Readers doing projects on my books often request information about my background. I come from Ballymena, Co. Antrim and my wife Francis is from Carlow. I have four daughters, Michelle, Amanda, Samantha and Simone. I have been a journalist all my working life. Starting with The Courier and News, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, I moved to The Ballymena/Belfast Telegraph and then to The Irish Times in Dublin. I reported for The Irish Times for 13 years, specialising in military matters as Defence Correspondent. In that capacity I wrote my first book, The Peacemakers of Niemba, a documentary account of an ambush in the Congo in which the first Irish troops serving with the UN died in action, serving the cause of peace. This book is now out of print but all my other books are available. From The Irish Times I went to RTE, the Irish national radio and television service where I worked as a reporter, specialising in security, covering major crimes in the Republic, the Troubles in the North in the early years, and the Irish/UN in Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Syria, Egypt, Bosnia-Herzegovnia, Croatia and Kosovo. It was while working as Security Correspondent that I got the idea for RAINBOWS OF THE MOON, a thriller for teenagers. As Security Correspondent I was also visiting lecturer in Media and Communications Skills at courses for officers in the Garda College, Templemore, Co. Tipperary, for many years. At one stage I also gave occasional talks on the same subject at the cadet school of the Military College in the Curragh, Co. Kildare.
When my daughters were growing up I realised there were few books for young people written, set and published in Ireland so I decided to write some myself. Five of my books are adventure stories for the 8-14 age group. These are The Legend of the Golden Key, The Legend of the Phantom Highwayman, The Legend of the Corrib King, The Silent Sea and The Children of the Forge. First Published by The Children's Press. Now contact Mercier Press, Unit 3B, Oak House, Bessboro Road, Blackrock, Cork, Ireland. Tel: + 353 21461 4700. Fax: + 353 21461 4802. Email: info@mercierpress.ie. Web: www.mercierpress.ie
Six of my books are the wildlife or 'fox' series which are for the 9-90 age group, Penguin publishing some of them for adults, Puffin publishing the same books for young people. The six are Run with the Wind, Run to Earth, Run Swift Run Free, Run to the Ark, Run to the Wild Wood and Run for Cover (SEE NEXT PAGE), the last one dealing with the current topic of cloning.The first three are in the Top 100 books of all time in Ireland. See http://home.earthlink.net/~dlhartz/donleavy/irish_top_100.html Publisher: Wolfhound Press, an imprint of Merlin Publishing. Contact details for placing an order: Newmarket Hall, Cork St., Dublin 8, Ireland. Tel: + 353 1 4535866 Fax: + 353 1 4535930. Email orders to: publishing@merlin.ie
My other three books are in the teenage to adult category. Two of them are novels set in the period of the 1798 Rebellion when the United Irishmen, inspired by the American and French Revolutions, tried to unite the people of Ireland in an attempt to gain independence from Britain. They are In Search of the Liberty Tree which describes what happened in my native Ballymena during the Rebellion and Ride a Pale Horse which describes the attack on the home of the High Sheriff of Kildare by an army of rebels whose leaders included General Joseph Holt the last Commander-in-Chief of the United Irishmen. Both books are based on fact and are the result of extensive research. The third book in this category is Rainbows of the Moon which is a thriller set on the Irish border during the recent 'Troubles'. Its underlying theme is the need for peace and reconciliation. It was the key book in a cross-border library project which was funded by the EU Peace and Reconciliation Programme and opened by President McAleese. It has been translated into French, Flemish-Dutch and Danish. First published by Anvil Press. Now contact Mercier Press, Cork. Email: info@mercierpress.ie. I have given lectures to historical societies on aspects of the 1798 Rebellion, covered in my two books on the Rebellion, and also give talks on my books in general at literary festivals and in schools and libraries. For author visits, see the Writers in Schools scheme which is organised by Poetry Ireland on behalf of the Arts Council email info@poetryireland.ie website www.poetryireland.ie