Born in Waterford, in the south-east of Ireland, I lived on the family farm, went to the nearest high-school until I turned eighteen and then opted for something other than staying on the farm. My high-school English teacher told me that I should write but the world is large, so I seized every opportunity for new experiences and took to the road; America was my first port of call. Since then I have lived and worked in Dublin, New York, Boston, Chicago, Arizona, Nuremberg, Prague, Lima and Belgium.