Tell us about your debut, Frogs for Watchdogs
It’s about a little boy who learns to trust his stepfather (after trying to kill him first).
You began it with the intention of not having a narrator. Why so, and how did that evolve?
I didn’t realise I was beginning anything, I was frustrated by the way different styles of narration immediately impose certain restrictions on a text and I was just trying to write a scene without a narrator as an exercise. The initial text that came out was dominated by impressions, and that led me to the child’s perspective.
The child’s-eye view is a special one. What other such novels do you love?
James Kelman’s Kieron Smith, Boy; Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha; and The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.
It was described in the Bookseller as a ‘quintessentially Irish debut’. Thoughts?
The story is set in the countryside and there’s maybe an idea out there that Ireland’s identity is somehow essentially rural, so perhaps that’s part of the reason. My editor, Dermot Bolger, said that “there’s a whiff of silage off it”. I think that was a compliment.
You are steeped in literature and publishing. Your father, Antony, is publisher at Lilliput Press; your wife, Elske Rahill, is an author; your sister Brigid is publisher at Bullaun Press; and you are a literary editor. How has this shaped you as a writer? How well do you take an edit?
All of that has certainly helped to demystify the process and made me respect the craft that goes into a book. I take edits extremely badly for the first 24 hours and then I get over myself and go back to work.
Our reviewer was struck by your ‘exceptional sense of pacing’
That’s very kind. The pacing is one aspect that I really struggled with draft to draft, and I’m very indebted to my early readers and editors for their feedback.
[ Irish debut authors 2025: It’s already shaping up to be a vintage yearOpens in new window ]
You’ve described a writer’s outlook on life as ‘creepy’ and ‘a bit sinister’. Enlarge
I think viewing experience as “material” is not the healthiest way to go about your day.
You’ve also written: ‘Writing makes you think things you never thought before’ and ‘writing is about slowly letting go’. Tell us more
Often you start by examining a thought or an image that’s been playing on your mind; writing it down is one way to have a look at it and see how it functions outside your head. Once it’s on the page it begins to demand certain considerations that lead to previously unimagined places. The more you work on it, the more it becomes about something else. I think that’s why the process can be slightly daunting; you can’t previsualise the text, it happens as it’s being written.
Unusually for an Irish publisher, New Island signed you on a two-book deal. Is The Best Boy in the World, due in 2027, already written? Tell us about it
A first draft is written but there’s a lot of work left to do on it yet. I’m taking a break from it at the moment. It’s about two brothers who don’t get on and how their conflict is brought about by, and then consumes, their family.
You grew up in the midlands, studied in Cambridge, lived in France for years and now live in Sligo. Does all that feed into your writing?
Definitely: I’ve had a very varied life, and it’s helped me see things from lots of different viewpoints.
Which projects are you working on?
I’m finishing up a short story, and beginning to do a few scenes that might shape up into another novel and might go nowhere at all.
Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
No, I’ve only even been on a standard pilgrimage.
What is the best writing advice you have heard?
Raymond Chandler advised the discipline of sitting at a desk for a certain number of hours, not necessarily working but not doing anything else: ‘Two very simple rules: a) you don’t have to write; b) you can’t do anything else. The rest comes of itself.’
Who do you admire the most?
The people I’m closest to.
You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?
Get rid of cars.
Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend?
To Avenge a Dead Glacier by Shane Tivenan; No Other Land; Shane Todd’s Tea with Me.
Which public event affected you most?
The ineffectual Iraq war protests in February 2003.
The most remarkable place you have visited?
Skellig Michael.
Your most treasured possession?
My bangles.
What is the most beautiful book that you own?
A Little Book of Drawings by Jack B Yeats.
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
My dream dinner party wouldn’t have any writers at it; they can’t be trusted.
The best and worst things about where you live?
It’s hard to find fault with Sligo; the wait in A&E isn’t great, though.
What is your favourite quotation?
‘The heart is a righteous judge and knows nothing of great or small.’ Ivan Cankar
Who is your favourite fictional character?
Billy Bunter, the Owl of the Remove.
A book to make me laugh?
Laughing Gas by PG Wodehouse.
A book that might move me to tears?
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell.
Frogs for Watchdogs is published by New Island
