On this week’s Write Smarter Blog, I am delighted to introduce you all to my guest Rebecca Murphy, winner of the 2025 RTÉ Today Show Novel Competition in association with Mercier Press.
Blood & Water is her debut novel and is described as‘a haunting, beautifully observed novel about identity, inheritance, and the quiet devastations that echo through generations. With warmth, wit, and emotional precision, Rebecca Murphy introduces a striking new voice in fiction, one that lingers long after the final page.’
Rebecca is a writer from Cork, living in Wicklow with her wife and two dogs. Her influences range from Anne Enright to Stephen King, by way of Maeve Binchy. She has a degree in Drama and English from UCC and was also the recipient of a Faber Academy Scholarship.
Blood & Water will be published in May 2026 by Mercier Press.
The cascade of advice on writing can be overwhelming for something that seems so simple. Pick up a pen and write. Open your laptop and type. Or my most frequent medium, open your notes app and spill into it whatever nonsense has bubbled up in your head while picking out veg in Tesco. I’m hoping the following will help, not add to the noise:
1) Find your community:
There’s a romantic image of a writer as a lonely outcast, staring across the sea/mountains/city (preferably Paris or Rome, London will do in a pinch), marinading in their own sentences. I’ve had some wonderful gazing out to sea moments, but my best writing has emerged from a process of sharing and learning and processing. I have been lucky to find amazing friends through writing courses that have given me feedback, showed me their work so I can wonder (and occasionally curse) at other people’s talent. They have talked me down from plot-related panics, reassured me about characters and reminded me “everyone thinks their writing is crap, you’re not that special you know.” I would urge you to find your community – let your writing out into the world and get the corners knocked off you and your work. Learning how to give and receive feedback will stand to you in all areas of your life but especially if you want to ever publish. People will be FULL of opinions then and it’s much easier to manage those when the stakes are lower.
Where are some places to find writing pals? Writing courses and classes are a good start. Check out the Irish writers centre for courses and other places like Write like a Grrl, Faber Academy, Curtis Browne and many more. Writing clubs, the comment sections of your favourite substacks, local evening classes, writers meet up groups or Facebook groups.
2) Just write:
I’m a fan of a motivational post-its, and when I was trying to write my novel Blood and Water I put one right in my eyeline behind my laptop that said:
“Would I rather be writing, or sad and annoyed with myself because I’m not writing?”
Just write, even if you think it’s crap, even if you’re tired (especially when you’re tired, your brain won’t fight you as much), even if you only have ten minutes. Fill that ten minutes with something that will give you a warm glow of satisfaction. It doesn’t have to be your big work in progress, it doesn’t have to be anything serious or something you think might be for publishing some day. Just write.
Which leads me to my final piece of advice,
3) Call yourself a writer:
If you write- even for ten minutes, even if a single word hasn’t been read by another human being, let alone published – you are a writer. My hypocrisy is showing, because in just 3 weeks my debut novel is being published and I’ve never felt like more of a fraud. And the bad news is, having talked to writers far more successful than I, that feeling of being a fraud doesn’t seem to go away. When I started writing I thought I couldn’t describe myself as a writer until X happened, and then until Y. I am on the brink of having an entire novel published and I’m still grappling with it. I changed my insta handle to “Rebecca Murphy – writer”, and almost had to lie down for the day with my inner cringe. However, many riches lurk in the mountains beyond the valley of cringe – so power through and do it anyway. Tell people you’re a writer. Practice saying it. My understanding is that the cringe remains no matter what you achieve – so why not ignore it? That inner critic voice is trying protect you from shame, protect you from embarrassment – but it will ultimately just hold you back. Pat it on the head and tell it, “Thank you, but I’m going to keep going regardless.”
Be proud to be a writer, find friends who will lift you up and drive you to be better, but most of all, just keep writing.
Rebecca Murphy ©
Blood & Water will be launched on May 12th at 6:30pm in The Firkin Crane, Cork – ALL WELCOME
[ About Blood & Water ]
Pre-order here: https://www.mercierpress.ie/books/blood-and-water/
Susan arrives on Dune Island with a plan, settle her late uncle’s estate, sign the papers, and leave within a week. The inheritance is simple, a weathered cottage, a small distillery, a stubborn dog named Walter. On paper, nothing she couldn’t sort in a week.
Except Susan isn’t just there to close a chapter. She’s running, from Jen, from a loss she cannot yet name, and from a life that has quietly unravelled.
But Dune Island has been keeping its own secrets.
Cut off on the edge of the Wild Atlantic Way, where the ferry runs on Mick’s time and every glance carries a question, Susan begins to uncover what her uncle Frank left behind, not just property, but a lifetime of silence. And the longer she stays, the more the island reveals, buried stories, unspoken grief, a family history shaped as much by what was hidden as by what was known.
And as the past begins to surface, Susan must confront the truths she came to escape.
She came to Dune Island to be alone. The island had other ideas.
Another fab post! xx
Nicki it’s a fabulous opportunity for Rebecca to have her debut published in such a way. Thanks so much x