My thanks to Peter Murphy for stopping by The Plot Thickens for an author interview during the blog tour for his book, Lagan Love. Author Interview
1. Who is the plot based around? Primarily Janice and Aidan. She moves to Dublin to get away from her insipid existence in Toronto and aspires to be an artist. However, she becomes lonely in her new life and when she meets Aidan, Dublin’s rising poet, she grasp the chance at what she imagines will be a bohemian relationship – something that an artist might do. Despite that he is not at all the type of man she would once have considered it seems fitting as she reinvents herself. She also wants access to his connections – the movers and shakers of the Art World. Aidan, who is running from his own ghosts see in Janice’s love, a chance for redemption and escape from the sins of his past.
2. What is the main idea of the plot?
Through the choices and reactions of the characters we can look at the cost we must pay for following our dreams. We also get to look at love from a different angle – not the formula of happily-ever-after but something far more familiar to most of us – even if it is less reassuring.
3. When does the plot take place?
In the mid nineteen-eighties when Ireland was transitioning from economic depression to two decades of unprecedented growth known as the Celtic Tiger. It was a time when everything that had previously defined them was cast aside to pursue a bright and glittering future regardless of the costs.
4. Where does the plot take place?
The story is set in Dublin, a city of rich and troubled histories that form the perfect background to the ambitions and desires of the characters. Ireland is a place where history and mythology hover over all that happens – even the characters of Lagan Love.
5. Why did the plot develop the way it did?
As the story unfolded the original idea of a cautionary tale was redirected by the happenings and reactions of the characters. Actual events in Ireland, and the wider world, also influenced and embellished the story making it more organic.
6. How did you come up with the idea for the plot?
It began to form in my growing unease with the state of the world which seemed to me to be rushing headlong into madness while discarding all the we have learned from the past. As it evolved it offered the chance to reconsider where we were going and what price we paid along the way.
About the BookLagan Love
Book Details:
Publisher: Fiction Studio Books
Published: June 2011
Genre: Literary Fiction
Format: paperback & ebook
Pages: 328
Price: $13.95 paperback; $3.99 ebook
Blurb:
In the 1980s, Ireland was on the brink – the Celtic Tiger was yet to arise and change the face, and the faces, of Dublin with prosperity and foreigners. Volatile anger, shimmering myths and lachrymose poetry still ruled the night as rough-hewn workers and lost university students hefted pints in Grogan’s pub.
Stepping into the swirling blend of the old and the new is Janice, a younger painter from Toronto, who has crossed the ocean to seek passion in her life and her art. Her affair with Aidan, Ireland’s rising poet, leads her through the veil of the Celtic Twilight to a place of reward and danger.
Into the lives of Janice and Aidan and their more practical friends walks the mysterious Gwen, who may be far more than the beautiful seductress she seems on the surface.
Trailing Gwen like cigarette smoke in a tavern is the myth of the Lenan Sidhe, or lenanshee, a fairy spirit who inspires lovers to ever greater creative heights – at a price. Can the levelheaded Sinead, who has dedicated herself to seizing new career opportunities, of the kind and romantic Ronan, keep their friends from being swept away by the Ireland that dwells just beneath the surface?
About the AuthorPeter Murphy
Growing up in the verdant braes of Templeogue, Peter was schooled by the De La Salle brothers in Churchtown where he played rugby for ‘The Wine and Gold’. He also played football (soccer) in secret!
After that, he graduated and studied the Humanities in Grogan’s under the guidance of Scot’s corner and the bar staff; Paddy, Tommy and Sean.
Murphy financed his education by working summers on the buildings sites of London in such places as Cricklewood, Camden Town and Kilburn. Murphy also tramped the roads of Europe playing music and living without a care in the world. But his move to Canada changed all of that. He only came over for a while – thirty years ago. He took a day job and played music in the bars at night until the demands of family life intervened. Having raised his children and packed them off to University, Murphy answered the long ignored internal voice and began to write.
He has no plans to make plans for the future and is happy to let things unfold as they do anyway. Lagan Love is his first novel.
Connect With Peter:
Web Site
About the TourPump Up Your Book
Monday, October 3
Interviewed at Let’s Talk Virtual Book Tours
Wednesday, October 5
Book reviewed at Live to Read
Thursday, October 6
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Friday, October 7
Interviewed at Review From Here
Monday, October 10
Guest blogging at Mad Moose Mama
Tuesday, October 11
Book reviewed at Mad Moose Mama
Wednesday, October 12
Guest blogging at Literary Magic
Thursday, October 13
Book featured at The Top Shelf
Friday, October 14
Interviewed at Beyond the Books
Monday, October 17
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Book featured at Thoughts in Progress
Tuesday, October 18
Book trailer spotlighted at If Books Could Talk
Thursday, October 20
Interviewed at Examiner
Monday, October 24
Guest blogging at Book Reviews by Molly
Wednesday, October 26
Guest blogging at Reader Girls
Friday, October 28
Chat with Peter at Pump Up Your Book Live! Chat & Book Giveaway Party
Tuesday, November 1
Guest blogging at Jagged Edge
Wednesday, November 2
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life
Thursday, November 3
Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz
Friday, November 4
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Monday, November 7
Interviewed at The Book Connection
Tuesday, November 8
Guest blogging at The Book Faery Reviews
Wednesday, November 9
Book spotlighted at Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog
Thursday, November 10
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Friday, November 11
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn
Monday, November 14
Interviewed at The Plot Thickens
Tuesday, November 15
Interviewed at Allvoices
Thursday, November 17
Guest blogging at Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog
Friday, November 18
Guest blogging at The Story Behind the Book
Monday, November 21
Book reviewed at The Top Shelf
Tuesday, November 22
Interviewed at Paperback Writer
Wednesday, November 23
Interviewed at American Chronicle
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