Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Transition Year is a time when secondary school students tend to take their foot off the pedal. There’s the obligatory work experience, there are projects, and some do get involved in volunteering, but there’s also plenty of free time before they face into the Leaving Cert cycle. Understandably, most teenagers take advantage of this.

John O’Donnell from Gort wasn’t your typical teenager, however. He used that year to write his first novel, a vampire fantasy story with an Irish twist.

“I was a bit of a swot at school, so I used the time in TY,” he recalls with a laugh, adding that the result “is probably still on a hard drive somewhere and will never see the light of day”.

But it was a taste of what was to come. During the first pandemic lockdown between March and September 2020, John immersed himself in writing his second book, Wolf-Blessed.

His “Covid project” is now available on Vanguard Press, an imprint of international publishing company, Pegasus.

Also in the fantasy genre, it’s the story of17-year-old Arica Preandre who has always wanted to become a member of Haella’s Imperial Army and is finally on the threshold of joining.

But things don’t go as planned for Arica and she ends up fighting far greater battles in a bid to save her home, her people and the world.

Fantasy fiction has piqued John’s interest since childhood and he pursued that genre, whether through books, cartoons or films

“I like that anything can happen. There’s just so much freedom to it,” he says of fantasy. He especially loved the element of surprise it offered and the creativity of people involved.

“I’ve always been a left-side-of-the-brain person. Since I could hold a pen, I was always drawn to art, drama and English,” he explains.

His love of English was nurtured by his teacher in fourth and fifth class at primary school in Gort, Mary Mellick. She was a huge influence on John, who also went on to become a primary teacher.

“She loved English and taught us to extend our vocabulary and different ways of writing,” he says of Ms Mellick, who still teaches there.

Pictured: John’s primary school teacher in Gort, Mary Mellick, nurtured his creativity and love of English.