Glancing Through the Glimmer / Pat McDermott

Greetings to everyone here at The Celtic Rose, and special thanks to Miriam for her hospitality today, the release day for Glancing Through the Glimmer. I'm Pat McDermott, author of the "Band of Roses" trilogy*, romantic action/adventure novels set in an Ireland still ruled by the heirs of High King Brian Boru.

Glancing Through the Glimmer is the young adult "prequel" to this trilogy. Don’t let the young adult label put you off! Readers of all ages will enjoy "Glimmer"—as long as they love Irish myths, adventure, romance, and a hefty wallop of fairy magic. (On Sunday, I’ll randomly choose one commenter to receive a PDF copy of the book. Please leave your email address if you’d like a chance to win.)

So where did the title come from? Glancing Through the Glimmer is a phrase from The Fairy Thorn, an old Ulster poem by Sir Samuel Ferguson that begins innocently enough:

Get up, our Anna dear, from the weary spinning-wheel;

For your father's on the hill, and your mother is asleep;

Come up above the crags, and we'll dance a highland-reel

Around the fairy thorn on the steep.

Don’t listen, Anna! Everyone knows if you dance around a fairy thorn, the fairies will steal you away. Especially in County Galway, the home of Finvarra, King of the Connaught Fairies. Finvarra loves to dance, as American teenager Janet Gleason learns to her dismay.

The Blurb:

In the modern Kingdom of Ireland, few mortals believe in the fairy folk. Without that belief, the fairies are dying. Finvarra, the King of the Fairies, would rather dance than worry—but he must have a mortal dancing partner.

When Janet Gleason’s grandfather becomes the new U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, the sixteen-year-old orphan must leave Boston and her friends behind. Janet is lonely in Dublin and unused to her grandparents’ stuffy social life. An invitation to a royal ball terrifies her. She can’t even waltz and dreads embarrassment. Finvarra’s fairy witch overhears her fervent wish to learn to dance.

Seventeen-year-old Prince Liam Boru loathes the idea of escorting another spoiled American girl to a ball. In fact, he detests most of his royal duties. He dresses down to move through Dublin unnoticed and finds himself on his royal backside when Janet crashes into him. Intrigued, he asks to see her again, and she willingly agrees. Unaware of each other’s identities, they arrange to meet. When they do, the fairies steal Janet away. Liam’s attempts to find her trigger a series of frustrating misadventures. Can he and Janet outwit a treacherous fairy king who’s been hoodwinking mortals for centuries?

The Excerpt - The stunning Cliffs of Howth provide the setting for Janet and Liam’s memorable first date:

The first time Liam slipped and fell, he cursed the rain-damp grass. He blamed his second tumble on his haste to catch up with Janet. What on earth had possessed the girl to run off like that? She couldn’t possibly want to find music that badly.

Music only she could hear.

The third time he lost his balance, he’d swear someone had pushed him, but no one was there. He landed on his hands and knees and cursed again. He might not be a muscleman, but he was far from a clumsy dolt. A lifetime of sports and outdoor treks had surely left him fit enough to climb a scrubby little hillside.

Something strange was afoot.

I’m being ridiculous.

The breeze must have kept him from hearing the music she heard. She’d likely gone after the owner of whatever was playing the tune to learn its name.

Yet the Nose of Howth seemed deserted. How odd for a sunny Sunday morning. Even if Janet had gone off seeking the source of the music, no amount of rationalizing could explain why she’d left so abruptly. The chilling sense that she was in danger had Liam’s heart thumping high in his throat.

Should he call his cousin? If Kevin was still on the pier, it would take him a while to get here. And practical Kevin would surely think Liam astray in the head.

Maybe he was, but something told him he had to find Janet, and fast. Keeping close to the ground as if he were dodging radar, he clambered monkey-like up the hill. This time he reached the top of the rise. Lumps in the landscape surrounded him, clumps of rock and rolling masses of heather and gorse that encircled the level spot where he stood. He knew the place well. Except for the curious lack of weekend hill walkers, nothing seemed amiss.

"Janet!"

He listened hard. A seagull cried in the distance. Otherwise, all was silent. No, wait! Music drifted toward him, a plucky harp tune he might have enjoyed under different circumstances.

Was that what Janet had heard?

Where was it? He turned in a circle, squinting in the sunlight, scanning, straining to hear. When he returned to the spot where he’d started, a jolt of fear set his pulse racing.

A round stone hut had appeared on the highest part of the clearing. Its low thatched roof rose to a ridiculously high point. It resembled a roundhouse, the sort of dwelling that belonged in a prehistoric ring fort.

Or a fairy fort.

Liam swallowed hard. He’d seen replicas of such huts in Ireland’s folk parks. He’d also viewed ruins of the original ring forts, all that remained of the structures built by the mysterious peoples who’d lived and died in Ireland thousands of years ago.

Where had this one come from? Why was it on the Nose of Howth? Liam had never seen it before, nor had he heard of any gimmicky tourism plans for the cliff walk. Of course, he didn’t know everything. Convincing himself that he’d failed to see the hut at first because the sun had blinded him, he ventured toward the structure.

He spotted a doorway and relaxed. Janet was there, speaking to a woman wearing a period costume, medieval or older. That’s what it was, he thought: tourism come to tarnish Howth. How could Uncle Peadar have allowed such nonsense?

Liam called Janet’s name again, but neither she nor the woman showed any sign that they’d heard him. The wind must have carried his voice away. He stalked toward the roundhouse. As he approached, the costumed woman placed a necklace over Janet’s head.

The roundhouse flickered, faded, and reappeared. Alarmed, Liam stopped. This was no tourist gimmick. As his thoughts scrambled for an explanation, the woman grabbed Janet’s arm and pulled her into the hut.

"Janet, no!" His ferocious roar proved useless. Unbelievably, the roundhouse began to dissolve. No longer doubting his horrified senses, he dove at the hut and charged through the disappearing door.

The world around him melted away.

* * * *

A Little About Me:

I’m a Massachusetts native from a Boston Irish family whose music and myths have crept into my writing. One of my short stories earned an Honorable Mention for children’s fiction in the 74th Writer’s Digest Annual Writing competition. ‘Twas a big boost for my confidence! I'm a member of the New Hampshire Writers' Project, the Seacoast Writers' Association, Romance Writers of America, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. My favorite non-writing activities include hiking, reading, cooking (check out my cooking blog, below), and traveling, especially to Ireland. I’d love to live there some day, but for now, I call the New Hampshire seacoast home. Currently, I'm working on reuniting Janet and Liam in Autumn Glimmer, the Samhain sequel to Glancing Through the Glimmer.

A Little More:

My Web site:　www.patmcdermott.net

Put the Kettle On (My Writing/Travel Blog):  http://pat-mcdermott.blogspot.com/

My Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pat.mcdermott1

Facebook page for Glancing Through the Glimmer (feel free to "Like" it!):
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/www.patmcdermott.net


MuseItUp Publishing Bookstore Page to purchase Glancing Through the Glimmer:
https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=224&category_id=69&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Kitchen Excursions (My Cooking Blog):  http://kitchenexcursions.blogspot.com/

* * * *

*The Band of Roses Trilogy is currently unavailable. MuseItUp Publishing will publish A Band of Roses (May, 2012) and Fiery Roses (August, 2012) as re-releases. Salty Roses will make its piratical debut in November, 2012.

GOOD THINGS ARE COMING

Be sure to join us on Friday, November 11 when author Pat McDermott will be showcasing a new release.  I'm not giving away the show, just...be here!  :)  Pat is one of my personal favs, not just as an author but as a human being.  Everything she touches is gold, her historical research is second to none, and I know her book will rock.

Please stop in on Friday at The Celtic Rose.

THE HEART OF A CELT

With our modern holiday Halloween approaching, I thought this might be an appropriate time to remember that it found its origins in the ancient Celtic festival, Samhain.  But did you know this was only one of four fire festivals?

"The heart of a Celt is a heart of fire."

This quote from--ahem--one of my own books is as close a truth as I know, because the four Fire Festivals of the ancient Celts still live in our own time...and perhaps, for many of us, in our hearts.

The ancient Celtic calendar reckoned days from sunset to sunset. For this reason most--but not all--festival bonfires were lit as the sun set.

Samhain, our present-day Halloween, was the beginning of winter and also, coincidentally, a festival of the dead when the veil between this and the Otherworld was considered so thin that spirits and mortals could meet. At least in part to prevent dangerous straying, communities gathered around huge bonfires lit on the night of Samhain.

Imbolc, celebrated from February 1 - 2, was considered the beginning of spring. It was and still is the beginning of lambing season; my large animals veterinarian, Missy, spent one semester during vet school in Scotland, delivering lambs.

Beltane later became our modern May Day. Cernunnos, the horned god of Ireland, was held to have died and been reborn on Beltane, which was an unabashed fertility rite. In ancient days, it was also the time cattle were driven out to pasture until autumn. The bonfire lit for Beltane was a mark of joy at the return of the sun...and the return of Cernunnos.

Finally, Lughnasadh was the feast of the god Lugh and celebrated from July 31 - August 1. It was traditionally the time when spirits began to be distilled for the coming year. Even today in the British Isles, many distilleries close for the month of August and reopen on September 1. As you sip a good whiskey from those parts, give a tilt of the hat to Lugh--that is, if you can remember where your head is. After a morning of whiskey-tasting at Jameson's Distillery in Ireland, I couldn't!

The traditions still live in many of us. You have but to scratch the surface to find the ancient Celt beneath.

THE GLADIATOR PRINCE BY MINNETTE MEADOR

THE ANCIENT CELTS OF BRETTANIAI ALBION

There is very little known about the Celtic tribes of Roman Britannia living in the first century AD, except what Greek and Roman historians wrote about them. The Celts themselves had no written language, so their history was passed generation-to-generation and story to story. When the Celts were finally “absorbed” by the Romans, Saxons, and Anglos, very little was left of their civilization, except accounts by their enemies. It is a sobering fact to think that this highly advanced, sophisticated society fell victim to the Roman prejudice that all people not of the empire were barbarians. It could not be further from the truth.

While researching the Centurion series it was difficult at best to find kernels of truth from amongst the stacks of misconceptions. Fortunately, there are several books written that throw some light onto this civilization. Since I research to the book, I do not claim to be an expert; I leave that to the wonderful people who delve deeply into these people’s past. What few things I did glean from the experts was enlightening, to say the least, and much different than I originally thought. This is just a handful of information pertaining to a very short time period (60AD-65AD) in England.

Celts of Britannia were hunter/gatherers for most of their history, who lived off the land they occupied. By the first century AD, Hillforts sprang up around the country. These were royal fortresses for their Kings and Queens. Of the dozens of tribes in Britannia, many had kings or queens ruling them and some had chieftains. The fortresses represented centralized living on the island and were well established when the Greeks and Romans first started trading with them. Yes, I said trading; the Celts of Britain had been trading with the mainland for many years before Rome “invaded.” Around the Hillforts of this time, small farms sprang up and the society was moving from hunter/gatherers to an agrarian base.

Although they did not have their own written language, they learned Latin very quickly while trading with the Romans and Greeks. Many of them traveled the world and visited Egypt, Rome, and other areas just as we do today. Wealthy Celts of this time often had Greek tutors who taught them to read and write. Women as well as men were well-educated, good fighters, and on equal terms with each other. Women warriors fought next to their male counterparts. This was disconcerting to the Romans who felt women were one step above slaves in society. Because of their prejudice, they often underestimated the very powerful queens that ruled many of the tribes. This led to one of the bloodiest battles on Britannia soil between the Celts and the Romans. It was brought about when a local Roman procurator decided that a woman, then queen of the Iceni, had no right to her own land. In many ways, it was the beginning of the end for the Britannia Celts and is chronicled in The Centurion & The Queen and The Edge of Honor.

Unlike the Romans, Celts were allowed to marry for love, though there were some arranged marriages amongst the royals. Likewise, they were much more promiscuous (at least outwardly) than the Romans; sleeping with partners of their choice before marriage was not unheard of. Sex to the Celts was as natural to them as breathing. They didn’t have the taboos the Romans and Greeks had. They were also fiercely loyal to their families.

Most Celts on Britannia followed the Druid religion and worshiped several gods and goddesses. There seems to have been a god or goddess for every aspect of life: the woods, water, thunder, the underworld, labor, fertility, etc. It doesn’t seem they all followed rigorously, but I think they may have been very superstitious; talismans were common among them.

Generally speaking, the Celts of Britannia around this period were articulate, generally well-educated, artistic, with strong familial loyalties and fierce pride in their way of life. When the Romans and Greeks first came to their island, they were friendly and traded freely with them. In fact, the Romans brought them so many wonders from the rest of the world, the Celts found it difficult to turn down the luxuries offered by the Romans. Foods, wines, spices, fabric, medicine, roads, sanitation, and education were strong incentives to form alliances with the Empire, as many tribal rulers did. Since the Romans left them to rule their own tribes with little interference, the tribute they paid in coin and goods to the Emperor seemed small price for the goods provided. Plus, when there was a border dispute with a neighbor (which happened quite frequently), it was common to accept weapons and troops from the nearby Roman garrisons to help quell them. Many Romans stationed on the island also took Celtic brides. However, after the Boudicca revolts, a lot of that changed, and the Celts found themselves struggling to hold onto their lands (see The Centurion & The Queen).

I think the one thing that has struck me is the parallels between the Romans and Celts and the Europeans and Native Americans of this country. Europeans moved into this country and made peace with the native tribes, traded with them freely, helped them fight off their enemies, and then methodically, took over their culture and land by sheer numbers.

I hope you get a chance to read The Centurion & The Queen, The Edge of Honor and now the new stand alone book in the series, The Gladiator Prince to get an intimate look into the contrasts between these two cultures.

On Saturday, September 17^th, I will be hosting a forum called: Life in Ancient Rome - The Gladiator Prince Chat from 11:00am-11:00pm EST over at Coffeetime Romance. We will be talking about everything Ancient Rome and Britannia and I will be giving away a $100 GC to Amazon at the end of the day. Would love to see everyone over there to talk about Celts, Romans, and anything else you’d like to know OR can bring to the discussion.

Thanks so much to the Celtic Rose for hosting me today! Don’t be afraid to ask questions… I am giving away signed copies of both The Centurion & The Queen and The Edge of Honor to one commenter here today, so make sure to leave a comment! Minnette :o)

AND NOW FOR A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON MINNETTE!

Somewhere between thirty and dust...red hair, blue eyes...six kids, one slightly used husband, and any number of pets from time to time... wanttabe hippy... wanttheirmoney yuppie...pro musician and actress for 20 Years... native Oregonian... lover of music, beauty, and all things green. Willing slave to the venerable muse. Minnette currently resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband, having replaced the children with one dog. The dog, Pierre, pretty much runs the show.

AND MINNETTE'S BOOK!

Prince Thane is the last surviving royalty of the Trinovantes Tribe in Roman Britannia, having surrendered to the Romans after the Boudicca Revolt to save his two daughters, whose identities he sacrifices his freedom to protect. He is condemned by Nero himself to become a gladiator, to fight until he dies in the arena. When his two daughters are taken in a slaver's raid, Thane escapes, forcing the daughter of his master to take him to Rome to save his children. Little does he know that the beautiful Syrian woman holds not only the key to his passion, but a secret that triggers a disaster that ignites the world. Will this spoiled willful girl betray him in the end or sacrifice herself to save them all? Book III of the Centurion Series.

links:  
http://www.minnettemeador.com/
http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com

SPECIAL TREAT SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

On Thursday, September 15, author Minnette Meador will visit The Celtic Rose as part of a blog tour for her new release, The Gladiator Prince.  If you love the history of Roman Britain as I do, you truly do not want to miss her article or the excerpt from her new book, which is the sequel to two smashing books, The Centurion and the Queen and The Edge of Honor.  Minnette is a friend, a multi-talented author and the purveyor of great treats!  I know she will be offering something wonderful during her stay, so please visit back.  

FAERIES AND OTHERS WORKSHOP

Below you will see a posting for Sharron Gunn's amazing workshop.  Now, as "mother" of The Celtic Rose, I don't usually go out on a limb recommending classes or workshops, but in this case I'll gladly make an exception.  Sharron is a goldmine of information.  Her class is an incredible value.  If you are at all inclined to want to read and/or write about the Fae, this workshop is for you.  So don't hesitate to sign up.  Every one of her workshops I have ever taken was "the bomb."

Miriam

Faeries and Other Magic Folk Workshop

Faeries and Other Magic Folk 

Instructor: Sharron Gunn w/a Sheila Currie 

Dates: September 7, 2011--October 5, 2011

Registration Deadline: September 6, 2011 

Fee: $10/HHRW members, $20/others 

Click HERE for Registration Form 

FMI: HHRW Campus Coordinator: classes@heartsthroughhistory.com 

Class Description:

Walt Disney would have you believe that fairies are sweet little creatures with wings and wands, helpful entities like Tinkerbell and the Tooth Fairy. Walt was wrong. In Celtic lands people believe it's not wise to go about your business in a manner which offends them--they are very touchy. Dead scary in fact.

Some say the idea of fairies was just too useful to be abandoned. Some say they still around because they are the old gods, the gods of the ancient Celts. They can do what they want. But what changes they have undergone; Lugh, the sky god good at doing many things, became the Luprachan (leprechaun), the little fairy good at only one thing -- making shoes. And guarding a pot of gold.

Fionn MacCumhaill is a giant in fairy tales, responsible for creating the Giant's Causeway in the north of Ireland. And did you know that Highlanders don't believe that ghosts, the spirits of the dead, inhabit the houses (and castles) of the living? Nope. Their homes are 'haunted' by other, equally frightening beings. The definition of fairies is broad, you will learn something about kelpies, selkies, the washer woman of the ford and many other supernatural entities.

The course includes self-quizzes and simple research projects to generate story ideas. Discussion and questions are encouraged, but lurkers also welcome.

Lectures:

What is a fairy?

Dinnsenchus (Hill Traditions) & The Otherworld

Folk & Creatures of the House, Water & Forest

Afterlife & Rebirth

Bio:

Sharron Gunn lives in British Columbia and teaches Irish and Scottish history at the University of Victoria part-time. Of Scottish, French and Irish origin, she was born on the east coast of Canada--some knowledge of the Gaelic and French languages and cultures was inevitable.

While living over eight years in Europe, she studied the languages and history of Great Britain and France. She has a diplôme from the Université de Nancy, France, a B.A. in French and a Masters degree (2nd first degree) in Scottish History and Celtic Studies from the University of Glasgow. She is hard at work on a paranormal set in World War II.

Format: Course is conducted via Yahoo Groups email with lessons and Q&A

For additional information, contact the Campus Coordinator.

Click http://www.heartsthroughhistory.com/faeries.html to register for this class.