Support ‘like pieces of jigsaw’ says author

The encouragement she received when she set about writing her book was like the pieces of a jigsaw, Lorraine Murphy told those gathered for the official launch last Saturday evening. All the words of encouragement together helped complete the final puzzle, and Into The Woods is the result, she said.

Copies of Lorraine’s psychological thriller were on sale at the event in the Annebrook House Hotel, where guests from the various areas of her life gathered to celebrate the publication of the book.

In her remarks, Lorraine raised plenty of laughs, the first of them when she asked each of those groups who could produce the loudest cheers. The local Toastmasters, Inklings (writing group), the parkrunners, Dips Don’t Lie (lake swimming group), zumba, Our New Ears, neighbours, friends, and family were all represented, though who won the loudest cheer wasn’t adjudicated on!

Lorraine said: “When I set about writing that book, I was nervous, not nervous, terrified – terrified mostly about what people would say; ‘who am I to write a book’, ‘it’s for other people’ – but fortunately the encouragement I got was massive, it was incredible, and every part of that mattered."

“It was like a jigsaw, and even if one of those pieces was missing, you wouldn’t have a complete jigsaw, so I can’t stress enough how grateful I am for the encouragement, from when I floated the idea to Susan on holidays, and Susan made me write a book, and I mean, made, me write a book, to everybody who was involved in the process.”

Lorraine also revealed the good news that she has received her first royalties on Into the Woods, from Mullingar Library, which means a great deal to her because she spent a lot of time there when she was writing the book; and that she had sold the rights to the audio book last Friday.

That news also raised a huge cheer in the Annebrook’s elegant Old House reception rooms, as Lorraine told her audience that it was “an honour to be here with you, and to sign the book for you”.

She said that many of the guests had travelled from various parts of the country to celebrate with her and her family, and he was delighted to have them there.

Lorraine had fond words of thanks for her husband Brendan, “who works so I can do this, so thank you very much”; their children Eva (who is currently doing her third year of college in Singapore), Ben (17) and Anna (13), who were present – she said to them: “Never let anyone dull your sparkle, and always chase your dreams – it’s definitely worth it”, and added “including yourself” because we can be our own biggest critics.

Lorraine also paid tribute to her family in Swords, “my mother, who taught me how to read before I went to school, my grandfather, who taught me how to tell stories, and her big sister Catharina Mooney, who started college for the first time in September and is the first in their family to go to Trinity. (She’s studying Classical civilisation and the history of art.)

Lorraine also had a word for her in-laws Nancy and Michael Murphy from Castlepollard and Murphy family, and she thanked her Toastmasters friends for being on duty selling copies of the book.

One of her childhood friends, Kathryn McCullagh, did the launch of the book, and opened her remarks by saying that she could confirm that Into The Woods is “an absolutely riveting read, and once you have begun it, you won’t be able to put it down”.

She then took the audience back to Swords four decades ago: “If you don’t mind, I’d like to jump back a few years, to 1982, I can remember aged eight or nine, with my sister, meeting Lorraine for the first time. I knew quite soon that she had a whacky sense of humour, an amazing imagination and the ability to make your sides sore with her wit and jokes.

“My early memories are of long lazy summer days, playing games as Gaeilge, dancing in the sitting room, with her sister Catherina, who we looked up to and who showed us some deadly dance moves! We performed plays we wrote ourselves and put them on for whoever would give us the time of day.

“Lorraine has been a great friend to everyone who has known her, the girls in Swords that she grew up with, Amanda, Michelle, Susan, Martha, Catherine, Caroline, who she shares so many memories with, Clare, her good friend, and all the Mullingar gang, her college friends, Our New Ears, the charity she co-founded, and the wonderful people she met there.”

Kathryn thanked Lorraine’s parents Imelda and Larry, “who showed Lorraine how important it is to laugh through life even if times can sometimes be hard” and her parents-in-law in Castlepollard, all the Murphy clan and all the extended family.

Kathryn added thanks to Brendan, who “she told me looked like Bryan Adams when she met him (huge laughs) and she was immediately smitten by his handsomeness and comic genius”, and their children.

Concluding, she said: “Lorraine, we’re all proud of you and your great achievement in writing this book, you always have stories in that amazing mind of yours and we eagerly await the next, and in the words of Fr Ted Lorraine, ‘good luck with the book!’.”