Paula Xiberras
If you happened to see a young woman starring strangely at the patterns in restaurant carpets, around some parts of Australia of recent times, you may have observed Irish author and tetras addict the lovely Ciara Geraghty.
I was privileged to speak to Ciara last week when she made a ‘whistle stop’ first Australian /New Zealand promotional tour.
The cover of Ciara’s new novel has powerful symbolism. A photo of a young boy holding a handful of brightly coloured balloons. the balloons remind us of life and indeed joy’s ephemeral nature and how easily it is to let it slip through our fingers and let it fly away forever. The brevity of the balloons reminds us to enjoy these bubbles of colour in while we have them in our hands.
Ciara Geraghty hasn’t been to Tasmania, but during our chat says she would definitely ask about the possibility of a visit to Tassie when she met with her agent. Since Ciara has another book due out next year, fingers crossed we will see her here in Tassie for a signing.
Even though she hasn’t been to Tasmania Ciara’s association with Australia is strong. Eighteen years ago she, and her now husband, spent time in Australia on a visa visit taking in Sydney, Queensland and the Great Ocean Road.
Ciara and her husband have happy memories of Australia, particularly because they had their wedding in Sydney at Watson’s Bay. The wedding ceremony with Ciara in an appropriate green dress (a good choice she tells us ‘because of its simple style’ and it’s proven ability to be a ‘timeless classic, that she has been able to wear on a number of occasions, that is ‘minus the slightly out of date bolero jacket’, she adds with her trademark humour).
But back to Ciara’s wedding which was followed by a boat harbour cruise buffet that included delicacies like Balmain beetles, which I am happy to learn from Ciara are in fact a form of lobster like seafood.
Ciara is in Australia to publicise her new novel ‘Life saving for beginners’, and although the title refers to a course one of her young boy depicted on the cover is studying it could well apply to the adult characters too. It reminds us we are all beginners when it comes to the intricacies of life and along the way we need to be saved occasionally too!
One of the characters out to save is Thomas, our main protagonist Kate Kavanagh’s romantic interest and unlike his name he is anything but a doubter trying hard to convince Kat of his commitment to her, especially after a life changing incident when like a balloon she may have flown out of his hands. Kat is more cautious about committing, satisfied with the status quo until she realises sometimes changes although challenging can make you experience life more fully.
Ciara was once an insurance agent before taking up writing which she called ‘her secret life’. She loved this secret life and being able to walk around in anonymity in her community with her precious secret a smile sitting Mona Lisa like on her face, until like the song it was not a secret anymore.
Once she became a writer Ciara learned of the techniques of writing, from one instructor, the idea of visualising scenes as if from a camera on the protagonist’s shoulder, either zooming in or panning out on the scene.
Ciara believes in what Morris Gleitzman calls ‘the magic spaces’, a description of places where author and reader meet and which is to each a very unique experience where as Ciara says each reader brings to a book their whole life experiences.
The author may not realise what subconsciously they are putting into a book or what speaks to a reader, such as one of Ciara’s readers who said what she saw in Ciara’s work was someone who wrote so well about people who are carers. On reflection Ciara realised this was true, even though she had not consciously set out to write a story exploring that subject matter.
Oh, and as for that tetras allusion. I remark innocently to Ciara that the game she was so fond of playing in the past is said to help develop language skills and thought processes. Ciara is excited to hear this, vowing to get back to playing the game and jokes that if her new book is delayed you will know why. I feel a tad guilty for bringing up the topic and fear I will be seen as an enemy by her many fans eagerly awaiting another book from Ciara!
Ciara’s new book ‘Life Saving for Beginners’ is out now.
