About me

I'm a fiction and non fiction writer from Ireland, who mines her 15 years as a journalist for her short stories and novels. My book on how to get media coverage titled Breaking Into The Media: A Journalist's Guide to Publicity was shortlisted for the Wishing Shelf Book Awards. As a freelance marketing and PR writer, I help businesses by writing and optimising content so they can rank on search engines.

One of my stories titled Bookmark was shortlisted for the Irish Short Story of the Year Award. This story focuses on a young married man who is trying to come to terms with the breakdown of his marriage following the death of his son who was found hanging from a window blind.

I write a lot about human struggle, something which I have witnessed during my 15 years working as a journalist in regional and national newspapers. Another story of mine, Laces centers on an 11-year-old girl struggling to tell her friend she is gay. In Costume Change, a married woman tends to her dying husband in the south of France in an apartment they’d just bought to retire.

I completed a thesis on mausoleums as part of college masters degree. This led me into exploring my interest in graveyards. This inspired my story Kept Earth. At times, this story is humourous but its strength lies in the main character, a gravedigger who is burying the youth of his town. This story was first published in the acclaimed literary journal, Crannog. It was later selected by the magazine's editors to be included in Crannog's specially commissioned publication for the European Capital of Culture award in Galway, Ireland in 2020. 

Writers who inspire me

Writers I’ve been inspired by and learnt from include Zadie Smith (White Teeth), Roddy Doyle (The Woman Who Walked Into Doors & Paula Spencer), Flannery O’Connor (Geranium), Nuala O’Faolain (Essays and Memoir) and Donal Ryan (The Thing About December).

Publications

My stories have been published in Crannog, Honest Ulsterman, Incubator Journal, Silver Apples, Lampeter Review, Sixteen Magazine, Galway Review, ROPES and ‘Around the Farm Gate’ a collection of rural stories published by Ballpoint Press, RTE and the Farmer’s Journal.

Press room

Here, you'll find some interviews I've done about my writing and career. 

How to block out distractions - Forbes

From classical singer to writer - Voice Magazine

Author Sandra Coffey: Second Chapters - Medium

Five Women Writers Share Their Tips - Freelance Writing Cafe

Podcast interview on Bookable Space