Aaron Byrne, a 17-year-old youth from Ballintubber, may have just completed his Leaving Cert, but he has already had a novel published.
Today (Thursday), Aaron’s fantasy-fiction book, Path to Revenge, will be released by Olympia Publishers in London.
He recently sat his Leaving Cert at Roscommon CBS but, before applying himself to his sixth-year study, he wrote the 40,000-word novel last summer at his west Roscommon home – and then tried his luck at having it published.
“I sent it off to Olympia Publishers,” Aaron said. “They said that they would look at it and a couple of weeks later, they said that they would be happy to publish it. That was a very happy day.”
Aaron has always been fond of writing, but never had anything published before. He explained how Path to Revenge came to fruition.
“I was just sitting down one day writing, just thinking of ideas and I just started writing and didn’t stop,” he said.
Today will be a proud day for the Byrne family: Aaron, his sister Jessica, and his two brothers, Dylan and Shane, and his parents, Jennifer and Desmond.
“I think they are more excited than me,” Aaron said of his mother and father.
Aaron was happy with how his Leaving Cert panned out and hopes to do well when the results are revealed in August.
Asked about his future plans, he said: “I planned on doing business, but I am taking a year out of work to get a job or to write.
“If I can make money out of it, I would love to be a writer.”
