{{Short description|Irish publishing consultant and bestselling author}} {{Update|part=Publishing|reason=Not current, and not fully developed; further referencing will also help, and image and infobox.|date=May 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin''' is an Irish literary coach. She also writes under the pen name ''Sam Blake''.
==Career==
In 2006, Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin moved from a career in event management to self-employment, founding Inkwell Writers Workshops to run fiction-writing workshops taught by bestselling published writers.<ref name="McBennett">{{cite news |last1=McBennett |first1=Fiona |date=11 January 2015 |title=Meet Irish women behind publishing powerhouses |url=http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/meet-irish-women-behind-publishing-powerhouses-30897457.html |access-date=16 June 2015 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref name="Brennan">{{cite news |last1=Brennan |first1=Marjorie |date=19 March 2014 |title=Writers' workshop proves a novel experience for best-selling author |url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/artsvibe/writers-workshop-proves-a-novel-experience-for-best-selling-author-barclay-262389.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=22 June 2015 |publisher=Irish Examiner}}</ref> During the post-2008 Irish economic downturn, the company was renamed The Inkwell Group and became a publishing consultancy. O'Loughlin publishes crime fiction as "Sam Blake".<ref name="PenNames">{{cite web |date=May 2015 |title=Three-book deal for Sam Blake (20 May 2015) |url=http://crimeire.blogspot.com/2015/05/vanessa-fox-oloughlin-sam-blake.html |access-date=18 June 2015 |website=crimeire.blogspot.com |publisher=Crime Fiction Ireland (blog)}}</ref>
In 2019 she was elected to the Management Committee of the Society of Authors.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Martin |date=2019-10-24 |title=New members elected to SoA's Management Committee - The Society of Authors |url=https://www2.societyofauthors.org/2019/10/25/new-members-elected-to-soas-management-committee/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Society of Authors |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2024, she was elected as the new chair,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Martin |date=2024-01-23 |title=Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin elected new Chair of the Society of Authors - The Society of Authors |url=https://www2.societyofauthors.org/2024/01/23/vanessa-fox-oloughlin-elected-new-chair-of-the-society-of-authors/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Society of Authors |language=en-GB}}</ref> succeeding Joanne Harris.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Porter |date=2024-01-23 |title=UK: New Leadership at the Society of Authors |url=https://publishingperspectives.com/2024/01/uk-new-leadership-at-the-society-of-authors/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Publishing Perspectives |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bayley |first1=Sian |date=23 January 2024 |title=Fox O'Loughlin elected new SoA chair, succeeding Harris |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/fox-oloughlin-elected-new-soa-chair-succeeding-harris |url-access=limited |access-date=25 January 2024 |work=The Bookseller |language=En}}</ref>
In 2022, O'Loughlin was one of over 100 authors to contribute to ''100 Ways to Write a Book'' – a compilation of author interviews put together by author Alex Pearl during the COVID pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-16 |title=Talk Radio Europe in Spain: 16 March 2023 |url=https://player.talkradioeurope.com/ondemand/Talk_Radio_Europe_in_Spain_2023-03-16_20-00-00.mp3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327222459/https://player.talkradioeurope.com/ondemand/Talk_Radio_Europe_in_Spain_2023-03-16_20-00-00.mp3 |archive-date=27 March 2023 |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Talk Radio Europe }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pearl |first=Alex |date=2022-02-04 |title=The Author's Saga Webinar Series Piick a Book interview |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1obKDdL-7LY |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=The Author's Saga |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pearl |first=Alex |date=10 January 2022 |title=100 Ways to Write a Book by Alex Pearl and Charles Harris |url=https://www.writing.ie/interviews/100-ways-to-write-a-book-by-alex-pearl-and-charles-harris/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=writing.ie}}</ref>
===Sam Blake=== In 2015, Swedish publishing group Bonnier Twenty7 signed O'Loughlin to write a three-book series of crime novels featuring Garda detective Cat Connolly and set in Dublin.<ref name=TimesBooks/> The first book in the series was ''Little Bones'', and was released, as were the two subsequent volumes, under the pen name Sam Blake. ''Little Bones'' went straight into the Irish fiction bestseller list at first place and stayed there for four weeks,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Charles |date=2020-11-05 |title=Interview: Sam Blake #1 bestselling author |url=https://charles-harris.co.uk/2020/11/interview-sam-blake-1-bestselling-author/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Charles Harris author |language=en-GB}}</ref> eventually featuring in the Irish top ten for eight weeks. ''In Deep Water'' and ''No Turning Back'' also entered the Irish bestseller lists.{{CN|date=January 2024}}
In January 2020, standalone thriller ''Keep Your Eyes on Me'' was released by Corvus Books, together with an audio recording from Bolinda Publishing narrated by Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch. ''Keep Your Eyes on Me'' was also a No.1 Irish Times bestseller.<ref name=":0" />
One of the two lead characters in ''High Pressure'' came from ''No Turning Back'', and the other in turn was the lead in ''Remember My Name''; the author commented "All my books are set in different locations but in the same world. For readers I hope this creates a sense of total immersion".<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2021-09-28 |work=Books Ireland |title=What a web she weaves—Sam Blake on spinning crime novels - Books Ireland |url=https://booksirelandmagazine.com/what-a-web-she-weaves-sam-blake-on-spinning-crime-novels/ |access-date=2026-03-28 |language=en-IE}}</ref>
In January 2022 ''The Dark Room'', was published by Corvus Books.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Sam |date=21 January 2021 |title=The Dark Room: Eason No 1 Bestseller! |url=https://www.samblakebooks.com/the-dark-room-eason-no-1-bestseller/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Sam Blake Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Meet the Author: Sam Blake |url=https://www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/posts/meet-the-author/meet-the-author-sam-blake |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Suffolk Libraries |language=en}}</ref>
In 2023 her debut YA was published with Gill Books, ''Something Terrible Happened Last Night'', followed in May 2024 by ''Something's About to Blow Up''. She is continuing with adult fiction however and ''Three Little Birds'' (January 2024) was her tenth book.
In April 2026, she was a guest on the ''Off the Shelf'' podcast<ref>https://open.spotify.com/episode/4t57uYSyco2cbZzWX2M4kI?si=684f086f41bc4635</ref>.
===Writing.ie=== O'Loughlin founded Writing.ie in 2011; it developed into an Irish writers' web resource that covers literary events and offers advice to writers.<ref name="McBennett" /><ref name=TimesBooks>{{cite news|title=Vanessa O'Loughlin's book deal|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/kevin-higgins-s-blair-ode-in-morning-star-and-vanessa-o-loughlin-s-book-deal-1.2222147|access-date=16 June 2015|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=22 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="BookNews" /><ref name="O'Sullivan 2">{{cite news|last1=O’Sullivan|first1=Marése|title=Preview: International Literature Festival Dublin|url=http://utv.ie/Blogs/2015/05/15/Preview-International-Literature-Festival-Dublin-37335|access-date=16 June 2015|publisher=UTV Ireland|date=15 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618160142/http://utv.ie/Blogs/2015/05/15/Preview-International-Literature-Festival-Dublin-37335|archive-date=18 June 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
The ''Irish Independent'' describes Writing.ie as "a one-stop shop for authors".<ref name="BookNews">{{cite news |date=18 August 2014 |title=Paperback Writer: Do Irish writers make a living? |url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-news/paperback-writer-do-irish-writers-make-a-living-30506317.html |url-access=registration |access-date=16 June 2015 |newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref>
==Personal life== Fox comes from St Albans in Hertfordshire, England.<ref name=":0"/> She met her future husband, Shane O'Loughlin, a member of the Irish police force, at a sports event in 1992, and they married in 1993. They lived first in Bray, County Wicklow, then moved to nearby Kilmacanogue.<ref name="Indo_site_Kilmac"/> They have two children.<ref name=":0"/> She cites Daphne du Maurier as a major inspiration.<ref name=":0"/><ref name="Indo_site_Kilmac">{{Cite web |date=2016-12-03 |title=Vanessa's crime and passion in Kilmac |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklow/bray-news/vanessas-crime-and-passion-in-kilmac/35255168.html |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Independent.ie |language=en}}</ref>
==Publications==
=== Non-fiction & anthologies (under her own name) ===
* ''Do the Write Thing: 14 Winning Stories by Ireland's Newest Writers'' (contributor, 2007) * ''Big Book of Hope'' (edited, 2010) * ''Writing to Get Published: Bringing the Dream Alive'' (guide, 2011) * ''The New Big Book of Hope'' (edited, 2012) * ''Taking the Plunge: New Writing from Dun Laoghaire–Rathdown'' (anthology editor)
=== ''Cat Connolly'' series (as Sam Blake) ===
# ''Little Bones'' (2017) # ''In Deep Water'' (2017) # ''No Turning Back'' (2018)
=== Stand-alone thrillers ===
* ''Keep Your Eyes on Me'' (2020) * ''The Dark Room'' (2021) * ''High Pressure'' (2021) * ''Remember My Name'' (2022) * ''The Mystery of Four'' (2023) * ''Something Terrible Happened Last Night'' (YA, 2023) * ''Three Little Birds'' (2024) * ''Something's About to Blow Up'' (YA, May 2024) * ''The Killing Sense'' (2025)
=== Publications with contributions by O'Loughlin=== *''100 Ways to Write a Book'' (2022) – a pandemic-era compilation of author interviews
==References== {{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:OLoughlin, Vanessa}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Irish crime fiction writers Category:21st-century Irish writers Category:Living people Category:People from Bray, County Wicklow Category:Writers from County Wicklow Category:Writers from St Albans