A move to Clare helps Charlie find the perfect wife

FRIDAY 13th may be considered unlucky for some but for Clare-based writer, Eoin Lemon this date marks the start of a whole new chapter.

Originally from Bath in England but now living in Miltown Malbay, Eoin is the first of the Inis Creative Writing Group to publish a novel, Charlie and the Perfect Wife, which will be launched in Glór on Friday, May 13 from 6pm to 7pm.
Eoin first moved to Clare seven years ago and much of ‘Charlie’ is set in his adopted home of Miltown Malbay. Having grown up in London, Eoin first visited Clare when he was 10.
“It has always been a special place for me and it was not surprising that I should have married a Clare girl. We can see the Atlantic Ocean from our bedroom window which is fantastic and it is a great place for our son to grow up. I do miss certain things about London but it’s a huge difference from growing up in a block of flats,” he tells us.
Speaking about the book he says, “The main objective of the book is to make people laugh and to make people happy. Everybody is good at something; I like to think I have a talent for creative writing and I’m glad someone has been kind enough to publish it.”
Without wanting to ruin the ending, the book tells the story of married man, Charlie Parker, who after saving a tramp’s life is granted a wish for his wife to be perfect.
Eoin explains where the idea for the novel came from, “I read an interview with a well-known actor who was asked to describe his perfect partner, his answer was exactly right. He said his partner would be a woman who loved him and this is the key to the book. Being married to a brilliant musician or a superb athlete counts for little if you haven’t won that love. I don’t think I would be spoiling the plot by explaining that Charlie’s true love is a girl he met at college. He is a victim of circumstances and has a good heart, he is someone I would gladly have as a friend.”
It was only in recent years that Eoin returned to writing after a number of earlier attempts, which he describes himself as “pure rubbish”. “I used to read with my son in the evenings but he mostly reads on his own now. I don’t go to pubs so I needed to fill up my spare time with a hobby and it was around that time that the idea for the story came into my head. It wouldn’t win a literary prize but it is a really good and a very funny story, so I started writing.
“This particular idea made me determined to write it down. I don’t consider myself to be a great writer but the story is terrific and I would love someone more talented to pick it up and develop the idea in the future. A number of people have told me it should be a movie and I completely agree with them.”
Eoin is a member of the Inis Creative Writing Group, which was set up last year by Siobhán Mulcahy of the Clare Arts Office. According to Eoin, working with the writers’ group has been a great experience. “We are able to share our work and get advice and feedback from each other. It gives you confidence too and getting your friends to read your work is also beneficial. It has been a real education getting the views of other writers.”
He modestly adds, “I’m also aware that I’m not the best writer in the group and so I hope there will be more work published by group members in the future. My friend, Connor O’Sullivan, is launching a book Rebel Mind at the Listowel festival in June so there will be two Inis writers in print very soon.
“I am 44 and age gives you enough humility to ask and to look for advice. So much of the Charlie book is thanks to listening to that advice and to feedback from other people. This was particularly important in describing the female characters. It is easy enough for me to think for Charlie but Marianne and the other characters were so much better thanks to the help from friends and from the writers group in Ennis.”
The family man works full-time, so did he find it difficult to find the time to write? “I’m fortunate because part of my work involves designing brochures and advertising and this is something I particularly enjoy doing. Perhaps if I worked in the book trade, writing would be more difficult and it would be more like a chore but the two things are completely different and the writing is something I do purely for fun and as a hobby,” he laughs.
“I was given some very good advice a few years ago, which I was able to use to help me through the book. I was to imagine any ambitious task as a journey, say from Ennis to Cork. You want to go to Cork but it’s a very long walk, so it’s easier to rest and stay in Ennis. But if you see the journey in stages, it’s an easier task to complete. Charlie is essentially in five parts and I was able to break it up into pieces and chart the progress. By chapter five, I was already in Limerick and pleased to have got that far. I could still be in Ennis now but instead I made it to Cork. I just need directions to Dublin now,” he smiles.
Charlie and the Perfect Wife is published by Ten Publishing Ltd, sales @tenpublishing.co.uk.