About the Author. I write the Dermot O'Hara Mysteries under the pen name 'Michael McDonnell', a combination of my own name and my mother's maiden name. Originally from Belfast I now live in St Albans. After graduating from Manchester University with a degree in English Literature and Drama, I became a drama therapist working in hospitals and day centres around London. Shortly afterwards I made a career switch into the advertising industry. I had written plays and sketches while at Manchester so I took up my pen again and began writing short fiction and articles for business magazines, (in many cases interchangeable)... You may think that this was a slightly cavalier approach to vocational planning and you're right. However the writing bug had bitten and is still biting. My long stint in the world of media resulted in the 2014 novel, 'Eat More Bloody Meat Y'Bastards!' This novel was more therapy than fiction and has had great reviews including one from bestselling thriller writer M.J. Arlidge who said, 'Loved this book. It's a hilarious satire on the advertising industry, written with real brio and wit. Well done Mial Pagan - a true original.' In addition to my prose work I act and write with the Company of Ten at the Abbey Theatre where two of my plays, 'Other People's Lives' and 'Dancehall Sweethearts', have been produced. My screenplay 'Paradise Place' (if you liked 'Shaun of the Dead' you'll enjoy this) directed and filmed by the music video director Paride Odierna, is in post-production.