As a child, Carole wrote long diary entries and letters to anyone who would reply, and as a teenager she wrote short stories. Some were published, and others shortlisted in competitions. 

Liz McManus Ward River Press, €16.99; Kindle, €6.72

Martina Devlin has changed as a novelist and as a newspaper columnist. She spoke to Sue Leonard about her new book which is “a cracking good story”.