David Rory O'Neill.
1. Can you tell us about you and what first inspired you to become a writer?
I have written as long as I can remember. I started writing thoughts and feelings as a boy, perhaps ten years old. It was the only thing I excelled at in school. Having said that, I suffer mild dyslexia and that was a big issue as it was not diagnosed until I was twenty-one. I overcame its effects by learning tricks to compensate but the thing that truly liberated me was the advent of the word processor with a spell checker. Yes I'm that old! I bought one of the first Amstrad and kept changing as the things improved. I discovered Apple early and have been a Mac person ever since.
I had a few articles published in special interest magazines in my thirties but didn't consider fiction writing then. I wrote stories and poetry for myself. I often indulged in story telling in pubs, an old Irish tradition. I published, edited and wrote a trade magazine for the Irish travel business for while. That went the way of many new enterprises; it failed from lack of funds.
I tried going back to an old trade - chef. My wife and I took a gamble and started a restaurant. It's what brought us back to Ireland from the UK in 2000. That didn't work out and we had to close.
I was then faced with a bleak future and that is when I found my voice as writer and wrote my first novel called Daniel's Conflict, now re written as Conflict. I tried the usual routes but agents kept telling me it was not mainstream enough - too alternative.
So I published it myself and I started all wrong. I used a vanity publisher - big mistake. I learned the hard way, so withdrew that and the next few novels, learned how to do it myself and started again as an Indie with my own imprint - davidrory-publishing. I got a great proof reader/copy editor and recently a wonderful cover designer. All the novels are being reissued and redesigned now.
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