Beginner’s Pluck - Miranda Manning

Living the country life, Miranda Manning wasn’t really a reader until her twenties. She worked in HR; in a state body, then a secondary college, and finally in a factory.

It wasn’t until she was married with three small children that she started to write.

“It was a hobby,” she says. “And was easy to do from home. I wrote some short stories, and had some published in Woman’s Way magazine. I was shortlisted numerous times for competitions, but never won.”

The novel started as a short story, then just grew. “I wrote 10 chapters, then left it and went back to college. Then I uploaded some of it to a writing website, got good feedback, and finished it.”

Who is Miranda Manning?

Date/place of birth: February 1951/Ballinacurra, Co Cork.

Education: Presentation College Midleton. UCC: Social Science. UCG: Post Graduate Bachelors degree, then a Masters degree in law.

Home: Galway.

Family: Married to Tom, with three grown children, John, William, and Emer.

The Day Job: Retired. Formerly an office manager in an information centre.

Interests: Walking; swimming; reading and theatre.

Favourite Writers: Penelope Lively; Mary Wesley; Maeve Binchy; Joanna Trollope and HE Bates.

Second Novel: “I have one; I’ve nearly finished it, but there’s more work to do.”

Top Writing Tip: “Set yourself a target of , say, 1,000 words a day. And just do it. Finishing this book, I sat down for two hours, seven days a week. And read a lot while you’re writing. It helps with the flow.”

Web /Twitter: Neither.

THE DEBUT

Who is Alice? Poolbeg, €15.99; Kindle,€5.92

When Alice is locked out of her apartment, and her life, she encounters three women who help her sort out her life. But gaining her rights isn’t easy, when the father of her two young daughters is a high ranking politician, who will play any dirty trick to avoid scandal.

The Verdict: This excellent debut is a social thriller with bite. It’s both original and engaging.