Co Derry author releases her lockdown labour of love

Polish native and adopted Coleraine woman Agnieszka McIntyre recently released her debut novel 'The Blind Spot'.

ABOVE: Agnieszka McIntyre

The novel sees character Alicja Suder leaving her native Poland. At university, she meets Daniel, who encourages her to travel to Northern Ireland and explore the country with him.

Although Daniel greets Alicja upon arrival, he does not appear as excited about her arrival as a loving boyfriend should be. Tired after her travels, she puts these concerns aside and accepts a drink in the car only to discover this is the last she will remember of the journey from the airport.

The story focuses on the questions...How far would you go to save a loved one? Is deceiving the other half justified if it's for their good? Alicja is faced with a choice that will either cost her happiness or sanity.

The novel is a story of intrigue, brotherly jealousy, mafia and love rolled into one.

Agnieszka spoke to the County Derry Post about how the idea for the book came about, and her writing inspirations and aspirations.

Speaking about her love for reading and how it all began Agnieszka said: “I just have always loved reading, going into a different story each time. You can find yourself in a completely different world away from reality. I have always found it the best pastime. I loved it even as a child, when summer came I was always nose in a book. My father was a reader and I picked that up from him.

“As I have grown older it has been a great escape for me. I have issues with anxiety. Around 2015 I started experiencing panic attacks. Grabbing a book really helped me to focus and forget it all. I am very into the thriller genre, the ‘who dunnit’ books. Always the type of book that you can’t put down.”

The first time author explained how the inspiration for ‘The Blind Spot’ came about, continuing: “When the pandemic hit, I was completely bored. I work in hospitality, my husband and I own a restaurant and we were shut down. I had nothing to do. I had my friends from Poland on Facebook just chatting about my boredom and one of them said ‘oh you should write a book’. I thought to myself ‘Yea right, you're very funny’. Then the more I thought about it, I started to think 'I may as well try, I’m doing nothing anyway'. So I sat down in front of my laptop and didn’t know where to start. Of course I had written stories for school assignments before but nothing serious.

“Just before lockdown my neighbour's house burned down and that became my inspiration for the book. Once I got started it actually wasn’t that difficult. It came naturally to me, I found it wrote itself. It took about three to four months to complete. The longest part was editing it, I kept having doubts that it wasn’t up to scratch. Originally I started to write in my native Polish, but I found it flowed better in English. I have been in Ireland for 20 years so I have been using English more than Polish.

“In the beginning I had an idea of where the story would go but throughout the process it went down a different path. It was going to be mystery and thriller focused but soon became a love story. When I found out it was going to be published I thought 'wow'. I really didn’t think it was going to see the light of day. I just went online and submitted to any publishers I could find. Three got back to me saying they were interested and Olympia was the first so I went with them.”

If Agnieszka was to give any budding authors advice she would say ‘Just do it’.

“If you are passionate about it just sit down and do it if you are thinking about it. It was just a silly comment from my friend but I took it seriously and went for it. It might feel overwhelming when you sit down but you might surprise yourself. I have no expertise or qualifications to be an author but I did it. These days anything is possible, you can do anything, the world is filled with opportunities. If you want to dabble in writing, don’t be scared, just do it.”

Agnieszka has high hopes for the success of the book. Sharing her aspirations for the future she added: “There will be a follow up book; the first one leaves an opening at the end. It’s not as easy as it was during lockdown, I have work to go to and the kids to sort out but it will be out eventually. The dream is to be able to do it for a living. If I could get away with writing every day I would. It was so relaxing and I was in my element. There are no bad books, just different tastes. There are so many stories out there for you to tell.

“It feels good to be able to share with people. I put information in this about anxiety in the hope that it would help someone else who might be suffering. When I first had a panic attack I thought I was having a heart attack, it was a horrible feeling. I think if I read in a novel about a character suffering anxiety then it would’ve made me feel comforted and less alone. I am hoping readers will enjoy the book and take something out of it. They can look forward to the sequel.”

You can get your copy of 'The Blind Spot' from bit.ly/4aCG9zM