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I'm Clare O'Brien - a freelance writer and editor born in London but now based with my Scottish husband in the western Highlands. As a journalist,I'm interested in music, movies, books, lifestyle and travel, and have also written business and trade features. I've been published in a range of newspapers and magazines both in the UK and abroad. Read some published clips here.
As an author, I'm currently editing a collection of my own short stories provisionally titled Thin Places: Modern Slipstream Fiction From The Highlands and I'm also researching material for a major music biography to be published next year. I have published many short stories, poems and articles in magazines and anthologies both in the UK and the US. I've also published a full-length non-fiction book, Living And Working in London which was intended as a guide for foreign visitors arriving in the capital for an extended stay.
My special interests? I'm passionate about music. I'm part of revolutionary net-based music project Species 8742, I sing in jazz covers band Black Cherry, and writing about music and musicians from all genres has been one of my specialisms since the 1990s - as has reviewing books and movies and interviewing authors and other celebrities for both print and online media.
I write and maintain official and unofficial website content for various clients, particularly in the entertainment, hospitality and tourism sectors. On a local level, I organise and promote local theatre and music events for regional Scottish promoter, West Coast Arts. I also worked for some time as personal assistant to Stephen Cleobury, the celebrated conductor, composer and choirmaster who works as Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge.
In other activities, I handle some music-related PR and administrative work, I tutor adult students on distance learning courses and sometimes lead local face-to-face classes and workshops. I'm an internet researcher for AQA (and involved in their new music project, the AQA album) a registered literacy course tutor for learndirect, and a member of The National Union of Journalists and the Society of Authors. I also have a role in our family tourism business Coille Bheag which provides self-catering holidays on our lochside croft, and I help grow our organic fruit & vegetables.
