Best-selling author Marian Keyes has spoken of her pride at having succeeded in staying sober for the past 15 years.

The Limerick-born writer has never made any bones about the fact that she fought a well-publicised battle with the booze, before finding the courage to quit it forever and get her life back on track.

She has now revealed how she marked the milestone anniversary occasion while on a dream holiday with her husband, Tony, in the South American country of Chile.

"On Sunday, January 18, I was 15 years sober. I still can't believe it... how lucky I am," she said.

Crisis

But the big-hearted author, who has written 11 novels, explained how she had a true crisis of conscience even taking the long-haul holiday with her partner, given how badly the worldwide credit crunch is affecting everyone.

"We were in several minds about going at all. The things is, it was booked over a year ago, before everything had gone really horrible, and please forgive me for any pain I'm causing by telling you about this. I really mean this.

"I know people who have lost their jobs, and there's plenty more like them, and it seems so insensitive to have gone on a holiday when life has got so hard for so many people. But, like I said, it was booked a long time ago and almost entirely paid for, so in the end we said we'd go."

And the comic writer told in her monthly newsletter how she certainly got more than she bargained for when she got to Chile, after taking a trip out to see the famous Atacama Desert near the Andes.

"On our second last day we were up to 14,000 feet and we were about to start our walk, and the guide says, 'We'll start our trek here'. And I thought, 'Good God, am I ... trekking?'" she continued.

Trekking

"Then I looked around and couldn't see some of the smaller Andes and when I asked Himself [Tony] about it, he said we were on them. And yes, it turned out that I was. I don't know when I turned into a trekking-in-the-Andes person, but it appears that I have. Just goes to show."

She also visited Easter Island, famous for its large stone head statues and for being the most isolated isle in the world, and compared it to County Clare -- except it was warm.

But she's now back on home soil and is busy concentrating on her next projects. As well as presiding over a creative writing course at Harvey's Point in Donegal this weekend, she's joining forces with RTE's Gay Byrne for the To Russia With Love ball on February 25.

mfinn@herald.ie

- Melanie Finn