I REMEMBER the exact moment I fell in love with Lough Neagh. It was a balmy summer evening in 2019, when after a football match in Ardboe I took my son for a fish supper, which we enjoyed al fresco out by the harbour in the Battery.
The water glistened beneath the sun and the view totally took my breath away. I was completely overwhelmed with how vast this 'inland sea' was, and I wondered how I'd lived so close to the lough for so long without ever getting to know enough about it.
When choosing a setting for my novels I love to take inspiration from real places often choosing various coastlines of Ireland to build my stories upon. Secrets in the Snow is based in Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal while A Part of Me and You is set in the delightful village of Kinvara, Co Galway.
I've also explored cities like Belfast and Dublin as well as the rolling countryside of my home in Mid Ulster, but that day as I sat in the sunshine at Lough Neagh I was so deeply taken by it and I just knew I'd have to set my next book in this area of true beauty.
One More Day tells the story of Annie Madden whose life is dedicated to caring for her husband Peter after a work accident leaves him needing 24 hour care. It's an emotional, life affirming novel which follows Annie as she tries to find herself again after seven years of devotion to her husband who she still loves deeply, but who is no longer able to communicate with her.
In the novel, Annie's late father was a fisherman on the lough and through tender flashbacks we get to know her and Peter's love story which saw them spending many memorable moments on the famous shoreline - even the midges get a mention.
One of my favourite writers, Seamus Heaney, penned a lot of poetry about Lough Neagh. His sister-in-law Polly Devlin also explores lough-shore life in her novels, so I'm in good company with this particular location.
However, I was delighted and honoured to be contacted by Anne-Marie McErlain who runs Lough Neagh's Stories - a series of themed tours on both land and water - to say she was now including One More Day on their literary tour of Lough Neagh by boat, along with Devlin, Heaney and a select few other writers.
It was with great excitement that my family and I set off on Holy Saturday to Ballyronan Marina, just a few days after One More Day hit the shelves, where we were invited to sail with Anne-Marie and her husband Gary's on their passenger boat and launch the book.
It was a first for us all and as we listened to Gary talks passionately about his fisherman lifestyle, I could tell that this is so much more than a job for him - it's a way of life. He told us how since the age of 14, he would begin his day at 4am, putting in a four or five hour shift before school, much to our mesmerisation - especially my niece of the same age who listened on in awe.
We learned about the famous Lough Neagh eels which are a delicacy in Europe and how they leave the lough to spawn far across the Atlantic Ocean in Florida. The new eel babies know to go home to Ireland. We were intrigued as to how they could know where to go back to on their own - it can only be described as a miracle of nature.
As well as hearing of the fishing traditions from Gary, Anne-Marie treated us to some verses from Heaney, who wrote a whole series of poetry dedicated to the fishermen of Lough Neagh.
There is a darker side to some of Heaney's words with his explanation of how the lough claims a victim every year, and how most fishermen deliberately don't learn to swim - if the lough chooses them, then it was meant to be...
Once again we were totally intrigued at such wonderful stories which come from right on our doorstep. With some of my family members on board - as well as competition winners who are related to a wonderful lady, Aurelia Kelly, whom I dedicated my book to - heartfelt memories and conversations where shared as we toasted the book's success and enjoyed bubbles and cake.
I further explained my inspiration for the new novel in a conversation led by Anne-Marie, confirming my choice to base my story around such a majestic landscape.
The whole experience was uplifting and magical in so many ways, both from an educational point of view as well as one of great beauty as we looked out upon Ballyronan Marina in the distance, which now boasts new glamping pods, a café and a state-of-the-art children's play park. The overall feeling was one of 'holiday mode' and we left feeling truly exhilarated.
I will always remember the moment I fell in love with Lough Neagh, and I'll now forever treasure the new memories made on the day I launched my book on a boat.
It was a day full of celebration, of happiness and of a closer connection to Ireland's biggest landmark, a place I was already hooked by.
I highly recommend we all get to know it a little bit better.
One More Day by Emma Heatherington (HarperCollins) is out now in paperback (available in bookshops and online via Easons), e-book and audio formats. Emma is hosting a Big Book Club evening at the Seamus Heaney Homeplace on Thursday May 5 at 7pm. Admission is free and tickets are now available from Eventbrite.
For further information on Lough Neagh's Stories boat tours, and for other new enhanced visitor experiences this summer, check out visitmidulster.com.
