This much I know : Deirdre Purcell, writer

Growing up, I actually wanted to be a jockey.

Although I did write my first play and took the best part when I was eight.

I didn’t always plan to be an actor but I enjoyed my time with The Abbey. The highlight of my time there was a 27-venue tour of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night.

My move to journalism grew organically from a stint as an RTÉ news anchor. And then my writing career grew organically out of journalism.

My earliest memory is of the sound and sensation of being jolted along a rutted road in my wooden-wheeled pram. We lived in a gate lodge named Laurel Lodge — now a large estate near Castleknock — and the road outside was not ideal, to put it mildly.

As a child, I think I was a combination of both shy and outgoing… shy underneath, but determined that it should not show on the surface.

I keep a work life balance by maintaining a sense of humour and — despite appearances — constantly reminding myself that work is not the be all and end all of life. It is a means to an end — that end being to live! I was told once that for those who believe they will face judgment in the next world, the question posed at the so-called Pearly Gates will not be: “For what sins must you atone?”, but: “What use did you make of the gifts provided?” That stuck.

My advice on giving any type of live performance is to concentrate on delivering the meaning and emphases of the script, not on yourself.

Coming towards a writing deadline I find it is very helpful to be alone with no distractions, responsibilities or obligations. A rare possibility but when it can happen it is very productive.

If I could be reborn as someone else for a day I’d try being The Dalai Lama.

You could say I come from an artistic family, depending on how you define that. My father was a very good singer; my mother, gifted in many ways, sang in choirs; her parents were musicians. My brother, Declan, is highly musical. Each of his three children are very good actors and singers; any of the three could be professional. I have four first cousins: Philip (Kenny) is an entrepreneurial designer/potter/wood-turner; his brother, Stephen, is a wonderful and instinctive jazz pianist; their sister, Barbara, takes interior design to a new level; Laura (Butler) is a visual artist, graphic designer and supremely talented quilter.

I am disciplined where work is concerned. Routine is not possible, however.

If I could change one thing in Irish society, I’d change the mental health arena.

The best advice I ever received about writing was to stop each day’s work in the middle of a sentence — because that means that at the next session you will have something with which to continue.

The trait I most admire in other people is compassion.

My worst fault is that I’m always losing things — including valuables.

My idea of misery would be the slums of Haiti, the hunger camps of Ethiopia, the flooded farmlands — meaning starvation — of Bangladesh. Cruelty towards and deliberate torture of animals.

I don’t believe in life after death. My biggest challenge in life so far has been staying solvent. So far, life has taught me to keep going, no matter what.

Bestselling writer Deirdre Purcell is the author of The Winter Gathering, published by Hachette Ireland.