HOPING to catch a flight over to Dublin very shortly, novelist Frances Donnelly plans to celebrate the publication of her second novel, Catch The Wind, with family and friends here. "I write rather slowly, I'm afraid," says Ms Donnelly, by way of explanation for the fact that it has been eight years since her first novel Shake Down The Stars (which sold 300,000 copies worldwide) appeared.
Ms Donnelly was born in Guildford her mother Kathleen came from Co Sligo while her father John was president of the London Irish Rugby Football Club. Before she started to write, she worked as a producer for BBC radio on such programmes as Start The Week and Woman's Hour. Nowadays, she's more likely to be heard as a broadcaster on these shows when she can take time off from her writing.
Now that Catch The Wind is finished, she expects to have an opportunity to visit her mother's two sisters May Woods and Amy Daly (who used to work with the late Eamonn Andrews), both of them still living in Dublin. If she does make the trip, the intention is to team up with London based actor and good pal Orla Brady, who has promised to take a rare break from filming for the occasion. The two friends had better make the trip soon, however Ms Brady has just been offered a part at Britain's National Theatre which will effectively leave her no free time for six months.