A New LifeWriter Denise Deegan has plenty of experience to draw on for her novels - five careers to date. She tells Anne Dempsey what keeps her moving
Writer Denise Deegan, whose second novel is published today, has had five careers to date with a common thread - to be captain of her ship.
"At school I always wanted to be a nurse. I loved biology, wanted to help people, and be financially independent. In those days, nurses were paid during training."
She was accepted by a Dublin teaching hospital, but soon realised she had made a mistake. "I had had a very romantic view of the profession, saw myself as a kind of Florence Nightingale. The reality was different. Nursing was hierarchical, over-disciplined, it was like being in the army, with the lower ranks denied a lot of decision-making.
"It was physically exhausting, the most unhealthy period of my life. I knew I was in the wrong job but didn't have the confidence to leave, so I completed training, spent a year as a staff nurse, was about to emigrate to nurse in Australia when I realised it could leave me nursing all my life. I cancelled my trip.
"Looking back I learnt a lot from nursing. It made me very down to earth. Working with life and death makes you aware of your own mortality which has been a guiding principle ever since."
Denise had been artistic at school, but now a FÁS course in china restoration was short-lived as she was allergic to the chemicals used. So she trained in sales which led to a job as a sales representative promoting cardiology equipment.
"I was 22 years old, my territory was Munster, driving through some of the most beautiful scenery in the country, calling on GPs, in charge of my day. I loved it."
She might still be in Cork had she not met husband-to-be Joe, who worked in Dublin, so she applied and got a job in pharmaceutical sales on the east coast.
A year later Denise realised this job no longer fulfilled her. She wanted to follow her artistic bent again, and considered journalism, advertising or public relations.
"Joe was very supportive and encouraged me to do what I wanted. I enrolled in a diploma course in public relations in the College of Commerce in Rathmines, which was the right decision.
"We had politics, law, economics as well as PR. Returning to college meant I had to live at home again with very little money, but it was worth it. After graduation, I got lucky. A PR company was opening a medical division and hired me to set it up. I was there for three years. Joe and I married when I was 25 and I opened my own PR company at 28.
"Running my company was the easiest job I have ever done. I had lovely clients and a level of confidence which helped me be straight with them, which was appreciated. But after seven years I began to feel unchallenged, so while continuing with the business, I did a masters in PR, examining how the pharmaceutical industry in Cork copes with environmental activists.
"I loved the research, and in doing the literature review, realised there wasn't a book to help companies that are targeted by pressure groups. So I wrote Managing Activism which was published by the UK Institute of PR. I realised I could write, and started to think of a novel. Moving into creative writing just felt the right gut decision."
Denise and Joe have two children, Amy (7) and Alex (5). In plotting her novel, Deegan plundered shamelessly from her own life by examining what happens the power-balance in a marriage when heroine Kim (ex-PR practitioner, mother-of-two) stays at home to attempt the bestseller. The ensuing marital problems are purely fictional, she stresses, as real-life Joe continues to be a stalwart support.
Turning Turtle came out last May and did well. By the autumn Denise had started number two, the story of single mum Jenny whose son is diagnosed with leukaemia, with much of the action taking place in Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin. Then in one of those life imitating art moments, her own daughter Amy became ill, and Denise had 14 anguished days in Crumlin while the doctors wrestled with a diagnosis before identifying the problem.
"Like Jenny, I spent nights on a blown-up mattress beside my child's bed. I hadn't planned it, but it did help me understand more of what my heroine felt, how vulnerable as a parent you are, and how significant the warmth or otherwise of a nurse or doctor can be.
"I have already started my third novel. With my track record, I don't know if this is my final career. I would say to people if you are unhappy in what you are doing, try something else. Life is too short not to, and you need to ask yourself: are you going to waste it due to fear of change?"
Time in a Bottle by Denise Deegan is published by Tivoli (€9.99).