Local Author Has Irish Luck In America

In the past six months, local author Ross Murphy made two decisions that worked out for him.

First, he moved back to the U.S. last August after living in Ireland for 17 years and raising his two daughters there. 

“I had a good experience there,” said Murphy, who lived in County Kildare and worked as an account manager for a security company. “Seeing the difference in culture, you better understand the world out there." 

In September, a woman contacted Murphy after reading his novel, “You Will Never Dance Alone” last April by publisher Aberdeen Bay. Murphy told her he was interested in moving back to the U.S., but was not sure how long he would stay. She offered to rent him a room and office in Manassas and Murphy accepted.

“That was one of the wiser decisions I've made,” Ross Murphy chuckled.

Ross Murphy and Pam Shuster-Murphy married in Sept. of last year in Manassas and plan on living near the "heart of Old Town (Manassas)" for at least a couple years. 

Over the summer, Ross donated several of his signed books to a summer fundraiser at Manassas' Harris Pavilion benefiting underprivileged kids. Ross has also donated donated several books to United Service Organization in Virginia.   

Murphy drew on his experience in two different cultures to write “You Will Never Dance Alone,” a tale about Danny Byrne, an Irish toddler who immigrated to the U.S. with his father and became a star prizefighter.

“It's a love story of a man,” Murphy said, adding that the fighter's love is “ to his family and friends.”

"You Will Never Dance Alone" is available on paperback at Amazon.com.

Murphy, the Acquisitions Director for Aberdeen Bay chose to make the protagonist a boxer because of “respect for the warrior ethic and respect for accomplishments,” he said.

Some of the characters carry over into Murphy's second book, “Dancing With Devils,” which Murphy says should come out in mid-September.

In this book, Danny Byrne's daughter becomes the first woman to be elected president of the U.S. Murphy wrote the story before the 2008 election primaries began and Hillary Clinton was an early favorite to win.

“The daughter is conservative and a foil to Clinton,” Murphy said. “It's some wishful thinking. If we had a leader who was strong, what would it look like.”

Murphy added that Byrne's daughter is not modeled off of Sarah Palin.

As Acquisitions Director, Murphy is usually the first person to see submissions by prospective authors. Murphy also gives seminars on the publishing industry and how to get published.

“Write a good letter, research the publishing company and what awards they've won,” Murphy said. “Each company has a different set of submission criteria and do as it says.”