Caroline Finnerty lives on the banks of the Grand Canal in County Kildare with her husband, four young children and their dog. She had the idea for her first book In a Moment after she became a mother for the first time and managed to secure a three-book deal. She has since gone on to write The Last Goodbye, Into The Night Sky, My Sister’s Child, The Last Days of Us, A Mother’s Secret and A Sister’s Promise. She has also compiled a non-fiction anthology entitled If I Was A Child Again featuring some of Ireland’s best loved authors, journalists and TV personalities with all royalties being donated to Barnardos. Caroline has been shortlisted for the RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland Short-Story competition and was also shortlisted for ‘Best Author’ by Stellar Magazine. She is represented by Hannah Todd in the Madeleine Milburn Agency.
You can contact her at caroline@carolinefinnerty.ie or on Facebook or Twitter.
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Caroline Finnerty 
Hi Caroline I just finished The last Goodbye really enjoyed it..couldn’t put it down..thanks for a great read..going off to get In a Moment ASAP!! looking forward to your next book..Geraldine
Hi Geraldine, thank you so much for your lovely message and for getting in contact with me. It really means a lot to hear that you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy ‘In a Moment’ as well now 🙂
Thanks again, I really appreciate the support,
All the best,
Caroline
Hi Caroline
This is my first time reading one of your novels (Into the night sky ) and as a busy mum of 2 to finish it feels like an accomplishment but I have to say I’ve enjoyed it so much even though I’m sitting here in the early hours of the morning finishing it I feel as if I have been part of it from the first chapter as I to have an an 8 year old boy and could relate to ur character in the book ( jack ) I sit hear with tears in my eyes feeling so grateful that I have a lifestyle which is the complete opposite to your characters in your book but still felt every emotion that Tina as a mother felt through your talent of writing I felt I was there every step of the book . And as I am not so talented and you might think I’m not making sense in layman’s terms I Truely Enjoyed reading your book Thank you
Kind Regards
Priscilla
Hi Priscilla, Thank you so much for your lovely message and kind words. It means a lot to hear that you enjoyed Into The Night Sky. I have to say that the character of Jack was one of my favourite characters from all my books. He felt like another one of my children when I was writing that book so I’m glad you liked him too. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my book and to send me this message, you’ve made my week! All the best, Caroline x
Dear Caroline, I was just flicking through stuff on the Poolbeg website and I was I very happy to read your interview. For the longest time I thought I was doing something wrong in how I started a story. I have been asked a few times to write a story coming from a structured plotline and each time I either didn’t feel the natural vibe of the story or else I couldn’t get beyond the first page. I’m sometimes convinced that the stories in my head only use my fingers as the vechile to come into the world. I’m delighted to see that I am not the only one who uses this mad method.
I have lived out of Ireland for around 5 yrs now so I have not had the joy of hearing about your books but I will be checking the local book shop now or using Amazon as your current book interview really intrigued me.
I look forward to reading a novel by another Celbridge resident.
Best wishes,
Margaret
Hi Margaret, thanks so much for your lovely message! Glad you found the interview helpful, I wish I could write more structured but for some reason it doesn’t seem to work that way for me. I suppose everyone is different so it’s good to hear I’m not alone 🙂 Are you from Celbridge originally? Thanks again, Caroline
Hi Caroline, Sorry for the delay. I read your book ‘The Last Goodbye’ during the week and I found it very enjoyable. I loved the way you managed to describe London so distinctly, without needing to know the city itself. But the most interesting character for me was Ben, strangely. I could really see him. I find being able to describe a secondary character rather difficult when they aren’t the main character, or you aren’t seeing their point of view. So if you don’t mind I would like to use your style as an inspiration.
Yep, I originally come from Castletown but live in Scotland now. And the thing I have really noticed over the last while is how distinctly Irish I write. I never really thought about it until I started reading Irish writers again. Irish writers tend to use very particular phrases and sentence structures that you don’t find in the UK especially in England. I am such a geek I find these thing interesting.
Thanks for your reply and have fun with your next project. Margaret
Thanks so much for your kind words Margaret and I’m glad you liked The Last Goodbye. It is such a small world, I was just in Castletown at the weekend 🙂 Best of luck with your own writing!
Dear Caroline
I recently devoured The Last Goodbye, finishing it at 2.15 one morning (my husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas so now I can read till all hours without disturbing him)! I’ve almost finished In a Moment and will miss your delightful writing. Dare I ask if no. 3 is in the pipeline?
Kind regards,
Allison Swart
(Johannesburg)
Thank you so much Allison! Lovely to hear from you and to know that my books are reaching people in South Africa too! My third book will be published in September, so not too far away. It will be called ‘Into the Night Sky’. I think I’m going to have to join the Kindle brigade as it’s a major complaint in my house that I keep my husband awake reading at night too 🙂 Thanks so much again for your lovely message, it really means a lot! Have a great day, Caroline xx
Hello again, Caroline
I just bought ‘Into the Night Sky’ … can’t wait to get started and as my son and husband have a boys’ day out at rugby tomorrow, the timing is perfect!
Have a great weekend,
Allison x
Hi Allison,
Great to hear from you again! Hope all is well in South Africa?
Thanks so much for buying ‘Into The Night Sky’, I really hope you enjoy it and also having a few hours to yourself while the boys are away at the rugby!
Have a lovely weekend,
Caroline xx
Hi Caroline.
I’ve just read ‘In a moment’ and I thought it was a fantastic read. Your characters were are so real and my heart broke for them. I couldnt put your book down and when i wasnt reading it i was thinking about it. Dying to read your ‘the last goodbye’ now. I work as a librarian so I’ll be recommending you to everyone! Emer
Hi Emer, thanks so much for taking the time to get in touch with me, it really means so much to get a lovely message like that, so a big thank you – you’ve made my day! Glad you liked ‘In a Moment’ and I hope you’ll like ‘The Last Goodbye’ too whenever you have a chance to read it. I really appreciate the support, I’m thrilled that you’re able to tell people in the library about them because it can be hard for new authors like myself to get our books noticed.
Hope you have a great St Patrick’s Day and thanks again!
All the very best,
Caroline
Hi Caroline . I have now read all of your 3 books . They were absolutly fantastic . Your a great writer and you just bring me along with the story, I can sometimes get so engrossed that I could believe that I am part of the story myself. I always look forward to picking my book up when I have one of your books. Please tell me there is more on the way .
Hi Dolores thanks so much for such a lovely message. Glad to hear that you liked my books. I’m finishing off my next book at the moment which is called ‘My Sister’s Child’ and I’m hoping it will be out later this year (fingers crossed!). Thanks again for getting it touch, it really means a lot x
Hi Caroline.
I am currently reading In a Moment, the strong emotions are explored in a very unique manner. Motherhood is a topic that is often not explored. Thanks for picking this genre. it deeply resonated within me and I am writing a response to text essay on it for college. If you could provide me with any thoughts or feelings you had when you wrote it, it would be of great help. : )
Hi Mary thanks for getting in touch. I wrote ‘In a Moment’ after I became a mother for the first time and like a lot of new parents, I suddenly felt very vulnerable because I now had a child I loved so much & wanted to be able to protect her from this scary world in which we live. I suppose at the time I was thinking a lot about the nature vs nurture debate. I have always been intrigued by this topic and often touch on it in my books. The character of Paul clearly had a difficult upbringing and goes down an undesirable path (we all know people like that) but I wanted to contrast that with the life of his mother Jean who had a privileged & caring childhood but still ended up going down the wrong road. It’s a complex area and the more I watch my children grow, the less sure I am in my mind about whether nature or nurture has the biggest influence on a child. I’m not sure if that’s very helpful to you but good luck with your essay!
Best wishes, Caroline