Books by Patrick Semple

This collection of short stories looks at the lives of those with an inability to take control of their circumstances. Their predicaments are portrayed with a wry sense of humour and an eye for detail. Every story is another slice of life.

After the events of Transient Beings the former rector finds that he is adrift in an unfamiliar world. We see him come to life having been disconnected from his feelings by the pressures of his wife's alcoholism and his own crisis of faith. As an older, wiser man will he finally find contentment in his life and relationships?

A collection of Irish short stories. Patrick Semple has been an ordained minister of the Anglican Communion in Ireland, a curate working in Belfast at the start of the Troubles, a prison chaplain, a public speaker, an author, a teacher, a husband, a father and a born again Atheist. These stories are the observations of a person who has spent a lifetime serving other people. Each story tells us something about human nature and the lessons learnt from observing the lives of others. Every story is a slice of life.

Make room Bill Bryson, there is a new travel writer in town! Imagine taking a trip with an erudite and informed companion who can regale you with relevant and entertaining information. Imagine standing under the stars at sea and wondering at Man's place in the universe with a fellow traveller who can draw on Voltaire, Joyce and the classics. Imagine pondering the place of religion in society with a seasoned veteran who is familiar with both sides of the debate. Gentle but tenacious, Patrick Semple is aware of the human frailty that drives the machine. This is an account of voyages taken by Patrick and his wife Hilary on cargo vessels carrying everything from bananas to buses. They are the sort of people you love to bump into in foreign parts. Self reliant but willing to share, private but willing to open up, self effacing but full of resources and nuggets of survival gold. This is the kind of travelling the world thinks has passed into folklore. Midnight coffee on the bridge with the captain; weeks at sea between ports; colour, culture and novelty when you put to shore. There are storms and placid sunlit seas. There is the sound of the ocean and all the while the "machine is machining". In this mode of travel there is time to reflect and space to set the mind free. Take this voyage and you will never take a banana or a vegetarian for granted again.

This is the story of a rector as he struggles to understand his duty, his wife and his place in the world. It is a powerful study of addiction in all of its guises. It is a story from the heart as we follow the rector into a growing nightmare of rationalisation. It is a moving story of being an outsider on the inside, set in rural Ireland where one community lives inside the other and ancient tensions and prides are always just beneath the thin veneer of everyday life. Patrick Semple's writing has been described as having a depth of learning and an earnestness of purpose with a selfless immersion in the lives of the characters in the best traditions of John McGahern and Brian Moore.

The craft and industry of writing: This is a book about writing and being published. It has been written in two entertaining sections that will be of interest to all aspiring writers. It starts with a dispatch from the front lines of writing. It is a personal account of Patrick Semple's inspiration for writing and where his determination to have his work published has taken him. It is a 'warts and all' account. It describes the frustration and patience; despair and perseverance; mistakes and learning that an author can go through on the way to being published. The second section is Patrick's distillation of the principles of the craft of writing. This is based on the creative writing he teaches at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. It contains important advice and invaluable insights from an experienced and successful writing mentor. The book's message is that while being published requires you to have a working knowledge of the craft of writing you also need a realistic appreciation of the industry and how to negotiate its slings and arrows with good humour.