‘I just wanted people to be able to find me’: Dervla McTiernan on her pen name – and pizza name

It’s not unusual for an author to use a pen name. But the woman behind Australia’s recent top-selling crime novel also has a pizza name – and now we know why.

‘I just wanted people to be able to go and find me and find the book’ … Dervla McTiernan. Photo: Nathalie Marquez

IT’S not unusual for an author to use a pen name. But Australia’s best-selling crime novelist Dervla McTiernan also has a pizza name.

“I use Kate,” the Irish-born writer laughs of relying on an easy-to-pronounce moniker when it comes to ordering takeaway meals.

McTiernan was born Dearbhla; and despite having the typical “Irish hang-up about anglicising our names,” she concedes the Gaelic spelling is a challenge for those born outside the Emerald Isle.

“And I just wanted people to be able to go and find me and find the book,” she says – so she began using Dervla as her nom de plume. “But I spell my name the real way – the Irish way – in real life.” So, to avoid confusion, sometimes she is simply “Kate”.

Name game … Dervla McTiernan, pictured on a trip back to Ireland, is ‘Dearbhla’ to her friends and family; and ‘Kate’ when it comes to takeaways. Photo: Nathalie Marquez

Since her debut novel, The Ruin – published in 2018 while the mum-of-two and former lawyer was recovering from brain surgery – McTiernan has certainly made a name for herself in the literary world.

The Perth-based writer had the top-selling crime fiction book and fourth best-selling novel overall last year with a murder mystery inspired by real events, What Happened to Nina?

That book has been picked up for screen adaptation just as her latest novel The Unquiet Grave (which marks a return of her popular detective character Cormac Reilly) hits shelves.

While What Happened to Nina? is headed for the screen, McTiernan hasn’t got any particular Hollywood names in mind for the cast.

“They just need really powerful actors. I am not a casting person, I am going to duck out of that one,” she smiles. But when pushed, she concedes, “OK, Meryl [Streep] would be good.”

Make some noise … because Cormac Reilly is back. (Also, do you recognise something from the photo of Dervla above? Yes, that’s Blackrock Pier in Galway).