From a boozy haze to bestseller riches

Three years ago Marian Keyes's dreams of becoming a writer were dissolving in a sea of alcohol. Today she has top publishers beating a path to her door in a frenzied bidding war.

As a result she has signed deals of more than £600,000, one of the most lucrative ever achieved by an unestablished Irish writer. There is talk of interest from American publishers and even hints of turning her first novel into a film.

Keyes, a native of Dublin who worked as an accounts clerk in London, suddenly began writing short stories in her spare time in September 1993. But her efforts seemed doomed by her constant alcoholic haze.

Then she took a grip of her life by booking into an addiction clinic and sitting down to write her first novel. She sold it to a small Irish publisher - and thereby sowed the seeds of incredible success.

Two years on, Keyes has begun to reap a rich harvest. After signing the deals last month. Keyes was at last able to hand in her notice at her accounts job, which she says she had always hated, to write full-time.

Her husband Tony, who she married last December, also gave up his job as a manager in a computer company. They plan to move to Ireland next year.

She has sold the rights to her debut novel, Watermelon, and the work that followed, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, along with two as yet unwritten books for £425,000 to Reed International in London.

Reed intends to publish the novels under its Mandarin title in the UK and Commonwealth. Heyne, a German publisher, also paid DM500,000 (£200,000) to publish her first four novels in German.

The British publishing deal was signed after a frantic bidding battle between eight of the leading publishing houses in Britain.

What made the publishers so eager was the success of her two books in Ireland, published by Poolbeg Press, a small Dublin company, Watermelon, for which Keyes received no advance, came out in August 1995 and sold 35,000 copies in Ireland.

It was one of six books selected by WH Smith as part of its 1996 Fresh Talent promotion and sold 65,000 in Britain under the Poolbeg imprint. Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married was published in August, spent nine weeks at No 1 in the Irish best-seller list, and has sold 50,000 copies. Keyes has renewed her contract with Poolbeg for five more books in Ireland.

Moore had read Lucy Sullivan on a trip to Dublin and decided she wanted to sign Keyes. The editor said there was a universal quality to Keyes's books that readers in other countries would find easy to identify with.

The race to sign Keyes finally narrowed to two publishers, Random House and Mandarin.

Keyes says she and Lloyd decided to put a cap on the money being offered and meet with each house before making the decision. Keyes chose Mandarin because she felt "more comfortable with the smaller house."

Keyes is working on her third novel, Rachel's Holiday, which she describes as a sideways sequel to Watermelon. Her books, set in London, Dublin and New York, have been described as "romanticism concealed beneath a veneer of jokey cynicism." Keyes says that, while they tackle serious issues, the humour, sometimes black, always wins out.

"I'm really happy but I find it all very frightening. There's always the feat that they'll bomb. I have a big responsibility now and with people giving me that much money I have a lot to live up to," she said.

"It's a fairy tale. This time three years ago I was drinking my head off, I was in a job that I hated, earning an absolute pittance and now I'm in a position to be able to give up my job and do something that I love doing." Keyes said.

"Everything turned around once I stopped drinking."

"Every writer's dream is to be published, but to have eight major British publishers all excited about your work and ultimately selling the rights for a lot of money is pretty exceptional," said Jonathan Lloyd, Keyes's agent.

"The reason it became such a crucial auction for all the houses was because it's very rare that you get the combination of an author who is clearly very original and very talented, but also who has had a major success already in one territory (Ireland)," said Louise Moore, editorial director for Mandarin.

"In a way a lot of the hard work has been done for us by Poolbeg. It's a wonderful gift to find somebody you are so sure is such an original and funny writer."

"We are very confident that her books will sell in huge numbers," she says.

Keyes, 33, who has lived in London since she was 22, is open about her drinking problems. "I'm a recovering alcoholic. In January, hopefully, I will be sober for three years."

"I drank until I was 30. I became the classic alcoholic, drinking on my own and in the mornings. My life fell apart. I was miserable. I went to the Rutland (addiction clinic) in Dublin in January 1994 and haven't had a drink since."