While working in political PR and marketing, Nicola studied a series of advanced creative writing courses at the Irish Writers' Centre and set up a lifestyle and literary blog at www.LadyNicci.com, which was nominated in the Ireland Blog Awards in 2015 and 2016.
During her maternity leave for her first daughter, Nicola set about researching and writing a historical fiction novel, December Girl, inspired by true events and set in the mystical and ancient Boyne Valley, famed for its stone age passage tombs, near to where she grew up.
Nicola signed with US based Trace Literary Agency in 2016. December Girl was picked up by Betsy Reavley at UK digital publisher Bombshell Books in June 2017 and will be published 26 October 2017.
She is an avid reader, inspired by the likes of Anais Nin, Joan Didion and Jessie Burton and is currently working on her second novel, also inspired by true events. She lives with her husband and two young daughters in Termonfeckin, Co. Louth.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing journey?
My name is Nicola Cassidy, I’m a Mum to two young girls and I work as a marketing manager in an engineering consultancy in Co. Dublin. I’ve always been interested in writing and studied journalism after leaving school. I chose this course, because at the time – I didn’t know of any other career where you could earn a living, writing. Looking back I can see that I was really searching for a creative career – and as journalism deals with facts, I soon moved out of it and into marketing and PR where there were more options to come up with ideas or imagery or words to sell a story. I soon returned to the creative writing fold – taking some courses at the Irish Writers’ Centre and starting my blog www.LadyNicci.com. It wasn’t until I had my first child though that the idea to really knuckle down and write a book struck me. It was something I always wanted to do in my lifetime, and on maternity leave I thought – why not try it now?
If you had to give an elevator pitch for December Girl, what would it be?
Oh I hate giving elevator pitches! I find them really difficult. As soon as anyone says – what is your book about – I completely freeze. Everything I’ve learned about publishing and selling your book says you need to be able to pitch your book in one sentence – but I haven’t been able to do that with December Girl. There are a few strands to the storyline, a bit of background to how I came to write it and I always fear people’s reaction – that they might wrinkle their nose and say, ooo I don’t like the sound of that, so for all those reasons, I never really know what to say! BUT, if pushed, I say, it’s a historical fiction novel, inspired by true events, based on a real life eviction and a story of a woman who had her baby kidnapped. It’s set in Co. Meath, Ireland, where there are famed stone age tombs, older than the pyramids – and every year, the tombs are lit by the sun on the winter solstice. My character Molly is born on the winter solstice – so this is where the name December Girl comes from. She carries an ancient powerful spirit with her, that helps form her character. And throughout the book she longs to get home to beautiful Boyne Valley where she is from. How’s that for a long drawn out elevator pitch?!
