Áine Greaney’s
WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING TOUR
OF
Trespassers and Other Stories
Tour
Trespassers
by Áine Greaney
Book Summary
From coastal Massachusetts to rural Ireland, the characters in Trespassers struggle to reconcile past and present, place and displacement, loss and hope.
A woman travels from her Massachusetts home to her native Irish village to care for her estranged and sick father. Back in her childhood home, she comes face-to-face with previously unspoken losses.
A wealthy couple travels to Cape Cod to spend their 52nd summer on the wife’s ancestral estate. On their private beach above Nantucket Sound, the husband must confront the realities of their long marriage and its social-class tensions.
An Irish immigrant takes her American-born teen to a raucous Boston house party. At that party, the teenager discovers that her mother had lied about her child’s birth father—a lie that will permanently divide the mother and daughter.
PUBLISHER: Sea Crow Press
ISBN-10: 1961864207
ISBN-13 978-1961864207
Print Length: 130 pages
Purchase a copy of Trespassers and Other Stories on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list.
Guest Post
When the Authors Guild surveyed over 5,000 American writers, those writers’ reported median income (from their books alone) was approximately $3,000 per year. This included traditionally, hybrid and self-published authors. For those authors who combined writing with book-related jobs (editing, teaching, presenting), the reported median income was almost $6,000 per year.
Three thousand or six thousand. Both sets of reported incomes are way, way below the national poverty rate. So for most of us, being a writer with a day job is a fact of life and the only, viable way to keep being a writer.
However, as the 20 authors whom I interviewed for my 2011 craft book (“Writer with a Day Job”) would tell you, it can be done—and done well.
Here are 4 tips for being a writer with a day job:
Set your writing goal or mission: Fame? Fortune? A big fat movie deal? A set of legacy writing(s) to leave behind for your family? Before you set up a writing schedule, ask yourself what you want from your writer’s life. What would “writing success” actually look like or mean for you, in your individual circumstances?
Establish your schedule and place: Based on your non-writing commitments—including work and family care—find the hour or half-hour in which you could shut off the rest of the world to write. Reserve that regular time slot for yourself. Find a quiet room or a local café or a spot in your public library where, except for emergencies, you keep your phone switched off.
Have a fallback plan: Let’s face it, there are some days when, due to work or travel or family commitments, it will be impossible to write. For those jam-packed days, pre-set your fallback plan. Could you do a little editing while waiting for a flight or on your work lunch hour? At minimum, promise yourself to mentally visit your work in progress (WIP) every day—even if you have to do that during the morning or evening commute.
Keep a reminder above your work desk: When I worked in one of those off-highway office plazas, I kept a postcard of Thoreau’s quote above my desk: “Live the life you have imagined.” Or I love that quote from the American poet Mary Ruefle: “Writing is who you are, not what you do.” So find or create a painting, sculpture or quote that, even while you’re working, will remind you of who you are.
***
Whether our day job is in a coffee shop, hospital, shoe store or corner office, the skills we learn and practice in one part of our lives can inform and benefit the other. For example, what employer wouldn’t want the empathy, problem-solving and communications skills that come with writing? Equally, what editor wouldn’t want the project management, interpersonal relations and work ethic that comes with working a day job? So the work-writing relationship life doesn’t have to be a push-pull setup. Listen, if Franz Kafka, Agatha Christie, Harper Lee, William Carlos Williams and a host of other big-name writers can do it, so can you.
About the Author
An Irish native, Áine Greaney now lives and writes in the Boston area. In addition to her five published books, her short works have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Salon, Another Chicago Magazine, The Boston Globe Magazine, The New York Times, Books Ireland, NPR/WBUR and other publications.
As well as being an author, Greaney is a trained teacher who has designed and led fiction and non-fiction workshops, presentations and keynotes for regional, national and international organizations.
Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, cited in Best American Essays and named a ‘Great Group Read’ by the Women’s National Book Association.
You can find her online at:
Website: https://www.ainegreaney.com
Instagram: ainegreaney
Bluesky: ainegreaney.bsky
Facebook: Aine Greaney, Writer
Threads: ainegreaney
Blog Tour Calendar
March 24 @ The Muffin
Join us at The Muffin as we celebrate the launch of Áine Greaney’s blog tour for her short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories. Read an interview with the author and enter a giveaway for the book.
https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
March 27 @ Bookroom Reviews
Visit Dick’s blog for a guest post by about the origins of stories: where fictional ideas and inspirations come from.
http://www.bookroomreviews.com/
April 1 @ Just Katherine
Visit Katherine’s blog again for her review of Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://justkatherineblog.wordpress.com/
April 2 @ Create Write Now
Join Mari for a blog post by Áine Greaney about how to set up and stick to a writing schedule.
https://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog
April 2 @ The Mommies Reviews
Join Glenda for a guest post by Áine Greaney about Willie Nelson’s three rules and how they apply to writing.
https://www.themommiesreviews.com/
April 5 @ Renee Roberson’s blog
Visit Renee’s blog for her response to the author’s prompt about when she was in an uncomfortable, misfit place or setting or a place or setting where she could never be her true self.
April 8 @ Words by Webb
Visit Jodi’s blog for a guest post by Áine Greaney about how she got started as a writer.
https://www.jodiwebbwriter.com/blog
April 9 @ Beverley A. Baird’s blog
Stop by Beverley’s blog for a guest post by Áine Greaney about being a dual-genre writer.
https://beverleyabaird.wordpress.com/
April 10 @ Frugal Freelancer
Visit Sara’s blog for her interview with author, Áine Greaney.
https://saratrimble.wordpress.com/
April 11 @ Renee Roberson’s blog
Join Renee for her review of Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
April 12 @ Boys’ Moms Reads!
Visit Karen’s blog today for her review of Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://karensiddall.wordpress.com
April 13 @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader
Visit Joan’s blog for her review of Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://bookwomanjoan.blogspot.com/
April 14 @ A Wonderful World of Books
Visit Joy’s blog for an excerpt from Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://awonderfulworldofwordsa.blogspot.com/
April 16 @ Beverley A. Baird’s blog
Visit Beverley for her review of Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://beverleyabaird.wordpress.com/
April 16 @ The Mommies Reviews
Visit Glenda’s blog again for her review of Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://www.themommiesreviews.com/
April 17 @ A Storybook World
Visit Deirdra’s blog for a spotlight of Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
April 19 @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion
Join Linda’s blog for an in-depth interview with Áine Greaney about her short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://bootsshoesandfashion.com/
April 20 @ Chapter Break
Visit Julie’s blog for a guest post by Áine Greaney about being a writer with a day job.
April 21 @ StoreyBook Reviews
Visit Leslie’s blog for an excerpt from Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://www.storeybookreviews.com/
April 22 @ Frugal Freelancer
Sara joins in the tour by responding to our tour-themed prompt of a time when she was in an uncomfortable, misfit place or setting or a place or setting where she could never be her true self.
https://saratrimble.wordpress.com/
April 23 @ World of My Imagination
Join Nicole when she shares her response to a tour-themed prompt of a time when she was a misfit. Plus, she shares her thoughts of Áine Greaney’s short story collection, Trespassers and Other Stories.
https://worldofmyimagination.com
April 25 @ Choices
Visit Madeline’s blog for a guest post from Áine Greaney on finding and keeping the joy in writing.
https://www.madelinesharples.com/
Note: Some posts may contain affiliate links. Should you choose to purchase a product, we will receive a small commission for the sale at no additional cost to you. Chapter Break is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
