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When I was writing my first two books I was also freelancing and teaching and doing other odd jobs.

I opted for a freelance writing career. I was lucky enough to have the means to do it.

It's not easy making a living as a writer, and for many years I worked at a Waterstones in Dublin. It was a good environment for an aspiring writer, with lots of events and authors appearing.

I was a freelancer all through my 20s and was very slow to get good at what I did.

I worked also, doing things such as our paper route and, later on, waitressing.

I grew up in a little village in the west of Ireland.

I came to Ireland 20 years ago as a student, hitch-hiking round for a week and staying in Dublin.

I did a lot of freelance desk publishing jobs when I graduated from college. I sort of earned a living doing that while I was writing plays, which was what I wanted to do. My hope was to become a playwright.

I started as kind of an outsider - freelancer working from home, building contacts from the ground up etc. - so I didn't have too many relationships holding me back.

I worked as a carpenter for a few years. I began writing. I wrote a book about my time in Africa - that came out in 1988 - called 'The Village of Waiting.'