Radio interviews, rollercoasters and chips! A perfect day in the seaside resort of Tramore

Hey everyone

Hows all this slightly damp Thursday morning?

I have to tell you, I’ve got lots of exciting things happening with me on the writing front right now but I am sworn to secrecy.  I have been literally clamping my hands over my mouth in an attempt at stopping myself shouting my news out loud and proud to you all!  This news is the equivalent I think, of say one getting promoted from being a underpaid secretary to the big cheese, Mr CEO himself, or from being on the tills ringing up loo roll and baked beans to managing a chain of stores,  or from painting charcoal portraits on Stephens Green to showcasing your work in the Louvre! (ok maybe not that big, but you get the drift).

Anyhoooo, this news can soon be shared, (at feckin last!) I believe my gagging order is over early next week, so I’ll be getting out the bunting and making a cake (or maybe buying one!) to celebrate.  So much to share with you all then.  Like for example a photo shoot I was on last week for media photographs.  Can’t wait to tell you all about my stint as a supermodel, model, complete eejit who didn’t have a clue what she was doing!  My photographer is without doubt a genius though.  An honest to god genius and if I win the euro millions any time soon, I will be hiring him as my families personal photographer, such is his genius.  I normally hate myself in photographs, but I have to admit I LOVE these.  As I said, I will be sharing more on this next week!

So to stop myself from spilling my news and being sent to the virtual naughty step, I’ll tell you about my day yesterday as a form of diversion.  I was invited by Radio presenter Norman Graham to join him in the TCRfm studios.  He has a weekly show every Friday evening, 9pm – 10pm called Storytime where he talks about all things book related.

I had a lot of fun recording an hour long show that will be aired on 16th August.  I love radio as a medium, my first experience with it, was with Karl Fitzpatrick on South East Radio earlier this year  (here’s that interview if anyone fancies a listen.)

In the studio with Norman and I, was Mike the music guy (Ian Fleming and Gavin and Stacey fan!) and fellow writer Derbhile Dromey (check out her book called The Pink Cage which is now on my TBR list).  I’ve had the privilidge of chatting to Derbhile on twitter and we both have chatted on each others blogs too, so it was really nice to put a face and voice to a name.  And she’s as lovely in the person as she is online!  To catch up on all things Derbhile, you can go to her website here.

We had a lot of banter between the four of us about writing and I was asked to do a small reading of Beyond Graces Rainbow, which was a little bit daunting at first, but hopefully I didn’t fluff my lines to much!  I realised when I practised reading the excerpt that I have a problem saying the word February.  It sounds wrong when I say it.  Honestly it does.  Is that just me? I look forward to hearing the finished interview next week and I can find out did I nail the pronunciation on the day!

Tramore actually holds a lot of happy memories for me.  As a child, Mum and Dad would pack a picnic and bring us four kids to Tramore every summer, where we would happily and excitedly spend hours in the Amusement park before finishing the day off with salt and vinegary chips. Then we would get the Passage East ferry back home to Wexford, eyes heavy with exhaustion, smiling as we fell asleep on the drive home.

So I decided that it was too good an opportunity to miss yesterday, going back to Tramore, so all the H’s came with me.  Mr H walked the legs of the children on the pier while I did the interview  and then once that was over it was family day out time!  Although it has been decades since I’d been to Tramore, it felt like I was arriving home to an old and dear friend.  The promenade hasn’t changed too much, just gotten a little bigger and more modern, but it looked just as exciting and fun to my adult self as it had always been when I was a child.  The children were so excited it was infectious.  We soon blew our budget for the day in one hour in the amusement park mind you!!! One more time Mummy, pleaseeeeeeeeee!

Then it was time for the picnic which became scrumptiously complete when Mr H paid a quick visit to Dooley’s chipper on the sea front.  Nothing tastes better than proper vinegary chips, real chunky potatoes, none of the skinny fries nonsense you understand!  And don’t chips taste so much better out of a paper bag, especially when eaten by the sea, with the smells of the ocean mixing with the smell of salt and vinegar in your nostrils.  Nom, nommy nom!!!

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We also were extremely lucky to see a group of dolphins who were bounding up and down in the water in front of us.

I had been given a wonderful tip off about an amazing Fenor Play Park, which is about a 10 minute drive from Tramore and we decided to visit this after our picnic.  Thank you Tanya of After The Final Chapters for this tip off, cos’ it really was worth the journey!  What a fabulous park the community of Fenor have built for their children.  It’s really quite inspirational to see what a small group of people can achieve when they work together.  There is a little tuck shop next door to it too with is run by the local boy scouts, so ice-cream treats were readily available.

So yesterday evening, as we drove home to Wexford, our tummies full and contented smiles on all our faces, the children’s eyes heavy with happy exhaustion, I know that the tradition of an annual trip to Tramore that my parents began when I was a child, will now be carried on to my own family.   See you soon Tramore, we’ll be back.

Chat soon,

Carmel x