Ballydangan's newest author - "Hiding in Plain Sight" by Eoghan Egan is published this January

Originally born and reared in Strokestown, author Eoghan Egan worked in Athlone while his wife worked in Porticuncula. They both love the countryside, so they decided to move to Ballydangan, halfway between both towns. Over the years they've changed jobs, but Ballydangan still remains home.

is new novel, “Hiding in Plain Sight” is being published this January. High art and low morals collide when graduate Sharona Waters discovers a multi-million euro art scam in play. She delves in, unwittingly putting herself on a direct trajectory with danger as the killer accelerates his murder spree. When Sharona gets drawn into the killer’s orbit, she peels away his public persona and exposes the psychopath underneath. Suddenly, the small town has no hiding place.

Eoghan’s work has previously been shortlisted for the 2018 Bridport Short Story Prize and Listowel’s 2019 Bryan McMahon Short Story Award Competition. In March 2019, Eoghan won the Litopia’s prestigious Pop-Up Submission. He graduated as a computer programmer but quickly found his way into sales. His forte is managing field-based sales teams and customer service - listening gives him lots of ideas for writing plot lines, and he uses driving time to think out storylines and airports to sometimes observe human behaviour. He is also a graduate of Maynooth University’s Creative Writing Curriculum, and Curtis Brown’s Edit & Pitch Your Novel Course, Eoghan divides his time between Roscommon, Dublin and Southern Italy.

While he hasn’t transitioned into the author role on a full time basis yet, Eoghan’s aim is to become a full-time writer. “As lifestyles change, so do people's careers. The days of acquiring a permanent and pensionable position and staying until retirement, are long gone. As we live and work longer, many people are having success in two, three or more different careers throughout their working life.” He has always written short stories and began writing novels ten years ago. “Once my writing garnered attention and won some awards, I knew it was a journey I had to take and complete. (The journey took seven years... much longer than I'd expected)" he muses.

​About his writing, he said: “Wherever I am, I write. Every day. Usually early mornings, but frequently late at night. It might be a hundred words or a thousand, or just the bare bones of an idea... sometimes a casual conversation can trigger inspiration. I'll make a note and write up a rough draft later” states Eoghan. “The real writing begins in Ballydangan. All my notes / ideas are taken back there each weekend and turned into a readable format. My library is there. My study... my quiet time. Ballydangan is the only place I can really concentrate, focus and write, surrounded by my books”, explains Eoghan.