EXCERPT FROM A GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER She stepped away from me. ‘And now I’m going downstairs to make dinner. We’ll get you sorted tomorrow with clothes and whatever else you need. In the meantime,’ – she reached over to the dressing table and picked up something from a small glass dish – ‘you might want … Continue reading Maeve, 1979
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EILEEN, 1960
EXCERPT FROM A GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER When the train pulls into Euston Station, I wake with a jerk. I wake in the same way now, all these decades later, after one of my bad dreams. They always start at the same place: seeing myself as I step out onto that platform, into the freezing, clattery … Continue reading EILEEN, 1960
MAEVE 1979
EXCERPT FROM A GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER Monaghan Joanie was barely fourteen. They had taken her baby from her while she slept. Sometime during the night, a couple of weeks earlier, they’d slipped into the nursery and taken him. One of the other girls, Grace, had awoken to the sound of their habits, shushing across the … Continue reading MAEVE 1979
PRESS RELEASE: Acclaimed Irish Novelist Catherine Dunne Releases New Book: A Good Enough Mother
‘This is a nerve-jangling, urgent, brilliantly-paced novel. I read it quickly - I had to. I had to know what was going to happen, and I had to admire the craft and flair that went into its writing.’ Roddy Doyle Dublin, Ireland – Betimes Books is thrilled to announce the launch of renowned author Catherine … Continue reading PRESS RELEASE: Acclaimed Irish Novelist Catherine Dunne Releases New Book: A Good Enough Mother
Upcoming Book Launch: The Red Orchestra in Blue by Joe O’Byrne
Betimes Books is proud to announce the launch of The Red Orchestra in Blue, a powerful and timely new historical novel by acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, and director Joe O’Byrne. 📅 Date: Tuesday, May 6th, 2025🕡 Time: 6:30 PM📍 Venue: Goethe-Institut Irland, 37 Merrion Square, Dublin 2🎤 Guest of Honour: Christian Resch, Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Head … Continue reading Upcoming Book Launch: The Red Orchestra in Blue by Joe O’Byrne
My Music, My Motor by Colin O’Sullivan
I need a quiet place to write, a near-silent environment. I can just about take the low hum of a refrigerator, or the laptop’s electronic whirr. But a ticking clock will drive me up the very wall on which it hangs, a buzzing fly can have my concentration broken in mere seconds. Outside jackhammers, thunder … Continue reading My Music, My Motor by Colin O’Sullivan
Soundtrack for Maiko Moans by Colin O’Sullivan
Excerpt from Maiko Moans by Colin O’Sullivan
What Maiko remembers most is how plain the girl was, yet how much effort she had put in to surmount all that. She hadn’t much to go on. Her head seemed too big for her body, her shoulders too rounded, as if she shied of her own being and was forever pulling inward on herself; … Continue reading Excerpt from Maiko Moans by Colin O’Sullivan
Catherine Dunne’s latest conversation with Shauna Gilligan about A Good Enough Mother
Who is Catherine's favourite character in her newest novel? Which character started it all? Why is the number of chapters significant? What are her favourite books this year? Find out below: https://shaunagilliganwriter.com/2024/12/05/writers-chat-76-catherine-dunne-on-a-good-enough-mother-betimes-books-dublin-2024/?page_id=4932
From Novel to TV Series: Colin O’Sullivan recounts the memorable firsthand experience of seeing Sunny come to life
In 2018 Betimes Books published my third novel, The Dark Manual, a futuristic, Japan-set story of an Irishwoman battling against AI forces, her foe in particular a home robot which causes her endless frustration. Themes of nature versus technology, grief and isolation for an alienated foreigner captured the imagination of TV executives who have brought … Continue reading From Novel to TV Series: Colin O’Sullivan recounts the memorable firsthand experience of seeing Sunny come to life
book launch of Catherine Dunne’s new novel: A Good Enough Mother
BETTY, summer 2019
EXCERPT FROM A GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER Must be the kitchen that does it. Any kitchen. It’s really the only room in the house I feel at home in. I’ve spent most of my years in a kitchen, I suppose, one way or another. It’s one of the things that used to make Tess so furious … Continue reading BETTY, summer 2019
Book Spotlight: Marshmallows
This month’s Spotlight read is Colin O’Sullivan’s fifth novel, Marshmallows. A mysterious three-act noir that subverts traditionally jubilant depictions of Christmas Eve, O’Sullivan’s play masked as a novel imbues the holiday season with an element of thriller, fitting as a perfect post-Halloween read on the lead up to the festive season. Centring around boyfriends Ben and David … Continue reading Book Spotlight: Marshmallows
A Foretaste of Venice
Here is an excerpt from A Long Day in Venice, published in Latin American Literature Today. Enjoy a foretaste of Venice! https://latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/2022/06/an-excerpt-from-a-long-day-in-venice-by-abel-posse-translated-by-george-henson/?fbclid=IwAR32MPS_N-Yg1vkNCfGXTx25kz3jR91jEiI6YrtHkTI-e7SBSysnvPvDQl0
Central Park West Trilogy and The Assisted Living Facility Library by Richard Kalich
Excerpt from THE TRUE STORY OF BINDERELLA AND OTHER SECRET SIBLINGS by Colin O’Sullivan
Excerpt from “Binderella, the girl who lives in a dustbin”, the first tale from THE TRUE STORY OF BINDERELLA AND OTHER SECRET SIBLINGS by Colin O’Sullivan
A One-Winged Crow: An Interview with Dimitri Bortnikov
An interview with the author of SOUL CATCHER, published by Betimes Books.
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“What I have always found fascinating is the moment when language stops. And what obstacle can stop its flow? Only one. Death. The human verb stops before it. And that’s all. It is before Death that true art emerges. In silence… And then all gets going again, yes, and language becomes—literature.”
James Ellroy scholar Steven Powell reviews WRITE FROM WRONG
A truly wonderful new review of Craig McDonald's latest book, by an eminent British scholar! This is how it starts: "Hector Lassiter returns in dazzling form in Craig McDonald’s latest book Write From Wrong. In case you are unfamiliar with old Hec, allow me to introduce you." And this is how it ends: "A Lassiter tale is … Continue reading James Ellroy scholar Steven Powell reviews WRITE FROM WRONG
A review of “Hear Us Fade”, a new novel by David Hogan
“We are but single notes in the discord, strings plucked once, sound and resonance Hear us fade...” —From Death in Hilton Head, an unpublished epic poem by Rex Nightly It is June 2029. The state of California. In San Francisco the uncontrolled forest fires are moving closer burning all that is in its path to … Continue reading A review of “Hear Us Fade”, a new novel by David Hogan
A review of “Write from Wrong”, the latest Hector Lassiter book from Craig McDonald
Craig McDonald is the quintessential master of hard-boiled, pulp-style crime fiction, and the writer proves it once more in this fine capstone on the 20th century escapades of the man who lives what he writes, and writes what he lives, Hector Lassiter. Write from Wrong, published by Betimes Books, features chapters that the span Hector … Continue reading A review of “Write from Wrong”, the latest Hector Lassiter book from Craig McDonald
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