Dear Good Reads Members --
Truth be told, I'm a bit of a technophobe. Or perhaps it's fairer to say that I'm just a bit of a techno-idiot. I really am lost when it comes to computers. I don’t even own a cell phone. I have a website but my brother in Portland, Oregon maintains it. But I’m trying, trying desperately to get up to speed.
I have been made increasingly aware of the importance of the Internet in the book world and I suppose this letter is a way for me do to a small cyber-tour. So, greetings.
I was asked recently about my writing credo. Not sure I have one. I love Beckett's quote "No matter, try again, fail again, fail better." I quote it far too often in fact.
One of the other beauties of writing is that you (as a reader or a writer) can step into a body, or a geography, even a culture that is not your own. You can catch life for a moment and recreate new life out of it. This is the privilege of storytelling, the privilege of a writer and, one hopes, the privilege of being a reader. We become alive in a new space. Adventure in the skintrade.
I have been extraordinarily lucky to make my living as a writer. I am keenly aware of people like you who actually finish the books, or rather complete tham, by the act of reading them. I thank you most sincerely for this and look forward to doing an occasional blog here, once I get my cyber-jitters out of the way. My new novel Let the Great World Spin will be published in June. In the meantime, in between time, many thanks and all best wishes ...

Colum