On a showery March evening, the members of An Táin Arts Centre’s Book Club, gathered upstairs in the very cosy environment of the Townhouse Bar & Restaurant to chat about the latest book we have been reading. ‘Blacklight’ by Michael O’ Toole. A crime thriller and the first one we have read as part of the Book Club, we were very excited to see what our members thought.
The author, award-winning crime journalist, Michael O’ Toole was available to join us for a Q&A and the evening was hosted by none other than everyones favourite book shop owner Tom Muckian from Roe River Books and our Audience Development Manager Mary Claire Cowley. With a few new members sitting around the table, the Q&A got started and Michael shared with us, his struggles of having to unlearn all he knew about writing from a journalists perspective in order to write his first fiction novel. He also shared some of the harrowing stories he’s covered as a crime correspondent. Our members all got to ask him questions, and our favourite Italian member Lucia had some pointers for the author on his Italian swear words that appear throughout the novel! It was very interesting to hear Michael talk about his career as a crime correspondent and also about how much of himself he put into the book.
The evening was enjoyed by all and we’d like to thank Michael for his participation and for being open and frank with his experiences. We’d also like to thank all our members for taking part. We hope to see you all next month when we will discuss ‘My Father’s House’ by Joseph O’ Connor.