by Danielle Holian
For our readers, please describe what you do.
Sure, I’m an Irish journalist. I think today being a journalist means that you have to be able to cover all areas of media. Journalists are expected to be able to work every platform from print to radio and television. In essence, what I do is interview various celebrities and meet people with some f*cked up experiences.
Tell us a bit about your background in writing.
Writing is so important to me because I find it very therapeutic. While I always wrote as a child I didn’t really get serious about journalism until I started college four years ago. Something in my mind clicked and I thought to myself, how amazing would it be to be able to earn a living from your personality. And that for me is still the biggest driving force. I’m from a small town and the first piece of writing I ever had published was with some free newsletter. It’s a great feeling to see your first piece of work published and I thought I was some hot piece of ass but looking back now it was just a free newsletter that people used to potty train their dogs.
What attracted you to journalism in the first place?
Always since I was a kid I had always asked, “but…why?”. I wanted to know why some people were treated differently to others, I wanted to know why people did what they did. I’ve always had a problem with authority which can be beneficial as a journalist but it can get you in trouble a lot too. I guess what really attracted me to journalism, in the beginning, was my fascination with popular culture and human psychology.
How did you get involved with Motley Magazine?
Motley Magazine was where it really started for me. I had no experience but the editor saw that I had passion and that also I was a bit of an asshole. And she liked that so she took me under her wing and showed me how to get things done. Motley Magazine acted as an amazing platform for me to get access to celebrities that big Irish magazines still aren’t able to tap into. It was a magazine run by students alone, and it says a lot about hard work and determination. I have worked with “other” magazines and I was shocked that there was no fire there like I had been previously accustomed to.
On your website, Adam Reilly, why do you only specialize in celebrity interviews and bizarre real-life stories?
I guess it comes from my love of pop-culture and human psychology. First of all, everybody wants to know what Kim Kardashian is up to, even the people who hate her still want to know the drama. I have a massive interest in celebrity culture and music. As for the bizarre stories, I have a degree in human psychology so it’s an area that fascinates me. You know every day on the news you hear about some pedophile, I sit down with the pedophile and try document what is going on in their head. I’m definitely drawn to the darker aspects of humanity and it makes for such engaging stories.
Where do you get inspiration for content?
Oftentimes I’ll interview someone or an organisation that I don’t fully understand myself so that the research I’m doing is just as shocking to me as it is to the reader, it’s fresh. I think there’s an art form in exploring taboo aspects of society. So for me, it’s interesting to sit down with sex workers, people who believe in the paranormal, pedophiles, drag queens, people with terminal illness for example. Things that happen all around us everyday but we never take a deeper look.
How do you think your writing style has developed over the course of your career?
I’m definitely more confident now and I think everyone falls into their niche eventually. For me however I still struggle with separating myself from a story. If I’m going to interview a member of the transgender community then I want to surround myself in their lifestyle and insert myself into the narrative. Not a lot of people agree with that because you’re not really supposed to engage emotionally with a story. But I can’t help it.
What do you how to achieve in the next 5 years?
It changes all the time. I’d love to be working full-time in the media. If I was taller and had better bone structure I think I’d do well on television. Honestly I don’t have a five year plan per se but I’m a hustler I’ll be okay.
Any last words?
I tell myself when I’m frustrated or just recieved a knock-back that you gotta get your shit together and get back up. No one hands you anything in this industry and unless you’re sleeping with the right people you better work. I’ve been a journalist for four years and I still don’t have all my shit together so don’t panic. Also I’m available at: Twitter, Instagram, Website.
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