Seeking Literary Representation

My novel is inspired by real events, with characters who feel “profoundly real, flawed, passionate, and heartbreakingly human”.

My latest book, Saint Helen, takes three historical events from the 1970s and 1980s in Ireland, and combines them in a novel I briefly self-published for the purpose of gathering reviews. In the event, these were excellent, from Kirkus Reviews, Readers’ Favorite, a number of Amazon global sites and on Goodreads. Reviewers have said “Slow burner. But brilliant.”, “Each word is chosen with razor precision…”, and “Lingers long after reading”. Characters “have lovely depth”, “… feel profoundly real, flawed, passionate, and heartbreakingly human.”, “… are relatable,” and “The emotional depth of the characters kept me turning the pages.” One reviewer wrote “I would recommend it [Saint Helen] to readers who enjoy historical fiction with complex characters and real emotional weight.” Reviewers, including Kirkus Reviews, were impressed by the meticulous research that was evident in the writing of Saint Helen.

I see Saint Helen as a trailblazer, something to establish my name as an author in advance of the release of the new book series I am working on. This gives to an American Founding Father and an erudite woman who shares his philosophy the same treatment that Hilary Mantel gives to Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister, and Tudor times, in her Wolf Hall trilogy, which has been enormously successful. Mine will be a series of two books.

To do this right my books would need to be distributed by an established publisher, one who would have the credibility to be able to nominate a work for major book awards.

In anticipation of getting representation and such a publisher, I have now unpublished both hardback and eBook editions of Saint Helen on Amazon and on Ingram Sparks.

My (self-published) books include:

• Saint Helen — an historical novel set in 1970s Ireland that explores love, religion, politics, and violence during a turbulent period in Irish history.

• The Maker’s Name — a thriller dealing with family rivalry, ambition, and the aftermath of the Celtic Tiger era.

• The Reconstitution of Ireland — (non-fiction) a collection of my writing as published in The Irish Times, with commentary tracing Ireland’s social transformation over several decades.

I hold an MA in Creative Writing from Dublin City University. I am a full (professional) member of the Irish Writers’ Union. I am a member of the Historical Novel Society. You can see more about me on my website at: www.seamusmckenna.ie

I maintain a Substack blog at: https://irishwriterheaven.substack.com/

Saint Helen would sit well alongside Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting, and Anne Enright’s The Gathering.

Email me on seamus@seamusmckenna.ie to get a synopsis and your choice of the first three chapters, the first 10,000 words, the full manuscript, or whatever you’re having yourself.

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Seamus McKenna,

Maynooth, Ireland. Phone: 086 0305454, international: +353 86 0305454

Email: seamus@seamusmckenna.ie