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 for adults and one for children. 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 understand that ghostwriting is a relationship built on trust and only take on projects I feel I we will both excel in. 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

Pactum Factum Press

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 including a contemporary story. Working very closely with the author, we developed a detailed outline of the story and have worked to create a fascinating dual-timeline story, due to be published in 2025.

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.

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** 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.

Poolbeg Press Ltd

Nov, 2020 — Feb, 2022 (over 1 year)
My fourth historical fiction novel was published by Poolbeg Press in September 2022. This story based on true events tells the tale of a small group of Jewish refugees who feld to Ireland in 1939. Using new primary source material, the writing of this book took me to Germany and into contact with a number of World War 2 experts.

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.

Nicola has 16 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Shahida R.

Shahida R.

Sep, 2025

Pinned
It was fantastic working with Nicola. I was thoroughly impressed with the quality and professionalism of the editing work. She demonstrated a strong understanding of the content and offered thoughtful suggestions. This genuinely enhanced the clarity and flow. Communication throughout was timely ...
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Nicola C.
Thank you so much Shahida, you were a dream to work with and I wish you all the very best in your evocative script, I can't wait to read it when it's published.
Michael M.

Michael M.

May, 2025

Pinned
Nicola is a fantastic author's coach with a highly professional approach who helped me create an overall outline for my first historical novel idea. Her work with me transformed my static research and character pen-pictures into a dynamic and dramatic sequence of events, the beginnings of a great...
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Nicola C.
Michael was a brilliant client, very engaged and a joy to work with. Wishing him all the best with his fascinating 19th century tale.
Joshua D.

Joshua D.

Jul, 2025

Nicola did a lot of work evaluating my novel idea and rough draft. I'm very pleased with her efforts. I strongly recommend her to anyone who wants to evaluate the viability of an idea.
Nicola C.
Many thanks Joshua, it was super to work with you and wishing you all the best with your fantastic idea.
Mihai B.

Mihai B.

Mar, 2025

Nicola is a very talented writer. She helps me organise the thoughts and threads of a huge project towards great clarity, clearly taking my dramatic film series idea to a new level.
Nicola C.
Wonderful to work with you Mihai on your exciting, complex epic drama. Wishing you all the best going forward with the show.
S. Lucia K.

S. Lucia K.

Dec, 2024

It is not a stretch to say that I could not have written this novel without Nicola as my development editor. I chose her for her specialization in women's turn of the 20th century historical fiction. What I didn't know at the start of this collaboration was just how much of a "match" she was for ...
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Nicola C.
What a year, working on this incredible book. Wishing you every success with it, I hope it flies. Thank you for the detailed, personal review, much appreciated.

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