Beginner's Pluck - Alan Timmons

Alan began to write in his late teens, starting with poetry, songs and short stories, He worked as an architect, in Dublin, then Edinburgh, returning to Ireland in 2009, when he became ill.

“While I was recuperating I decided to do an MA in Creative Writing. I started my novel for my thesis.”

Alan found his publisher through the Novel Fair at the Irish Writer’s Centre. “I got my agent through that, too.”

Who is AW Timmons?

Date/place of birth: July 1978/Ashford, Co Wicklow.

Education: De la Salle in Wicklow, then the Institute in Leeson Street. University College Dublin, Architecture, then MA in Creative Writing.

Home: Ashford, County Wicklow.

Family: Mother, father and a sister. “I’m in between girlfriends.”

The Day Job: Working three days a week as an architect.

Interests: Music. I like folk and narrative based — both listening and playing. I play the guitar and I like to sing.

Favourite Writers: Don DeLillo; Cormac McCarthy; Orhan Pamuk; Salmon Rushdie; Kevin Powers; Hilary Mantel; Kevin Barry.

Second Novel: I’ve started the research on my second one. It’s set in the past, and it’s consciously Irish.

Top Writing Tip: If you get stuck, move onto a different character or scene.

Twitter: @awtimmons

THE DEBUT

Here in No Place. New Island, €13.99; Kindle, €7.35

Murt Doran is adrift in life. He lives in a guest house, picking up odd jobs. After his wife’s death, his daughter was raised by relatives, and he wants to meet her. But there are obstacles in his way. He has to face all the problems and shadows of his past.

“There’s a B&B near where I live that everyone calls the Heartbreak Hotel. The joke is that it’s a home for guys who have fallen out with their wives. I wanted to write about interesting outsiders who didn’t have a place in society. That was the premise. The story and characters developed from there.”

The Verdict: A stunning debut, with a hero who lives on the outside.