'At the start, the English publishers said no-one was interested in the Troubles any more so I did a rewrite set it after the ceasefire,' she says.

'I have some Narnia-type themes in my own books but while I don't regard them as being at all 'preachy', you may still read things that will make you think about God.'ĭespite its success, Belfast Girls was not an overnight sensation and the author, who initially supplemented her income by teaching (and hated it) let the manuscript gather dust for a couple of years before revisiting it for a 'post-Troubles' rewrite. 'I really admire CS Lewis and the Biblical symbolism he uses in his writing,' she explains. Her faith is important to her although she makes a point of not having it screaming from the pages. I heard a voice speaking directly to me and I still have visions.' 'I write creatively, from imagination and observation,' McCullough says, 'but like most writers, some personal experiences are injected into the text. In her successful novel, based around three girls from different religious backgrounds – Belfast Girls (published in 2010) has now been read by more than 60,000 people through Amazon – one of the main characters, Mary, experiences such a phenomenon. It is a somewhat emotional confession and the Belfast-born writer of novels, short stories and poems is, momentarily, caught out by the depth of feeling it brings rushing to the surface. 'I had a very real religious experience, like one of the characters,' she reveals ahead of this year's Eastside Arts Festival in which she is participating for the first time next month. SHE has never been a model, never been kidnapped and never taken drugs – 'although I had friends that did' – but despite this, local writer Gerry McCullough did manage to put something of herself into her best known book, Belfast Girls.

Belfast Girls by Gerry McCullough