After the book tour, Molloy’s world had changed—it had greatly expanded, and the respect that she longed for and needed was finally given to her. Invitations to read or contribute her work poured in. Belfast writer Ruth Hooley Carr invited Molloy to submit to The Female Line: Northern Irish Women Writers, a text funded by the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Art Council. Molloy contributed two short stories to The Female Line. Molloy and Hooley Carr each presented at the 2nd International Feminist Book Fair in Oslo, Norway, in June of 1986; they became very close friends, and, in fact, Hooley Carr came to regard Molloy like a sister. Also, that summer, the Northern Arts in association with Northumberland County Council issued a statement that it would be seeking to hire its first writer-in-residence who would be based in Blyth, Northumberland. Molloy applied and was awarded the six-month residency that began in November 1986. In hindsight, the Blyth writer-in-residence program was no doubt good for Molloy’s confidence and self-esteem as she was taken seriously as a writer, yet the job took too much time and energy away from her own writing. The American edition of No Mate for the Magpie was published by Persea Books to favorable, though fewer, reviews.