On Being Irish by CD Brennan

Today's guest blogger has written a delightful novel called Watershed. I will be reviewing it on Friday. In today's post, she touches on something I wondered about while reading the book: what prompted her to write about an Irish woman hooking up with an Australian man? Is she from either place? The answer surprised me! -- Mary Ann

 

 

The very wee island of Ireland has had a mighty impact on the development and population of our world today. Physically, it is about the same size as the state of Michigan, yet Irish culture, music, literature, language and even drink and cuisine (Guinness anyone?) is infused into not only Western society, but all over the world. Infused, like a good cuppa tea.

 

I have traveled all over, and have yet to step into a country that hasn’t an Irish person on board, in one way or the other. Whether it is a great-grandparent or a cousin three times removed, everyone is keen to show their Irish colors. Over 36 million Americans and over 2 million Australians, including Aboriginal Australians, claim Irish ancestry.

 

Am I Irish?? Nope. Mostly Dutch with a dash of German and a pinch of English. Do I have Irish heritage that I can trace back to the O’Mahoney’s of County Laios, or the Kelly’s of Galway? Not a blood ounce.

 

So why did I have my heroine in WATERSHED be Irish? I wrote the book when living in Australia, having married an Australian man (with Irish heritage) and we had just moved to Queensland to start our own flock of Aussie ochers. I had met my Aussie husband when we were living in Ireland. I still felt Irish, as I has assimilated and braced that country as if it was my own. Just over seven years, Dublin was my home. I worked and commuted along the Dart. I found friends and lost others, I fell in love so many times with, yes, lovely Irish lads, but also places and ideas. I celebrated birthdays, I went to weddings. I sailed boats and rode horses. I cried over silly things. I got drunk at the pubs and belted out the Fields of Athenry, as if I too, recalled the pain and suffering of years past.

 

So ask me again. Am I Irish? Hell, yes - in heart and soul. I’ll be there rooting for them come rugby or soccer world cup time. I celebrate their victories, and am saddened by their setbacks. I wear my Irish jerseys proudly and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with an enthusiasm greater than the Dubs themselves. Even today I can put on an Irish lilt that comes back to me with the first phone call from a mate back there. The heroine, Maggie, is a combination of many of my Irish girlfriends, who are still dear to my heart, who I still think about daily.

 

 

Being Irish, I believe, is not so much about bloodline, but so much more about heart. It’s about embracing the spirit of an Irishman or woman: courage, integrity, fun, music, and yes, a good pint. And as they say, “a bit of craic”.

 

I hope you enjoy WATERSHED, a romance of the Irish spirit set against the stunning backdrop of Queensland, Australia. Sl?inte!

 

About the author:

 

Having traveled and lived all over the world, Cd Brennan now talks with a strange accent, a mix of distant terminology, a blend of culturally cute but confusing euphemisms that leaves everyone looking at her with a blank stare. Luckily, her Australian husband (who she met in Ireland) and her two Aussie/Yankee sons have no problem understanding her – well, except for the word “NO”.
 
Now settled back “home” in Michigan, she enjoys reliving her glory days by writing about them. She considers the last fifteen years abroad the perfect research for her Love Where You Roam series; matchmaking women and men from different cultures, even different hemispheres, helping them find their true one across oceans of difference.
 
As destiny plays a hand in all the stories, Cd Brennan truly believes that what is for you, won’t pass you by. She hopes to inspire others to get out there: “Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” [Mark Twain] And of course, fall in love.
 
Get in touch with her at www.cdbrennan.com

The Silla Project and the Montaigne Medal

As an independently published writer, I don't get a lot of accolades. Those of you who have taken the plunge understand what I'm talking about. You know your work is good but for whatever reason, it hasn't caught on with a large publisher yet.

Regardless of the reason you go with a small publisher, it means you're got a tough road ahead of you. As with a large publisher, the author is responsible for the bulk of the marketing. However, without a large publisher you don't have something that traditionally published authors do - cred. Short for, credibility. This is unfortunate since some of the best books I've read in years have been independently published.

At the same time, some of the worst books I've ever read are also independently published. Often, seemingly, without even running spell check. And that alone wouldn't have fixed the massive grammatical and continuity errors in the even the first few pages. Aside from the nonexistent plot and playing-card thin characters.

But being independently published, even if your work is good, the feedback comes slow. Getting reviews is hard. Getting reviews from established and respected reviewers is even harder. Getting the word out to buyers seems even more impossible at times. So each one of those positive reviews can be like gold to the indie-pubbed writer. But even those can get old when sales are lagging. You can get to doubting yourself and wondering if your work is any good.

With that in mind, and knowing that feeling only too well, I was delighted to get an email today from the Eric Hoffer Award for Books. They've been around for a dozen years now and have grown to be one of the largest and most respected indie book awards out there. Each year they get thousands of submissions and pick just a few for a variety of categories. The grand prize even has a $2,000 cash award. So hearing that my novel, The Silla Project is a finalist for the Montaigne Medal was quite a rush! 

In addition to the normal categories, the Eric Hoffer Award for Books gives out several medals for special categories. The Da Vinci Eye goes to the best cover art. The First Horizon Award goes to exceptional work by debut authors. And the Montaigne Award is given to a few books that best exemplify the ideals of the great, French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne, as works that illuminate, progress, or redirect thought. I can't be more proud and thrilled that The Silla Project is a finalist for this respected award. But then, I've known for some time that no one who reads The Silla Project comes away unchanged.

The Silla Project is not a normal book. It began as a dream. A way out of having to rely on engineering to pay my bills. I was going to write thrillers and be the next Tom Clancy! It was a twist of fate that led to my choosing to set the story in North Korea. It was the plight of the North Korean people that redirected my thoughts to telling their story.

After four years of intensive - some would say obsessive - study of North Korea and nuclear weapons, I had lost all interest in writing a mass market thriller. It became my mission to do what I could to bring the horror of that evil regime to light in a way people could relate to. To help the people trapped in that real-life Zombie apocalypse. So it is with tremendous hope that the honor of being a finalist for the Montaigne Medal might help The Silla Project achieve a wider audience and help others to come to understand North Korea for what it is. As my friend, fan, and inventor of high-temperature conductivity, Dr. Jim Ashburn said, "It may be the largest hostage crisis of all time."

Until next time,

John C. Brewer

John C. Brewer is the author of Multiplayer an MMOG YA SF novel, and The Silla Project, a North Korean nuclear romance. You can learn more about him and what he is doing at his website, JohnCBrewer.com

Danny's Tavern--A Collection of Neighborhood Stories 1935-1975

 

 

Our guest today is Dr. Thomas Melvin, P.E. I'm looking forward to reading his book, Danny's Tavern! I think you'll enjoy his explanation of how this collection of short stories came into being.---Mary Ann

 

A few years ago I wrote a novel-The Great American Story-so I thought, “Two Winds To Vandalia”. It was about two Cain & Abel brothers and an accident at a nuclear power plant. But 20 or so rejection slips later convinced me otherwise.

 

My friend Bill Flynn was a bartender at Danny’s Tavern. He was always writing too but his finished work never saw the light of day. He wrote the real life stories that the patrons at this neighborhood tavern shared with him.

 

Upon his passing, all of those writings were discovered in boxes in the basement and might have been thrown out. But Bill left behind a hand written note that they were to be given to me.

 

The stories shared in Danny’s Tavern could have happened anywhere, any year and in any economy. Neighborhood taverns are places people go to share stories and sometimes the type of secret you could only confess to a relative stranger.

 

They are centers of neighborhood culture and conversation and no matter where you live or are traveling to you just feel more connected to the rest of the world, when you’re there.

 

They are safe havens you can go to for answers when you’ve been laid off for the very first time and you feel like you’re the only one that’s ever happened to. They are where you go to brag endlessly to relative strangers about how you finally met the woman of your dreams who thinks you’re the man of hers.

 

Perhaps most importantly, in an economy where all the rules of how to be successful seem to have changed, your own “Danny’s Tavern” is where you know you can you go to share your greatest hopes and dreams, and find a community that will hold you accountable for achieving them.

 

Just as the All Things Writing blog image says “Writing is the recording of life as it passes you by” and Bill Flynn’s writings captured the lives of 26 characters through the ups and downs of life, unfiltered, authentic and timeless.

 

About the Author:

 

Dr Thomas Melvin P.E. graduated from the Doctoral Program at Nova Southeastern University and received a Distinguished Research Award for his dissertation, in 1996. For over twenty years he worked as an Engineering Consultant for the Medcon Engineering Corporation. He has lectured throughout the U.S. on Construction and Facilities Management.

His career began at the age of ten having worked at everything from scraping barnacles off of tugboats, to shoveling coal on a steamship, jumping out of planes as a US Paratrooper, to teaching engineering, to project management consulting at Harvard University. He is also the author of Practical Psychology in Construction
Management published by Van Nostrand Reinhold and Danny’s Tavern – A Collection of Neighborhood Stories 1935-1975

His facebook page is: http://on.fb.me/GNLW5d

Readers can buy the book here: http://amzn.to/XcyCAn

Divide And Conquer!

So I've recently put the finishing touches on an epic masterpiece that is finally going to catapult me to the fame and reward I so richly deserve. Time to start sending out those queries so I can take my pick of the offers as they roll in!

Dear Ms. YAgent:
Please consider representing my new YA dystopian, science fiction, paranormal, suspense, romantic, literary thriller ZOMBIE CAFE. It is currently 139,000 words -


"Right..." bemoans the agent for the thousandth time today, her eyes glazing over, followed by a stream of consciousness - Like Barnes&Noble is going to devote three inches of shelf space, per copy, to a complete unknown. Not to mention the cost of churning out and distributing this tome. Just reading it the first time is going to take twice as long as that Ahmish Space Opera burning a hole through my Kindle. <Delete>

So what is an aspiring published writer to do?

Our politicians do it to the popular masses every day, so why shouldn't we do it to the capitalist industry that refuses to recognize the talent that is verily glugging out of our ears and getting our keyboard all sticky?

Honestly, there's a lot of junk out there, but a lot of great writing, as well. Since I went with a small indie press I've really started paying attention to the work that is already out there. You've probably got some really good stuff. I've got some good stuff, too. My writing partner's debut Foreseen* is getting some incredible reviews on Goodreads. Just because it isn't traditionally published doesn't mean it isn't good stuff.

But frankly, my best work to date, which I would prefer to traditionally publish, isn't getting much attention in the queryverse. One of the reasons, at 139K words, It's Too Damn Long. There's a very good reason that 90% of debut novels that get published are less than 100,000 words. Or rather, some very good reasons. Reasons . Plural:

1. Paper costs more than ever before. 
2. Printing costs more than ever before. 
3. Shelf space in book stores is more limited and competitive than ever before.
4. Publisher cash is more limited than ever before.
5. Publisher time is more limited than ever before.
6. Customer cash is more limited than ever before.
7. Customer time is more limited than ever before.
8. I'm a debut author.
9. Getting the point?
10. Hello...?

This book was already slated to be the first in a series. So guess what? It just became two books! And instead of three LONG books, it'll be five shorter ones. Now, not only have I written the first in the series, the second in the series is automatically 75% complete. I also get to include some of the scenes I cut out of the original manuscript in my misguided attempts to make it shorter. And it just so happens there is a fantastic spot to wrap things up yet leave a powerful cliff hanger. It's almost like I intended to do it this way, just like that guy who scored a goal in the Europa League last week. At least he said he was shooting. I always do.

I'm really quite proud of this book. Yet every time I write a query letter I balk when I would write 139K -gack- thousand -gack- words <coughing spasm>. It was dumb. I knew better. I know better. Time to stop being my own worst enemy, at least in this particular case. Time to divide. Time to conquer.

Until next time,

John C. Brewer

John C. Brewer is the author of Multiplayer an MMOG YA SF novel, and The Silla Project, a North Korean nuclear romance. You can learn more about him and what he is doing at his website, JohnCBrewer.com

*Foreseen, Terri-Lynne Smiles.

The Garden: The Unauthorized Biography of Adam and Eve by Paul T. Harry--a review

I had the privilege of getting to interview science fiction writer Paul T. Harry a few months ago about his fabulous writing skills and his book, The 5 Moons of Tiiana. I knew after the interview that he was going to be a writer to watch. When the chance to review his latest book came along, I couldn't resist! But then again, it's hard to resist a book with such a tempting title...The Garden: An Unauthorized Biography of Adam and Eve.

Here is the publisher's blurb:

Nearly every religion and society in the world today begins with the story of Adam and Eve. And yet, this most basic story is couched in mysticism, myth, and vague detail. Did such a couple really exist? Were they the first man and woman on our planet, or is there more to the story?

For two hundred thousand years the Neanderthal race ruled Earth, then mysteriously, 40,000 years ago they disappeared forever leaving behind a new race of people -- the Cro-Magnon. Why? What happened back then that changed our history forever?

                                                              

The Garden of Eden -- a perfect home built and designed for two people until the serpent arrived. Who was the serpent? And what was he doing there in the first place? Is there a chance that the serpent is actually a reference to some hidden sexual transgression?

 

Imagine traveling billions of light years across space to settle an unknown world populated by primitive barbarians. Imagine being alone, just you and your spouse, the two of you in charge of an entire world with only your faith and your mission to guide you -- and, of course, the devil waiting for that fatal mistake.

 

Could you have done things better?                                                             

THE GARDEN

A Love Story
A Saga of Good vs Evil
The Beginning of Humanity's Historic Journey

 

 

This is a clever retelling of the story of Adam and Eve with a cool sci/fi twist that I found really engaging. I was impressed with so many elements of this book, and while I've seen the Adam and Eve plot used before in science fiction, this version really played with some new ideas that worked for me.

 

So, basically Adam and Eve are aliens. Their job is to come to Terran (Earth) and fix the crazy stuff that's been happening there since another alien, Mikatta, got out of hand.  Because of Mikatta's antics before Adam and Eve arrive on the planet, the tribes already living there are not exactly the pillars of civilized society. As you might expect, the arrival of Adam and Eve brings some of the tribes joy and causes trouble with the others. There's a lot of pride going on with Earth's hottest alien couple as they strive to take command, but eventually they discover the pitfalls of being rulers.

 

The most impressive thing in this novel is the world building the author has undertaken. The alien society Adam and Eve come from is written about in great detail, and it was easy to imagine this whole other race of beings with a goal of experimenting on other planets and civilizations. I could picture Mr. Harry's description of the Big Bang vividly, as well as, the evolution of man.

 

I also liked the idea that Adam and Eve were scientists in their original world, but somewhat naive (even with all their training) when it came to life on Terran. Mikatta, who represents the Satan from the traditional tale, is brutal, sneaky, and full of loathing. An extremely well written character, Mikatta gets my vote for the Best Bad Guy That I've Read In A Long Time. Then again...he is the devil....

 

For me, there were only a few places where this story fell short. Remember that world building thing I was talking about? Well, it's pretty detailed with lots of names and places that are unfamiliar--typical science fiction stuff. Unfortunately, it was hard to keep all the names straight, and I did feel that parts of the narrative were a little slow and bogged with almost too much detail.

 

But remember folks, I'm always the first to admit that I'm blond and sometimes my brain is slow!

 

All in all, I enjoyed this story and would recommend it to the readers at All Things Writing! Want more on the author? Want the link to get the book? Click below!

 

Amazon Buy Link for The Garden: An Unauthorized Biography of Adam and Eve

 

 

 

Author Bio:

 

Paul T. Harry attended the University of Nevada Las Vegas as an English major with a theater arts minor before beginning his career as a writer and music producer. He also worked as an editor with Second Avenue Songwriter’s magazine and has spent the last 30 years writing novels, screenplays and short stories. Paul is married with four children and resides in Gold Canyon, outside Phoenix.

·         Website  http://5moons.com/index.html

·         Twitter  https://twitter.com/RezCantor

·         Goodreads   http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6423562.Paul_T_Harry