YA and this adult reader

Just finished reading The Hunger Games. I loved it. And that's saying something because YA is not something I read. I couldn't even get past page 20 of the first Harry Potter but did watch the movies. I think The Hunger Games appealed because it's lean and focused in that it gets to the main conflict quickly and doesn't lose track throughout the narrative. It also helps that the characters are relateable and the plot's set in the real world, albeit that it's in the future and has some futuristic qualities. I think that's why it's appealing to a wide audience that includes adults.

Good story that's suspenseful. Good characters.

Looking forward to tucking into Book 2.

North London Book Group

Just did a great interview with the above book group. I love great interviews like this.

Here's the link

I'm a guest on Strictly Writing Blog

I was invited by Gillian McDade (we're both from Northern Ireland) of the excellent Strictly Writing Blog to be a guest so I wrote a piece for it.

It's about writing a second novel after all the hoop-la of getting published settles down.

Here's the post.

Author Patricia Wood's comment on my new novel

Twisted Agendas has been published recently in UK and Ireland and it's going really well. I had a great interview on BBC Radio Ulster's Arts Extra. Marie Louise Muir posed some tough questions about my work that kept me on my toes.

Very excited because of this gorgeous praise from Patricia Wood whose novel Lottery was shortlisted for UK's Orange Broadband prize.

Here's what she says.

In Twisted Agendas, Damian McNicholl has created a compelling and entertaining romp through other people's inter-tangled lives. All Danny wants to do is strike out on his own in London but from the very moment his path crosses with Piper's nothing is what it seems. From terrorists to lovers to meddling fathers, Damian deftly weaves comic misunderstandings with a larger more ominous theme of authority going slightly mad. Once I started reading I could not put Twisted Agendas down for a moment until I reached the satisfying conclusion. This is a novel that book clubs will certainly want to read and discuss."