Author Paul Howard has revealed that he will no longer write novels about his famous fictional character Ross O'Carroll-Kelly but will continue penning his weekly Ross column for The Irish Times.
Howard has published 21 books about the lives and loves of the professional rugby-mad south sider over the past 24 years and they have sold over 1.5 million copies in Ireland.
He has also penned three Ross spin-off books, including Ross O’Carroll-Kelly’s Guide to (South) Dublin.
Speaking on Friday’s Ray D’Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1, the 53-year-old writer said that the next Ross instalment Don’t Look Back in Onger in August will see him bow out for the last time.
"Today is my Robbie Willaims leaving Take That moment or Klopp leaving Liverpool. I know what I’m doing and I know the reaction and I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of years.
"I always knew there was going to be a last Ross O’Carroll-Kelly book and it was a case of when and it has been for years. When I was writing the most recent Ross book, Camino Royale, it felt like it was going to be the last Ross book and me and my editor sat down to plot Don’t Look Back in Ongar.
"I remember at the beginning when I was going to schools and colleges, and they were the places I was sending up - UCD, Blackrock College, Loreto Foxrock - and I would go and read for the transition year kids and they would say I love your books.
"But for the last four or five years when I’m doing those readings the kids would say to me `my old man loves your books, my old dear is a big fan of what you do' so it’s changed. I started writing Ross when I was in the mid to late twenties and on my next birthday I’ll be 54."
As they say, some personal news… https://t.co/rAKy6PcjBD
— Paul Howard (@AkaPaulHoward) May 31, 2024
Howard, who began his career as a sports journalist, has also written four plays, including 2012’s puppet-based Anglo the Musical and a second musical Copper Face Jacks: The Musical, based on the Dublin nightclub Copper Face Jacks, in 2018.
He has written several non-fiction books, including The Joy, an account of life in Mountjoy Prison, a biography of Irish socialite and Guinness heir Tara Browne, I Read the News Today, Oh Boy and he has also written for two seasons of Bad Sisters.
Asked about how he will feel leaving Ross, who has been part of his life for such a long time, Howard said, "I’ve written about this character for two and a half decades and I kind of feel that’s it taken up so much of my time. That is the issue so it’s time has come to close the door. I’m working on loads of other things."
"I loved when people shouted at me in the street. There was never a point where I felt like I wanted to escape this. I loved every minute of it."
Asked about his future plans, he said, "I have lots of ideas for other books and stories I want to tell and that’s part of the reason the Ross books are ending. I’m working on a new TV series at the moment."
He jokingly added, "I would crawl on my hands and knees across broken glass to write Jürgen Klopp’s biography but I haven’t been asked."
