Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin is an Irish literary coach. She also writes under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

''Sam Blake''.

Career

In 2006, Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin moved from a career in event management to self-employment, founding Inkwell Writers Workshops to run fiction-writing workshops taught by bestselling published writers. During the

post-2008 Irish economic downturn The post-2008 Irish economic downturn in the Republic of Ireland, coincided with a Post-2008 Irish banking crisis, series of banking scandals, followed the 1990s and 2000s Celtic Tiger period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign dire ...

, the company was renamed The Inkwell Group and became a publishing consultancy. O'Loughlin publishes crime fiction as "Sam Blake". In 2019 she was elected to the Management Committee of the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

. In 2024, she was elected as the new Chair, succeeding

Joanne Harris Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris (born 3 July 1964) is a British author, best known for her 1999 novel '' Chocolat'', which was adapted into a film of the same name. Her work has received multiple awards and is published in over 50 countries. ...

. In 2022, O'Loughlin was one of over 100 authors to contribute to ''100 Ways to Write a Book'' – a compilation of author interviews put together by author Alex Pearl during the

COVID pandemic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fev ...

Sam Blake

In 2015, Swedish publishing group Bonnier Twenty7 signed O'Loughlin to write a three-book series of crime novels featuring Garda detective Cat Connolly and set in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. The first book in the series was ''Little Bones'', and was released, as were the two subsequent volumes, under the pen name Sam Blake. ''Little Bones'' went straight into the Irish fiction bestseller list at first place and stayed there for four weeks, eventually featuring in the Irish top ten for eight weeks. ''In Deep Water'' and ''No Turning Back'' also entered the Irish bestseller lists. In January 2020, standalone thriller ''Keep Your Eyes On Me'' was released by Corvus Books, together with an audio recording from

Bolinda Publishing Bolinda Publishing , based in Melbourne, Australia, is renowned for production of audiobooks in collaboration with various book publishers like ABC, HarperCollins, Penguin, and Pushkin Press, among other imprints. History Founded in 1986 Tullama ...

narrated by

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

star

Evanna Lynch Evanna Patricia Lynch (born 16 August 1991) is an Irish actress and activist. She is best known for portraying Luna Lovegood in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. Born in County Louth, Ireland, Lynch made her film debut in '' Harry Potter and ...

. ''Keep Your Eyes On Me'' was also a No.1 Irish Times bestseller. In January 2022 ''The Dark Room'', was published by Corvus Books. In 2023 her debut YA was published with Gill Books, Something Terrible Happened Last Night, followed in May 2024 by Something's About to Blow Up. She is continuing with adult fiction however and Three Little Birds (January 2024) was her tenth book.

Writing.ie

O'Loughlin founded Writing.ie in 2011; it developed into an Irish writers' web resource that covers literary events and offers advice to writers. The ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' describes ''writing.ie'' as "a one-stop shop for authors."

Personal life

Fox comes from

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

in Hertfordshire, England. She moved to Ireland with her fiancé, a member of the Irish police force, Shane O'Loughlin, living first in Bray, County Wicklow, then in nearby Kilmacanogue; they have two children. She cites

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...

as a major inspiration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OLoughlin, Vanessa Year of birth missing (living people) Irish crime fiction writers 21st-century Irish writers Living people People from Bray, County Wicklow Writers from County Wicklow Writers from St Albans