An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir September 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie 40 | Michelle Dunne corporal (retD) 12th inf Bn M y life prior to the army revolved around row- ing. I was a member of Cobh Fisherman's Rowing Club, and for years I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do 5 evenings a week and most Sundays. As a result I accumulated 2 silver and 7 gold County Championship medals, and 2 All-Ireland medals (silver and gold). I'd been considering the Defence Forces for a while at that stage so I joined the FCA with 4th AD bty in Cobh. I was with them for 1½ years, but I knew within a week that I wanted the full-time army. In September 1997 I joined the 82nd Rec Pln at the Com- mand Training Depot, Collin's Bks, Cork. I suppose everyone is biased when it comes to their own recruit platoon, but I genuinely believe that I landed in one of the best. As tough as the training was, someone in that platoon gave me some- thing to laugh about every day, whether I felt like laughing or not! After we passed out, I was posted to A Coy, 12th Inf Bn, Sarsfield Bks, Limerick. At that time, myself and one of my female colleagues were the first women to be posted there. We probably stuck out like sore thumbs for the first few days, but it took us no time at all to settle in. I'm very proud to be able to say that I served with them. In October 1998 I joined the 84th Irish Batt, UNIFIL where I was assigned to the comcen with B Coy. As far as platoons and companies go, once again I landed on my feet with B Coy. The male to female ratio didn't matter because they were great to work with and I loved my job there. In September 1999 I joined the 2nd Pot NCOs course, in the BTC, Collin's Bks, Cork. That was the most physically and mentally demand- ing 19-weeks of my life. So much so that I think I slept through most of the millen- nium celebrations, but the highlight for me was the confidence building exercise in Fort Da- vis the week before we passed out in February 2000. The following year I started training new recruits in Sarsfield Bks. Coming towards the end of my contract, I found myself with a growing interest in the area of physical therapy and finally decided to leave the army and return to college to pursue that new career. I've been working as a physical therapist for nearly 10-years now. I still really enjoy that work, but my big passion is for writing. To get anywhere in the publishing industry, you need endless patience, determination and a very thick skin, which I think I was born with. But I have no doubt that all of those things were strengthened by the Defence Forces. After countless rejections, I was finally signed by a small agency in 2012 and so far I've had two books published in the area of Women's Fiction. My new book 'Playing the Game' is another work of fiction and will hopefully be out sometime next year. Just this week I signed with one of the largest literary agencies in the UK who have also represented Salman Rushdie (Mid- night's Children) and Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange) to name just two, so the pressure's really on now! But I look forward to the challenge. There's a saying for writers – "Write what you know." Although 'Playing the Game' isn't a book about the army, the army does feature prominently in it, and what I know about the army is that it was one of the most positive experiences of my life and that's how it's reflected in this book. I couldn't write it any other way. www.facebook. com/MichelleDunneAuthor "The thing with life in the army is that you're never in the same place with the same people for very long. You're always moving around doing different things." "It's Just Turbulence" (The Turbulent Series, Book 2) - "A great read, funny, sad and apprehension contained within the pages. Truly a 5 star read." "Did Someone Order Cactus?" (The Turbulent Series, Book 1) - "Funny and thought provoking I couldn't put it down - 5 star read"

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