So, who are you? Martina Murphy?
Eh-yes.
I thought you were Tina Reilly?
I'm her too.
Oh-so who is Martina Reilly?
That's me.
Do you suffer from some sort of mental disorder?
Doesn't every writer? Seriously, though, let me explain. I was Martina
Murphy when I wrote my teenage books. Tina Reilly when I wrote my women's
fiction novels and then my publishers thought that my name should be
changed to Martina Reilly.
Why?
I think they thought it made my books sounds more serious.
Did your books become more serious?
No. They stayed exactly the same. They deal with serious issues but
in a fun way, if that doesn't sound impossible.
Well, it sounds about as impossible as having three different
names.
So what else does Martina Reilly do?
Well, I'm married; I have two children, a husband and a dog. I also
am a qualified drama teacher with the Guildhall School of music and
drama in London. I taught drama for fourteen years and then gave it
up as I was a hopeless business woman. I still dabble. I do a lot of
amateur drama and have starred in a number of productions, winning best
actress on occasion. I do a bit of journalism and have held a couple
of jobs in newspapers before losing them!
How are your books doing?
Very well. They've been translated in French, German, Latvian, Italian
and Greek. Two of my teenage fiction books won awards and Something
Borrowed, a women's fiction was long listed for an Impac Award.
So what next?
I hope to keep writing. My long term ambition is to do a sit com or
have a play staged on London's West end. I've been writing since I was
eight years old and couldn't imagine ever doing anything else! My latest
book is called "The Wish List" and was out August 2009.
