(Pic courtesy BBC Website)
I normally go straight to the BBC website every morning and catch up on all the latest news. Today, I was in for a real shock for this is what I saw...
"Best-selling Irish author Maeve Binchy has died aged 72 after a short illness."
And here's the link that said it all
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19057922
'Binchy, born in Dalkey, Co Dublin, has sold more than 40 million books. Her works were often set in Ireland and have been translated into 37 languages.
They include The Lilac Bus as well as Tara Road and Circle of Friends, which were both adapted for screen.Binchy trained as a teacher before moving into journalism and writing, publishing her first novel - Light a Penny Candle - in 1982.
She had written the novel in her spare time from her day job as a journalist at The Irish Times.
In a 2001 interview with the BBC, after she had won the WHSmith Book Award for fiction, Binchy described the five rejections she received for her first novel as "a slap in the face".
Binchy had sold more than 40 million books worldwide She said she was glad she persevered and sent the book to a sixth publisher."It's like if you don't go to a dance you can never be rejected but you'll never get to dance either," she said.
The author said that her secret was to write the way she spoke."I don't say I was 'proceeding down a thoroughfare', I say I 'walked down the road'. I don't say I 'passed a hallowed institute of learning', I say I 'passed a school'.
"You don't wear all your jewellery at once," she went on. "You're much more believable if you talk in your own voice."
RIP Maeve Binchy- Like countless readers and admirers of your work, I will miss you.....