Nicola Cassidy

Nicola Cassidy – Ghostwriter

I'm an award winning ghostwriter, traditionally published author and screenwriter.

Overview

I'm a bestselling author, ghostwriter and award-winning screenwriter. I have traditionally published four historical fiction books and written, edited and developed novels and screenplays as a freelancer. My fourth traditionally published book The Emerald Spy released in September 2022, while my first children's historical novel published in May 2024.


I hold a BA (Hons) in Journalism and worked for over a decade in marketing and PR. I love to help authors develop their work and chase their own publishing dream. I have completed a series of advanced industry screenwriting courses and had my work optioned and supported by Screen Ireland. I work with writers on their novels, pitches, short stories and screenplays.


When ghostwriting, I like to work through recorded interviews to tease out the content of the story. I write both non-fiction and fiction. For non-fiction, I will focus on an outline first, so that you know exactly what material I will be covering. For fiction, I work through a detailed outline also, but it may not take as many interviews as factual non-fiction.


I'm friendly, conscientious and hard working. I'm always happy to interview ahead of taking on a project as ghostwriting is a relationship of trust and understanding. I'm based in Ireland and comfortable working in and have experience of both US and UK markets.

Services
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction Historical Fiction Historical Mysteries
Languages
English (AUS) English (UK) English (US)
Awards
  • Winner, All Ireland Screenwriting Prize 2021
  • Finalist, Austin Comedy Film Fest 2021
  • Longlist, Fish Short Memoir Prize 2020
  • Selected Short Story Winner, Claret Press, London 2018
  • 2nd Place, Junefest Short Story Competition 2017
  • Shortlisted Celtic Imbas Short Story Competition 2016
  • Shortlisted Fish Publishing Flash Fiction Competition 2016
  • 2nd Place, Ernest Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize 2015
  • Finalist BBC Writers Room & Element Picture NI Writers Awards 2022
Certifications
  • BA (Hons) in Journalism
  • Diploma in Online Marketing & PR
  • Series of advanced screenwriting industry led courses, under mentors such as Philip Shelly,Emmanuel Oberg and Mary Kate O'Flanagan

Work experience

Self-employed

Dec, 2023 — Present

I was approached with a fascinating 19th century memoir manuscript and asked if it was possible to use it in a modern novel, combining the historical elements of the existing memoir, while writing a contemporary, dual timeline story. Working very closely with the author, we created a detailed outline of the story and are currently approaching the half way mark on the writing of the chapters. This project is scheduled to finish in the autumn of 2024.

Louth County Council

Jul, 2023 — Jul, 2024 (about 1 year)

Sorcha, Queen of the Castle, is a fully illustrated historical fiction novel for children aged 9-12, commissioned by Louth County Council in 2023 as part of the Decade of Centenaries funding. It was published in May 2024 and print copies are being distributed to all schools and libraries in Louth, free of charge. As part of the programme, I as the author, alongside illustrator Sophie Coyle will be visiting primary school to discuss the book Autumn 2024 / Spring 2025.

TBC

Apr, 2023 — Present

I was approached to work on a fictional novel based on a true story of an injustice in the American legal system. Through a series of interviews over many months with the real life characters involved in the story, we created an outline of the story, edited to allow for drama and intrigue. I am currently working through the chapters with the client and the book will be going on planned submission at the end of 2024.

TBC

Sep, 2022 — Oct, 2022 (2 months)

This was a short turnaround on a 40,000 memoir for a client who wished to gift the book to her father for his birthday. He had written down his memories of his childhood and the early part of his working life and the client asked me to rewrite the book to ensure flow, clarity of structure and story and to improve the writing style, as the writer's first language was not English. It was a fascinating window into a life and culture I had not experience before (India) and a pleasure to work on.

TBC

Aug, 2022 — Sep, 2023 (about 1 year)

On this project, the writer, whose first language was Portugese wished to have their draft memoir re-written to bring the work up to a publishable standard. Her book told the story of her life of being brough to America in her late teens and getting to grips with growing up, feeling like a fish out of water and fitting into a culture she had long admired but found the reality of quite different. Working with the client, I rewore the chapters, examined and updated structure and added 15,000 new words to complete the book.

TBC

Jun, 2022 — Nov, 2023 (over 1 year)

In this interesting project the client wanted to fictionalise their life and work, through a slow, writing process as part of a healing process for themselves and generational trauma. They sent me drafts of writing and I rewrote the chapters, examined plot and character development and ensured the writer was achieving what the dream of their project was - a high end literary narrative memoir, with fictionalised elements, based on memories of the author's own family.

TBC

Mar, 2021 — Jan, 2023 (almost 2 years)

**THIS BOOK HAS NOW BEEN PLACED WITH A PUBLISHER** I have recently completed ghostwriting a non-fiction book based on a true story set in Ireland. It tells the tale of a bereaved mother fighting to find out what caused the death of her son and in doing so, taking on the national health system to find answers. The book is currently on submission to publishers.

Poolbeg Press Ltd

Nov, 2020 — Feb, 2022 (over 1 year)

My fourth historical fiction novel is newly published on 25 September 2022.

Authentic Creativity

Mar, 2020 — May, 2020 (2 months)

I edited this book and worked as a sensitivity reader and consultant as a hired freelancer. I enjoyed working directly with James and turning the project around quickly.

Orpen Press

Jun, 2018 — Sep, 2018 (3 months)

I worked with a social media influencer to develop a book proposal and secured a publishing deal for the author. The book was to be a collaborative affair, with my job to outline, prompt and edit the text and ghostwrite in parts. For personal reasons the author decided to withdraw from writing the book and did not sign the contract, due to family and work pressures.

Poolbeg Press Ltd

Jan, 2018 — Mar, 2020 (about 2 years)

I wrote this bio-fictional account of Fred Astaire's forgotten sister Adele Astaire. It was published by Poolbeg Press in 2020 and received widespread national press coverage.

Bombshell Books (Bloodhound Books)

Jun, 2017 — Apr, 2019 (almost 2 years)

I wrote this historical fiction novel (my debut) and it was published by Bombshell Books. It reached number one bestseller on Amazon in its category in 2017. Bombshell Books have since been reabsorbed by parent company, Bloodhound Books. I now have the rights back to this book and have since self-published it, including having an audio book recorded professionally via Audible.

Nicola has 10 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Christopher V.

Christopher V.

Jul, 2024

Nicola C. is super friendly, communicative and loves her work. Sadly we could not move forward with a bigger project, however, her sample delivery was punctual, execution more than decent, and she even put her clients needs before her own by offering a partway remuneration of work fees. I would recommend her for all those wishing to pursue story development in the historical fiction/drama genre.
Nicola C.
Thank you for your kind review Christopher and I wish you the very best in your project moving forward. Very nice to be in correspondence, sentiments appreciated.
Christine K.

Christine K.

Feb, 2024

Nicola is a great coach and a lifesaver when it comes to keeping the story on track, editing and making suggestions to keep things flowing.
Gail C.

Gail C.

Nov, 2023

Nicole seems to be a lovely person and she met all deadlines to write my query letter and synopsis as promised. The work, however, missed the mark for me, perhaps because what is needed to market a novel in the US is a bit different than what it takes in Ireland. Perhaps again because of her own nationality, Nicole's focus on the ethnic identity of the family missed the mark for me. The nov...
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Nicola C.
It's of utmost importance to me that the work I provide meets the expectations of clients as set out in the agreed contracts. Therefore, I'm disappointed that Gail did not raise any such issues whe...
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Steve P.

Steve P.

Sep, 2023

I enjoyed our chats and recognise just how much work was put in by Nicola to understand what I was trying to achieve. She did that and more. I appreciate the comments and points made in the report, which has certainly given me much to think about, but I need more time to properly assimilate these and decide which, if any, I take on. I think my MS is a particularly hard one to understand and com...
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Giovanna L.

Giovanna L.

Jul, 2023

Nicola was great to work with. She gave some great suggestions and we were able to have discussions back and forth on what we thought worked better and why. She took her time to provide the edits and I could tell she did not rush to work on my manuscript. She worked at my pace which was great since I had a baby in the middle and that changed a bit my ability to return her edits and our timeline...
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Nicola C.
Giovanna is a wonderful writer and I’ve loved getting to know all about her life over the past year.

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