Bronaovercomesdyslexiato publishheracclaimednovel
A local author has told how she overcame dyslexia and went on to write her first novel ‘A Time for Everything’.
Stamullen resident Brona Mills is riding high as her book is about to be stocked in a number of major Tesco outlets as well as bookshops throughout the local area.
The story centres around 20-yearold Michael and his relationship with time traveller Audrey. Audrey has information that can improve his life but faces the dilemma of what things in life should be left to fate.
It is already available in ebook form on Amazon where it has received very positive reviews.
It’s a dream come true for Brona who struggled with English throughout school as a result of her undiagnosed dyslexia and failed the subject in her Leaving Cert.
She went on to study law and do a masters in criminology but despite a hugely successful academic career, her failure in English was something which always rankled Brona.
‘It wasn’t until college that I was diagnosed with dyslexia and got the proper support for that. I had that life feeling of ‘I have failed’. I knew that if I had had the right support in place I would have passed.
‘I passed everything else and I went on and did a law degree and a masters in criminology so I still succeeded academically but failing English was something that always frustrated me and annoyed me because I failed it. So I toyed with the idea of going back and passing English but with two kids and my own business I just felt I didn’t have time for it. I felt that the book was something I could finish at my own pace. The more I got into it the more I felt I could finish it and publish it and put it out there for the world to judge.’
However, after an initial aborted attempt to write a book following the birth of her first child, Brona had the ‘ bones of an idea’ for a novel and decided to put her ideas down.
‘I wanted to make it different and I thought about what’s going to make people want to read about these characters and that’s where the time travel element came in and it just kind of evolved from there,’ she explained.
‘I got the initial idea down on paper and then i went away and spent a good six months learning how to write, how to structure a novel, fine tuning all those things.
‘My kids were two and a half and six months when I started so it was literally just finding the hours inbetween all the other stuff that had to be done. It was seizing opportunities. When they were napping sometimes it was a case of choosing between do I do the dishes or do I sit down and write for half an hour.’
Once the book was complete, Brona approached Amazon who published a digital ebook edition for the kindle.
‘ Then if you want to do a paper copy and they do it on demand, anytime someone orders that book they print individual ones. Once it had been out for a while I went to local shops, Easons, local book shops and I also approached Tesco about stocking it.
‘When I got the first copies it was such an amazing feeling to have the book in my hand. This still doesn’t feel like it’s real even though people are buying it and have been buying it online for a while but it was always a thing that I wanted to hold something tangible, the actual physical printed book. To feel the weight of it and say okay there’s a lot of words in here.’
She said having Tesco agree to stock the book has been one of the many highpoints so far.
‘I approached the local branch asking them if they’d be interested. They said absolutely but it has to go through head office first. It took about six months of backwards and forwards before they came back to me and said they liked the book and they’d give it ago. It was an amazing feeling because they usually only deal with publishing houses, they don’t normally deal with individual authors.’
Brona said the reviews on Amazon have been very positive so far and she is looking forward to seeing her book on the shelves in Tesco in the coming weeks. She will be doing book signings in Tesco Extra Drogheda and Balbriggan in the near future.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Brona has already finished her second book which is expected to be published in March or April.