This was the fifth year in a row that this writer has spoken to Felicity about the release of one of her books, and the prolific ability with which she can write, craft, and hone these acclaimed and hugely popular books is something that I am always blown away by and commend her on.
“It’s the day job! It pays the bills, I have no choice!” she joked, speaking to The Kerryman on Thursday.
When asked if the pressure/deadline of having to get a book out year in and year out is something she thrives on, Felicity said that having been at the writing lark for over 50 years now – she shuddered when I mentioned the words half a century to her – she is well and truly in the writing rhythm and knows the process like the back of her hand.
“It’s not like I sit there waiting and panicking for the deadline to spark something in me. I think because I started in the world of radio and TV, where there is a shape to the creation of the work and everything has to be organised, so you know when you have to start, you know when you have to end, you know that there really isn’t a lot of wiggle room,” she said.
“I’m 71 now and I started writing 50 years ago, which sometimes makes me think ‘god almighty!’ and I have been at this a long time now so it’s almost like it’s muscle memory at this stage,” she continued.
Felicity’s latest book, a standalone novel, is called Once a Year, and it is scheduled for release on Thursday, October 16.
Set in a family-owned and run Irish hotel, the novel was inspired by Felicity’s interest in ecotourism and the time she spent travelling to book-signing events around the country.
“I was blown away when a friend in the hospitality business introduced me to Tourism Ireland’s initiative, Ireland Unrushed. It goes to the heart of what we’ve always been really good at. Neighbourliness. Local knowledge. Knowing how to live the good life, appreciate what we have, and find dynamic, creative ways of protecting and sharing it. I love the idea of “Slow Tourism”, and when I was researching my novel, I realized how much it’s tied into that other thing we’re good at – storytelling,” said Felicity.
West Kerry based author Felicity Hayes-McCoy pictured with her latest book.
In the book, Felicity brings readers a richly observed story about family, secrets, and the courage it takes to tell the truth. The blurb of the book is as follows:
When Sheila Sullivan secretly divorces her unreliable husband, she plans to reveal the news during her family’s annual gathering at Castlehill Hotel, the country property her mother Nora has run for decades. But Sheila isn’t the only one keeping things hidden.
As three generations of women come together for a single weekend, long-buried tensions rise to the surface. One worries about the future of the family business, one daughter is desperate to break free, another is tempted to risk everything, and the third fears a loss she can’t bring herself to name.
Felicity added that she absolutely loves the tag line on the book’s cover that reads: ‘It’s the perfect getaway, but the Sullivans are not a perfect family…’
“In going around the country promoting my books over the years, I have stayed in a lot of places around the country, and so I have become very aware of how many hotels and tourism businesses in Ireland are still run by individual entrepreneurs or families. The idea of setting the book in a family-owned and run hotel came from my experience traveling around the country, and I was lucky enough to meet many interesting people.
“I met so many people whose families might have been in the hospitality business for generations, and then the younger people would have gone off abroad, but now they have come back and they want to work at home, and so they are now back in Ireland fuelling the whole tourism and hospitality sector,” she said of the inspiration behind the novel.
“I was watching them [these young people] during my stay in these hotels, and I was just so impressed by them. So, when it came to writing the book, I knew that I was always interested in writing about the relationship between mother and daughters and about community, and I started thinking that a family can also be a community, especially several generations.
“The fact that I could put all of these characters with all of their stories together in a hotel together for a weekend, that gave me great scope for drama!” she laughed.
On how she manages to be so prolific every single year, Felicity said that it’s simply a matter of putting your head down and getting it done, day in and day out.
“You just have to get into the habit of doing it and getting it done. You have to accept that today’s writing might not be as good or as perfect as the day before or the next day, but it can be something you can polish up. You have to stick to your schedule and you have to get something onto the page, and if you keep doing this long enough, you’ll be grand in the end!” she said.
Published by Hachette Books Ireland, Once A Year will be available in bookshops big and small from next Thursday. Whilst it will also be available to buy online, Felicity said that she hopes that people get out there and support their local bookshops in real life.