December 2021
Barry was born somewhere in western Europe at some point during the latter half of the 20th century. His interest in narrative was immediate and long-lasting, with a diverse interest in art of all origins and mediums. Lacking the ability to draw, compose, or program, Barry was thankful that he at least showed aptitude for stringing words together.
In 2016, Barry won a national competition run by Hot Press Magazine, concerning the "story of Ireland" told in 500 words or less. While the internship offered at the magazine was a useful and formative experience, and he still uses one of the fine journals he received to record his daily writing progress, the best prize was the confirmation that his writing could contend on the national stage.
Things quietened for the subsequent years as Barry focused on his studies; a Sociology and Philosophy degree from Trinity College Dublin, and an MLIS from UCD. Knowing that many authors have found success without a creative writing degree, Barry pursued the best possible day-job instead; library science.
Barry's first complete novel manuscript, The Mother of Success, was fully drafted by the end of 2020. This is because he apparently said, circa 2018, that he "could probably draft a novel by 2020", and his friend Emmet held him to that. Thanks, Emmet.
In 2021, Barry came second in the international "Science-me a Story" event run by SRUK/CERU with a short story about a robot questioning whether she qualified as 'alive'. It actually had basically nothing to do with the generative large-language model/"artificial intelligence" boom, and was instead focused on how textbooks get written.
2023 was an important year, wherein his writing career began to inch toward a point he could call himself professional. His short story Scavengers appeared in the Lost Atlantis anthology published by Flame Tree Press. Shortly thereafter, his short(er) story The Custodian was selected to represent Flame Tree at FantasyCon 2023, printed alongside nine other stories in a physical edition of their fiction newsletter.
Rain or shine, whether coming home from the office or in transit to another country, Barry aims to write at least 600 words a day. This is less than most full-time authors, but considerably more than the 0 he routinely characterised himself as writing as a younger man. For every day he succeeds in this (starting June 2018), he increases the tally shown on the tiny blackboard pictured to the right. Current goal: 2,000 days of writing by the end of 2024!
