Irish Book Awards: Athlone-based editor’s delight at shortlisting of two publications
When the Irish Book Awards shortlist was announced on October 22, Athlone-based editor Paula Elmore was thrilled to learn that two books she edited had made the cut.
"It’s a huge achievement for to be nominated, when you consider the number of titles published each year, and I’m so proud of my authors," she says.
The first is Kevin Moran’s debut novel, shortlisted in the Children’s Book of the Year (Senior) category. The Doomsday Club is set in modern-day Dublin and follows the adventures of four sixth-class schoolboys, not quite friends, who find themselves in detention. As they argue over who is to blame, a supernatural portal opens up opposite their school and a monster steps through. The four boys decide that detention can wait as they set about investigating the otherworldly creature. Says Paula, "Kevin’s dialogue crackles with wit. He captures the misunderstandings and hurts, the warmth and the humour that boys of this age experience.
"One of my favourite characters is the boys’ long-suffering teacher, Ms Murphy. She recognises their potential and wants them to succeed. She’ll put herself in harm’s way to protect them. Ultimately, though, saving the world comes down to the four protagonists."
Next, in the Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year category, is Méabh McDonnell’s Any Way You Slice It. Méabh’s book is a delicious romance about two rival chefs vying to win the prestigious Castlecreagh baking competition to become Best Young Pastry Chef. They manage to get each other disqualified, which spells disaster for Carrie Quinn – the competition was to be her first step towards her dream of becoming a pastry chef – and disgrace for Dara Harte, heir to the Harte Bakeries empire. Their only way back into the competition is to pair up for the team category. But will they be able to put aside their differences long enough to impress the judges?
"There was a unique challenge in editing this novel, because author Méabh wanted to include recipes, based on what Carrie and Dara bake as they practise for the competition. They’re real recipes and they work (we tried them out).
"The novel is really sweet and replete with pastry puns. It’s sort of Pride and Prejudice meets Bake-off."
Méabh McDonnell is also the Children’s Books Manager in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop in Galway, which has been nominated for the An Post Bookshop of the Year Award.
"As an editor, when people ask me what I do, I tell them I read books for a living. It’s not quite that simple, of course. Every script, no matter how well written, needs some polishing. Maybe it’s in terms of consistency of characterisation or plot development and pacing. It’s one of the joys of editing that tweaking one word can transform an entire paragraph, because sometimes that’s all it takes. My work ought to be invisible: it should appear to the reader that the book flowed straight from the author’s mind onto the page, exactly the way they’re reading it.
"The publisher of both novels, The O’Brien Press, has generously invited me to join them at the Irish Book Awards finals on November 27 in Dublin. It’ll be lovely to be there to support my authors, and to meet up with them, as our work is mostly done by email and phone."
The ceremony will be televised, to be aired on December 11: plenty of time to get inspiration for Christmas presents for the reader in your life. People can vote until November 16 at https://www.irishbookawards.ie/vote/. Everyone who votes is entered into a prize draw to win a €100 National Book Token.