Welcome to Weaver Street selling well for Killough novelist
Killough novelist Chrissie Walsh has gone into overdrive since her retirement as deputy principal at St Jospeh’s Primary School in Tyrella.
Chrissie said she always had a passion to write but her busy life prevented her from focussing on her passion… creative writing.
“Now that I am retired I find I have the time, energy and motivation to fulfuil my writing ambitions. I have lived in County Down for around 40 years and have a great love for this area, but my heart is divided… I come originally from Yorkshire… yes, I’m a Yorkshire lass at heart, and the experience of my early life memories are central to the themes and characters of my novels which have a leaning towards history and women in our society.
“I was lucky that I found a good agent and quickly secured a four book deal which was fantastic. My first novel, ‘The Girl from the Mill‘, is still selling well. In fact all my books are going well. ‘The Colliers Wife‘ is my best seller to date.
‘If you want to succeed as a writer I think it is important to have a good, sympathetic agent who is going to work hard for you. I was lucky in finding the right one early on.
“My first four books published by Zeus were written using a routine that works well for me. I go for a walk during the day to collect my thoughts, potter about in the garden, and tend to write from 10pm to 2am. That’s when I am most productive.
“Having said that, when I presented my books to Zeus for scrutiny, I did have a fair bit of re-working to do, but that is all part of the nature of writing. I suppose the final product has to be finely tailored to suit the market and that is what these professional editors are brilliant at.
“My latest book ‘Welcome to Weaver Street‘ will hopefully be a first in a series. I am currently writing a sequel called ‘Weddings in Weaver Street‘. Again, women are to the fore in the action.
“At the moment I am rated as number one in the military history genre on Google Books which is brilliant.
“My publisher for the fifth novel, is an indie publisher called Boldwood Books and they are great to work with. They have tried to build up my Google presence and my ratings on social media
Chrissie explained that her books sell globally. And they have been made available in Audible, and in a number of foreign language including Scandanavian languages, Polish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and they are selling well in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada and I also sell a few in America.
“Interestingly, I have a good following in Northern Ireland and in Yorkshire in the north of England,” Chrissie added. “If you want to be a writer you have to read.
“I am at the moment reading books by Niall Williams, a writer from County Clare. He is a very good author and I’d recommend him.”
When I asked Chrissie about future ambitions, she said: “I’ve actually reached my ambition by writing a few popular novels. But I do have one sneeking ambition still apart from creating a series of books… that Yorkshire Television commission a series based on the women in my books. It’s a dream, but we have to dream… that’s what keeps us ticking!”
The books are available on WH Smith, Waterstones, and other good outlets and at:
