Creative Gene?

I was having a think about my creativity and can honestly say that apart from my jewellery making, I don't consider myself a creative person. My sister Louise has been crafting for a few years and enjoys card making, scrapbooking and cross stitch. My other sister Lesley and brother John have no creative tendancies at all - or perhaps they are simply latent!

It is my older sister Anne who is the most obviously creative one amongst us. As a teenager Anne went to University College Dublin to study Agriculture. While there she decided to write a novel - as you do - and wrote the beginnings of a book. After a while she discarded it until a fateful visit to a fortune teller, who told her she would make her money from creative writing.

Out came the novel and once finished she didn't know what to do with it. So she went into a booksellers in Grafton Street, trying to build up the courage to ask someone about how you go about getting a book published. Clearly she looked suspicious because before long a security guard came over to throw her out. Instead, she asked him about publishers, he pulled out the telephone directory and wrote down contacts for a few publishers. Poolbeg was the first on the list. She sent off her work and they accepted it. And so The Pineapple Tart was published.



Since then Anne has had another 5 books published, numerous short stories, stories for radio and managed to have 4 children in the space of 3 and a half years! She currently lives in Bahrain, after time spent in Oman, Botswanna and Ireland. Her latest book is Enchanting Alice.



It's amazing to me that the girl I shared a room with growing up is now found in the Irish best sellers lists and sells books on Amazon.

Maybe there is a creative gene in our family after all?