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Brendan Gerad O'Brien
A little about meBio - Brendan Gerad O’Brien
Born in Tralee, Ireland, I now live in Newport, South Wales. When I won my first writing competition I was so excited I ran all the way home. I was eight years old. The Fun Fair was coming to Tralee and our English teacher asked us to write about it. I won the prize - a book of tickets for the fair.
I loved essays and English literature, and I read extensively. It’s hard to pick a preferred writer, I’ve been impressed by so many over the years. My all-time favourite is The Wind in the Willows, although murder mysteries and thrillers are what I usually favour. Val McDermid’s Wire in the Blood fascinated me, as did Anne Cleeve’s Vera and Shetland series. Also Andy McNab’s Nick Stone series. Humour as well, Billy Connolly had me in stitches over Christmas.
When I got married and the children came along, I decided to try writing a novel. Dark September, an alternative history thriller set in wartime Britain, is the result. I found an agent who insisted on changes, but she died and the agency closed. It took ages to find another agent, who also demanded changes. So I parked the book and focused on short stories.
My uncle had a Harnessmaker’s shop in Listowel where I spent my school holidays. It was a magnet for all sorts of colourful characters who wandered in for a chat and a bit of jovial banter. My numerous short stories are loosely based on those characters. I self-published twenty of them in a collection called Dreamin’ Dreams with KDP
Dark September is an alternative history thriller set in wartime Britain. Self-published with KDP
Gallows Field is a murder mystery set in Ireland during WW2, introducing Eamon Foley. Self-published with KDP.
A Pale Moon Was Rising is a follow-up murder mystery involving Guard Eamon Foley. Self-published with KDP
A Crack in the Ice third in the series of murder mysteries featuring Guard Eamon Foley. Self-published with KDPE
Footsteps is a stand-alone thriller set in 1967, the summer of love.
