My first full-time job was as an apprentice projectionist in what was then called the Kenilworth Cinema in Harold's Cross, Dublin. I recently wrote an article about my time there, and in that article I sang the praises of projectionist Harry Colgan. Harry became the step-father of the writer Michael Scott after Michael's father - Harry's best friend - died.
I first met Michael Scott in the early 1990s at a sci-fi convention in Dublin - he and I being two of the few sci-fi writers in Ireland. While I went on to make a few films but write only two sci-fi novels so far, Michael is a writer of gigantic talent with an astonishingly formidable output - over a hundred books to date. He and I remained in contact from time to time down the years, but just today I stumbled on the fact that Michael - already a highly successful writer - has hit the jackpot. His novel The Alchemyst, the first of six parts, has become an instant bestseller and has been optioned for film rights of all six parts!
Another friend of mine, Don Conroy, has written many novels for young people while also writing about wildlife and about painting. He has a great new website, and I must ask him to create a link there to my own young people's novel PEG LEG GUS for which he made the cover painting.
Michael and Don live their dreams. They are rightly rewarded for that. And they are two great people.
I think the secret of their success is persistence: okay, plus huge talent. I wonder will I get away with just persistence....
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