IвЂ™m going to write them honest blurbs for other peopleвЂ™s books, because theyвЂ™re not allowed to. So with all this in mind, I would like nowВ to do myВ actually famous writerly friends a favour. (This is quite apart from the fact that thereвЂ™s only 2 degrees of separation between anyone in Ireland soВ you canвЂ™t run the risk of insulting anyone, because youвЂ™re always inextricably tied in some respect, even in theВ unlikely event youвЂ™re notВ related to their aunt/cousin/solicitor/godfather/fella they played the tin whistle with at a First Holy Communion whenВ they were 7.) But youвЂ™ve alsoВ been thrustВ into a position where you have to say yes to everything, no matter how distasteful or ridiculous, becauseВ people willВ turn on you and slate you behind your backВ if you donвЂ™t. YouвЂ™re in the spotlight, where itвЂ™s assumed loads of other people want to be. If you can imagine the sort of difficult position a famous writer would be in, if, say, their publisher asked them to write a glowing blurb* for another author whose work they didnвЂ™t really take to, imagine then what itвЂ™s like for a famous IRISHВ writer.Д«eing famous in Ireland is a bit like being asked to be someoneвЂ™s bridesmaid. Social influencers donвЂ™t seem to have much of a problem with this, but writers often do. This is because famous authors and, вЂsocial influencersвЂ™ are always getting asked by people to endorse other peopleвЂ™s stuff, whether they like the stuff or not. (I can feel the sympathetic waves from here.)Д«ut IвЂ™m also conscious that my complete lack of fame (and of course,В to date, a publishing deal) also gives me the freedom to be honest where others simply cannot.ДЄnd so, I must in fact sympathise with my more famous writerly friends. I know you can all see how stressful this can be. Yet every blog post I write is on a knife-edge between causing offence to 46.7% of the worldвЂ™s population, or making a handful of you giggle. Indeed, despite winning 3 rd prize вЂ“В thisВ rather lovelyВ Bronze award вЂ“ at the Blog Awards Ireland 2018 recently, and thus ending my run of always-the-bridesmaid at the finals each year, I am as far from fame as ever. Frequent visitors to this parish will know that itвЂ™s a constant source ofВ disapuzzlement to me that I am still not famous, despite my constant stirring up of trouble,В notoriously shakyВ argumentsВ which wouldВ drive a saint to drink, and my flat refusal to make this blog more attractive with pretty pastel photography.

Blurb vs mypublisher