-Ann, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule. It's a pleasure to have you as our guest today and especially on the publication day of Falling Suns..

Tell us a little about yourself and what got you started as an author?

I’m married with one teenage daughter and 18 months ago we welcomed a little cockapoo into our family! I’m a qualified physiotherapist, but gave up practicing last year to concentrate on my writing.

I decided to follow the strong urge I’d to write when it dawned on me that my time on this earth is finite – a realisation that hits many of us at a certain age. 

I started off by signing up for an online beginners fiction-writing course with the Open University, and I was immediately hooked. I was lucky and saw my first articles and short stories published quite early on. 

When you first sat down to write Falling Suns -what came first – the idea or theme, the plot, place or characters?

I think that firstly came the theme: what I wanted the book to be about, its underlying themes and motifs. Having said that, the mother, Rachel, and Michael Hemmings were in my mind’s eye very early on. The plot built organically, although I did ‘know’ that certain events were going to happen, and basically I wrote the story around those events.

Will you explain to us a little more about the plot without giving too much away.

The book opens with Rachel in turmoil because her son has gone missing. Early on Joe is found brutally murdered. It is a family member who admits to the murder and who is later placed in a psychiatric hospital.

When four years later Rachel is informed that he may well be released to a less secure step-down unit she becomes engulfed in grief and anger, and powered by a strong need for revenge Rachel sets up her plan. 

What do you consider to be your strongest points as a writer?

I am very disciplined. I have a routine and generally stick to that routine. I get up early to write and since giving up my job last year, I write every day, and for most of the day. Unless there is something to finish (which there always seems to be!) I try not to write at weekends – that is my reading and having fun time.

What is your idea of writing Heaven and writing Hell?

Writing Heaven would be a study with a window over-looking the sea in Spain. It would also involve a housekeeper and a cook!

Writing Hell would be working full-time in a professional and demanding job and never having time to concentrate properly. I do know that many writers manage this – I know a few – but for me and in the long term, I wouldn’t last very long. One of the jobs would have to give. Writing novels is hard work and very time-consuming.

Are you your worst critic and why?

I think I am my worst critic, but then again I do believe that many writers are in fact their own worst judge.

I often don’t like how something reads after I’ve written it; but it takes distance from the work to know how to fix it, and giving yourself that distance means being patient – not a trait I’m known for. 

And finally - how can readers find out more about you and your writing?

I have a new website:

Twitter: @julieannwriter

Author Facebook Page

Amazon 

Publisher 





My thoughts about Falling Suns...

Accent Press
14th July

The story starts with every parent's worst nightmare, that of a child missing and as parents Rachel and Liam wait for news of their missing son, Joe, you can sense their collective unease and the fragmented state of their marriage. I'm not giving any spoilers away when I say that this book takes a very dark and disturbing look into the lives of all those who are affected by the loss of this child. For Rachel, there are no limits to the places she will go to seek vengeance.

Falling Suns is not an easy to story to read as it explores some quite disturbing and distressing psychological scenarios all of which are well explored but which leave a lasting resonance which made me feel quite uneasy. However, that’s where the strength of the book lies, in the way it turns such a dark and complex story completely on its head and gives you something that you really don’t expect.

I read the book comfortably over the space of a couple of afternoons but with my emotions skimming all over the place as there is just so much to take in. Not just about the psychological aspects of loss but also about the dark and disturbing aspect of long buried family secrets and of the hellish demons that, sometimes, exist far below the surface.

This is a very good debut novel from a talented new author who I am sure will continue to go from strength to strength,

Best Read With....Toffee popcorn and a strong slug of restorative brandy.....

My thanks to the author and publisher for sharing this book with me.

~***~