Writer of children's books, poetry and short stories.
Author: eileenmoynihan
Eileen Moynihan was born in Essex England, and grew up on the Isle of Wight from the age of three. At the age of 22 she moved permanently to Ireland, where she lived in West Cork, and more recently on the border of Counties Roscommon and Longford. For most of that time she was teaching children with Special Needs, and raising her three children with her husband. After taking early retirement, Eileen loves to write books for children.
After discovering Amazon's Createspace and Kindle Direct Publishing, she decided to start publishing her own books. Then she created her own brand for her books, and so Childhood Books was born.
Eileen also enjoys writing poetry and short stories and is an active member of Longford Writers Group. She recently joined other Irish Indie Authors and became part of #IrishIndependentAuthorsCollective
Well this week has been very busy with book launches. Weeks of anticipation, worry and organizing have brought myself and others to our grand finales. As I told you before, I have been involved in two different anthologies.
The first one was with Longford Writers Group, of which I am the chairperson. 17 members of the group produced the anthology ‘Home Made,’ which contains stories and poems written on the theme of home and community.
On Monday 2nd December 2019 we all gathered for our big night. Two of us were absent due to being in other countries at the time so we were a band of 15. My good friend Lalin Swaris had volunteered to video us and take photographs, all out of the goodness of his heart. Shelley Corcoran was also there to take photos for the Longford Leader, our local newspaper. Music was provided by Valerie Nolan and Bridie Gobl, and Sean O’Neill from our group, who also had a story in the anthology. Delicious sandwiches and cakes were supplied by Roisin Moffat.
Our special guest speakers were the Mayor of Longford, Michéal Carrigy, and,Noel Greene, ( the community fundraiser for Midlands Simon Community, an organisation that helps the homeless). Longford Writers Group gave a donation of 100 euro to this charity.
We shared the evening with Reflections Art Group who were also launching their winter exhibition. County librarian, Mary Carleton Reynolds introduced the 2 groups and their work.
There was a great crowd and everyone considered it a successful evening. Thanks to all the library staff for their support, and Creative Ireland who gave us funding to do the anthology.
Back row , left to right: Linda Kelly, Thomas Carty, Martina Cooney, Sean O’Neill, Lilly Okhuakhua, Sally Martin, Damien McManus Front row, Eileen Moynihan, Dan Flynn, Rose Moran, Dette Lowry, Philomena Murphy, Maggi McKenna, Ann Gerety Smyth, Eddy Lane. Absent: Yvonne Coates and Rob Peacock. Photo by Lalin Swaris Reading my story . Photo by Lalin SwarisNoel Greene accepting a cheque for 100 euro on behalf of the Midlands Simon Community. Photo by Lalin Swaris
Gaurav, with his son, and his first book.The back cover of Gaurav’s first book.
When I first went into self-publishing I met, Gaurav Bhatanager, and his company ePublishingeXperts http://www.epublishingexperts.com through LinkedIn, and I decided that they would provide me with the digital illustrations for my books,’ Rory Gumboots’ and ‘The Reckolahesperus.’ Gaurav has been a friend and mentor ever since.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi, my name is Gaurav Bhatnagar and I am based in Delhi, India. I am an entrepreneur and have interests in writing, printing, art and IT.
What do you do when you are not writing?
If I am not writing I am taking care of my client’s publishing businesses and playing with my son who is now 7 years old.
When did you first start writing and what was your first book?
My first book is based on friendship and I named it Forever Friends Club. This is a story inspired from my son’s questions when he lost his first baby tooth. It’s been a year since I launched my first book and it’s been an awesome journey to write and now market my book.
How did you choose the genre you write in?
I was inspired from my son and so naturally chose to write for kids)
Where do you get your ideas?
I got ideas from my son, his questions and curiosity provides me a fertile ground to run the horses of my imagination.
Do you ever experience writer’s block?
Yes, with my second book based on yoga.
Do you work with an outline, or just write?
My editor told me to follow an outline. I first think a plot and then build a strong character around it.
Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?
I was not an avid reader. Writing doesn’t come to me by choice. It happened. I narrated stories to my son and while creating a new story I ended up with my first book “Forever Friends Club”.
Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?
Since I was already serving my publisher clients and authors getting my book self-published was not a challenge but marketing is. It’s a huge challenge and after one year I am still working out my ads on Amazon and trying to build a distribution market for my book.
If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your book or getting it published that you would change?
I would like to try traditional publishing. I want children across the world read the stories I write but that is not possible with self-publishing. Only a publisher with robust distribution system in place can spread the word about the book.
I have been a member of SCBWI for many years and for the last few years I have been a volunteer social liaison in the Midlands area of Ireland. SCBWI is an international organization that originated in the USA.
Their mission is…
‘The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a nonprofit organization, is the only professional organization specifically for individuals who write and illustrate for children and young adults. Our mission is to support the creation and availability of quality children’s books in every region of the world.
Through our awards, events, and publications, we give established writers and illustrators the tools and resources to manage their careers, as well as educate those just starting out. SCBWI is also proud to serve as a consolidated voice for our members within the publishing industry.
Membership in SCBWI is open to anyone with an active interest in children’s literature, from picture books to young adult novels. We welcome aspiring and published writers and illustrators, as well as librarians, educators, translators, artists, students, dramatists, musicians, filmmakers, and others. A passion for children’s literature is our number one criterion. ‘
As part of my volunteer work I hold quarterly social meetings with people who are interested in different aspects of children’s literature. Last week I spoke about a couple of anthologies I am involved in. One of these is an anthology for children which is to be named Quirky Tales- A treasury of illustrated stories and poems for children. Here is the report I did for our latest meeting…
Written by volunteer social liaison Eileen Moynihan
The SCBWI Ireland – Midlands Winter social was held on Saturday, November 9th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre, Ardagh, County Longford. We had a very productive morning discussing illustrations, editing, publishing and a title for our upcoming anthology. We were sustained by large amounts of cake, washed down by coffee and tea.
Photo: Martina Cooney with cake!
Annette Corkery spent a lot of time laying out the book, and she showed us samples of the layout on her computer. We looked at the various pictures that had been sent in by children and adults and enjoyed choosing ones that we thought should go in the anthology.
Photo (left to right): Dan Flynn, Rose Moran, Martina, Eileen Moynihan, Annette Corkery (standing), and Cara Martin
Dan Flynn and Eddy Lane did some editing of the stories and poems. After discussing what they thought still needed editing, we all agreed to hand have Annette and Ann Gerety-Smyth look at the texts and coordinate all the editing.
Annette and I had researched a few printers and received quotes. We decided to go with eprint Limited based in Dublin. We decided to invest some of our own money in the project to hopefully earn it back from book sales. We have also approached the local Arts Officer for arts grant funding and will be following that up.
Photo (left to right): Rose, Martina, and Eileen (standing)
Finally, we discussed the title and eventually came up with “Quirky Tales: A Treasury of Illustrated Stories and Poems for Children”. Everybody was happy with this title, because there are some quirky tales in the book, and the word sounds strange but interesting for children.
It’s thrilling to plan and follow through on our project, and to see the final version of the anthology taking shape! We decided to hold a book launch on Saturday, December 7th at 2:00 p.m. in the Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre.
Photo (left to right): Martina, Eileen, Annette(standing), Ann Gerety-Smyth, Dan, Cara, and Rose
What people said:
Annette Corkery: “Very productive morning, I’m excited about seeing the finished product now.”
Ann Gerety-Smyth: “We had a very productive Saturday morning which went very fast because we were so focused and mostly because we had cake!”
Sally Martin: “Great morning. It was fun but we also got a lot done. I agree with Ann that coffee and cake definitely helped. Annette had a great amount of work done putting our anthology together. Overall a really productive, enjoyable morning.”
Martina Cooney: “It was a very successful meeting considering we managed the book title, also children’s pictures organised and illustrations almost completed.”
Rose Moran: “A very enjoyable morning looking at all the lovely artwork submitted for the book of stories and poems for children. Enjoyed the great hospitality at Ardagh and the work of Annette.”
Dan Flynn: “We’ve got a great little book and a wonderful title.”
Cara Martin: “I had a fantastic time. We got a lot done. Being just 14, I love the way that age makes no difference in the group. I love the drawings, and I am looking forward to the finished book.”
Photo (left to right): Dan, Annette (standing), Ann, and Cara
As a member of my local writers group I am involved in an anthology of stories and poetry for adults, and as a volunteer for SCBWI Ireland – Midlands, I am involved with an anthology of stories and poems for children. These are both due to be launched in the next few weeks.
There are 17 members of Longford Writers Group involved in the anthology ‘Home Made.’ We decided to do an anthology on the theme of Home/Community. Every participant in this anthology created something completely different in their poems or stories. What became obvious to us while we were reading them is that our home or community shapes who we are, for good or for bad. Thus we came up with our title “Home Made.”
10 people are participating in the anthology for children, which we have called , ‘Quirky Tales – A treasury of illustrated stories and poems for children.’ This has been written by a group of people who have been attending quarterly SCBWI ( Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Ireland – Midlands Social Group in Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre. We have activities all based around writing and illustrating children’s books, and we decided it would be great to produce our own anthology. All the contributors live in Co. Longford or just over the county border. As all aren’t paid up SCBWI members we have called ourselves Midlands Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators Group for this project.
Well the Christmas season is fast approaching and thoughts
turn to Christmas presents. Many people
buy books as Christmas presents, for their children, grandchildren, parents,
siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. So the pre-Christmas period is an
important time for authors.
So there is pressure to have your book all ready to be
published in time. Once you have your text ready, it needs editing, maybe needs
illustrations and formatting, a book cover to be designed and a lot of trial
and error, especially if you are self-publishing. Therefore publishing a book
for the Christmas season takes some planning. But often things do not go to
plan and you just have to go with the flow.
Even when your book is ready you have to market it and
promote it whilst trying not to bore everyone. So you have to be on social media
and have to keep plugging at it daily. Some spend money on advertising but this
can be costly.
One way of selling a fair number of books is to have a book
launch but that can be an expensive outlay too. But it is a good way to promote
your book in the local newspaper and in the local community.
Once you do have your books in your hands Christmas Market and craft fairs are a good place to sell your books. They also get you in a festive mood and they are a good place to network with others. I will be in Tulsk Macra Hall, Tulsk, Co. Roscommon on December 1st from 10 am – 3 pm
All my life I have enjoyed being around nature, and as a child I loved learning about nature from my mother and my teachers. I always feel a sense of peace and connectedness with the world, and have a sense of being one small speck in the whole of creation and its sheer beauty when I am out in it.
Looking back through my children’s books I can see that the books reflect some of my feelings about nature. In ‘Rory Gumboots’ a unique environment is in danger of being destroyed and this is the problem facing my hedgehog character, Rory Gumboots and his friends.
In ‘The Reckolahesperus’ Sam and his new friend the Reckolahesperus go for a moonlight adventure an and have a feast. They see a rabbit running and hear an owl hooting. A hedgehog trundles out of their way. They look for berries and nuts.
‘Hattie and Jacques Love London’ is set in an urban environment but we do meet ravens at the Tower of London and take a boat trip on the River Thames. Plus the 2 main characters are 2 mice, one English and the other French.
In ‘The Dreamsmith’ 6 year old Eleanor wonders where dreams come from. Her mother tells Eleanor about the Dreamsmith. Eleanor meets the magical Dreamsmith and learns all about the special ingredients that are used in dreams and how dreams are made. Some of those ingredients are the sounds of cows mooing, hens clucking, the sea roaring, the wind whistling and the smell of fresh cut grass.
Frances Darwin is a ten year old girl who loves solving mysteries. In ‘Frances Darwin Investigates’ she finds a bit of paper that sends her on a ‘wild goose chase’ that leads her to find a stray dog called Bouncer. Finding out about Bouncer leads her onto to find his owner, who becomes a big part of Frances’s life. Before Frances knows it she has become involved in an investigation to find out who is dog-napping dogs in the local area. Frances and Bouncer have fun exploring the local park and other areas of the town and countryside.
In my upcoming poetry book for adults, and a poetry book due out next year for children, about wildflowers and trees, there are definite links to nature. It is a part of what I am.
I am pleased to announce that I am in the process of releasing my first book of poetry for adults in the coming weeks. I had many poems written over the last few years which were dotted all over my computer, and I decided I needed to put them all together in one place for myself. By doing this, I hope others can enjoy my poems too.
I thought long and hard about different names for my collection of poetry, but when I checked them out, nearly every name had already been taken. Then one morning I woke up with the title inside my head… ‘Dipping In The Font.’ I felt it was perfect as I feel I am dipping my toe into the world of poetry, ( even though I have been writing poetry all my life, I still feel I do not come up to the standard of the many amazing poets I admire). The font – represents the art of writing. ( Traditionally a writer dips their pen into an ink font or inkwell.) The font also symbolizes a font or spring, a flowing source… just like the ideas and images that spring from one’s mind. Fonts are usually used in the ceremony of baptism as well , which gives a sense of the spiritual. Inspiration for my poems often feels like it comes from a spiritual realm.
I chose my friend, Antonio Simoes, who is a great photographer, to do the cover for my book and I am delighted with the result. My friend, Rose Moran, also supplied the pen that was needed, to be shown dipping into the font.
