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The Children of Latharna

25/4/2016

A wee story to warm the cockles of your heart:)

Photographer: Gavin Ferguson

Photographer: Anne Montgomery

I was sick, sore and tired of the games that Harry and Gary played on the street. I was sick, sore and tired of BMXing, I was sick, sore and tired of A Teaming, I was sick, sore and tired of band sticking and I was sick, sore and tired of footballing.

‘I’m bored.’ I said to my mum.

‘How could you be bored? It’s summer. You’re off school. The street’s full of weans. Away out and play like the rest of them.’

‘They only want to play on bikes and all. I’m bored of bikes and all.’

‘Jenny’s on her own over there. Away and play with Jenny.’

My mum’s eyebrows were curved like question marks and she had a semicolon smile. She knew that I was not sick, sore and tired of Harry’s sister, Jenny.

Jenny goes to the Andrew’s school of dancing at the Town Hall. Each Saturday, I’m there alone on the boy’s side of the hall. Jenny is there on the other side surrounded by thirty girls.

It’s wile hard to be alone at dancing without stories birling through my mind.

I do the three-hand reel with the girls. There’s a jellyfish of a girl on my left with arms and legs that wriggle in all the wrong directions. There’s a swan of a girl on my right with strong arms and graceful legs. The swan girl is Jenny

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The books behind 'A Belfast Tale'

13/4/2016

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A Belfast Tale, a soulful tale of troubles, love and friendship set between Northern Ireland and America, was published today. While I await its appearance in the Amazon store, I am all set to address the smudgy windows and the dusty skirting boards after a year and a half of relative neglect. (Yes, Jean Adams would take a turn in her eye!) Before I commence the post-novel-writing spring-clean and tidy all the books away, here are some of the many books that built A Belfast Tale.

I found this gem of a research resource during a visit to the Crumlin Road Gaol. Children of the Revolution is a fascinating insight into the lives of the sons and daughters of those involved in the Troubles. I couldn't put it down! I came up with the idea of a young boy who is jealous of his friends travelling on a prison bus after reading it. The first chapter of A Belfast Tale is actually called, 'The Prison Bus,' and the thread runs all the way through the story, leading to a pivotal moment on the day of the Shankill Bomb.

Children of the Revolution by Bill Rolston

After writing two novels, I began to read my first book about how to write a novel! (The cart before the horse on every level.) Anyway, the writing book made me very sleepy, so I decided to read Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project instead. The penny dropped and I learned more about character from this novel than I could ever have learned in a creative writing book. My first attempt at A Belfast Tale lacked strong characters. Don Tillman saved the day!

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The Band Stick

3/4/2016

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Another wee children's story:

I live at number one Greenland Grove and wee Harry lives at number three.

Harry is the best in the world at everything. He’s the best at BMXing, the best at kerbsy, the best at British Bulldog, the best at football and the best at up-against-the-wall-tennis.

He’s the best at pots and pans drumming, the best at marching, the best at playing the dummy flute and the best at tossing the red, white and blue band stick.

Harry has asthma, but he’s still the best at everything.

Last year, Harry’s band stick turned in the air five times. It wheeled and and it whirled and it cut through white woolly clouds like a shear, and all the children in Greenland Grove watched with tilted heads and bleating hearts.

I was sitting in Harry’s driveway footering with my red, white and blue duct tape when Harry said to me, ‘Gary, I’m going to enter the band stick competition and this year, and I’m going to turn it six times.’

Six times, I thought. You havenae a hope, I thought. I said nothing and I concentrated on my band stick.

My band stick is made from my mammy’s kitchen brush. Harry had to use an old yard brush. He hoked in the shed for an hour for it. Last year, there was a carfuffle over a missing kitchen brush. We both got a good clip in the ear for that.

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A literary journey

The Children of Latharna

The books behind 'A Belfast Tale'

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