Literary Birthday – 30 September – Cecelia Ahern

Happy Birthday, Cecelia Ahern, born on 30 September 1981.

Cecelia Ahern Quotes

1. I believe in the magic of books. I believe that during certain periods in our lives we are drawn to particular books—whether it’s strolling down the aisles of a bookshop with no idea whatsoever of what it is that we want to read and suddenly finding the most perfect, most wonderfully suitable book staring us right in the face. Unblinking. Or a chance meeting with a stranger or friend who recommends a book we would never ordinarily reach for. Books have the ability to find their own way into our lives.
2. I say write what moves you. Write what you feel compelled to write about. Unless they come naturally to you, ignore trends such as vampires and erotica just because they’re popular and focus on what you feel your heart has to say. It’s important to write for yourself, move yourself and then the reader will hopefully feel your passion and identify with those emotions.
3. Decide where and when you want to write. I like space, and silence is an inspiration to me.
4. I write human stories. I write about people. Not as a product of their environment. But from the stance that everybody is made of the same thing.
5. I always take a story that’s kind of out there, like an urban myth. I take some possibility that people imagine, that they are familiar with, and try to turn it into a story.
6. I want a character to wake up one day and feel like, ‘I can face it’. That, to me, is happy. I want the characters to rescue themselves, though you use the relationships you have, to make you strong enough to be able to do that.
7. I write my novels longhand. I love the feeling of writing; I love to see pen on paper. It feels more creative than typing, and it’s a more visual process for me – I can picture the entire scene in my head and am merely writing what I see.
8. The thread that links my work is in capturing that transitional period in people’s lives. I’m drawn to writing about loss, to characters that have fallen and who feel powerless in their lives. I am fascinated and inspired by the human spirit, by the fact that no matter how hopeless we feel and how dark life can be, we do have the courage, strength and bravery to push through our challenging moments. We are the greatest warriors in our own stories.
9. I like to catch my characters as they fall, and bring them from low to high. My characters push through and as a result evolve, become stronger and better equipped for the next challenge that life brings. I like to mix dark with light, sadness with humour, always keeping a balance, and always bringing the story to a place of hope.

Cecelia Ahern is an Irish novelist. She has published 18 novels, including PS, I Love You and How to Fall in Love, and contributed a number of short stories to various anthologies. Ahern also created and produced the ABC comedy Samantha Who?. Cecelia other novels are Where Rainbows End, If You Could See Me Now, A Place Called Here, Thanks for the Memories, The Gift, The Book of Tomorrow, The Time of My Life, One Hundred Names, The Year I Met You, The Marble Collector, Flawed, Perfect, Lyrebird, ROAR, Postscript, and Freckles. To date, Cecelia’s books have sold 25 million copies internationally, are published in over 40 countries, in 30 languages. Follow her on Instagram.

Source for Image: Author’s Website

by Amanda Patterson
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