About the Author

Danielle McCormick is a born and bred Dubliner and describes herself as “somewhere between a tom boy and a girlie girl”.

So Danielle, tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well, I’m a born and bred Dubliner. I hate describing myself because as soon as I say something like “I’m a tom boy” I can think of dozens of reasons why I am not a tom boy. If you look up the word “Oxymoran” in the dictionary there is a picture of me smiling back! So, I’m a tom boy who loves things that are pink and sparkle! I’m the wild party animal who meditates every day. I could paint myself and being a very outdoor active person but I love the couch and my duvet!

I think one thing that I could say for certain is that I have loads of hobbies. My spare room will vouch for that. I love skiing, have just caught the golfing bug, dress making, I play guitar, I go hill walking at the weekends…I like to try my hand at new things.

So tell me, what inspired you to write the book?

Well I got my first car when I was 17 and was so eager to drive but totally ignored the fact that I had to do things like check the oil and coolant. I was driving my then boyfriend to the airport and smoke started coming from the engine. So, while he was away for the summer I was without a car and without any money as it cost me nearly £1,500 in old money to get it fixed!

When the same thing happened to my friend the mechanic told her she had done so much damage it wasn’t worth fixing so she had to write off her car which she had recently spent €4,000 purchasing. She was still having to pay repayments on a car that was in the scrap heap! I went to buy her a jokey commiseration present of a book on “how to look after your car” or something and couldn’t find anything anywhere! No wonder women are useless with cars. There’s no one out there showing us how.

Did you know a lot about cars?

Not really. But what was scary is that amongst my friends, I probably knew the most but I now know I knew very little. So God knows what they are like with their cars! I didn’t know much about cars but I had learned a while back that if you put your mind to it you can learn anything so I knew I could do it. I felt like it was a new challenge that I was eager to accept. It was a totally new area to explore and that is always exciting.

Were you surprised by the reaction of the book in Ireland?

Totally. I just went with my instinct that women were now ready to get their hands dirty and take control of their own cars. I took a big risk making the book tongue in cheek but it seems that woman “got it”. It was either going to sink or swim so luckily it swan. The reaction from the media was overwhelming too. Journalists were ringing my parent’s house asking for me. I haven’t lived there in years!

So what’s next?

I am updating the book to make it bigger and better and it is going to be released in the UK for the first time this September. So, fingers crossed the UK give it as warm a welcome as the Irish did!