🎃The Legend of Stingy Jack - An Irish Halloween Tale

Amhrán na Leabhar (Song of the Books) - LYRICS + Translation

"Respect and a New Hire" by Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara

 Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, sent this piece earlier in the week. 

I'm guessing it's an excerpt from a sequel to Ruthless that he's currently writing, for the piece features Sheriff Matt from the first book.

It's got a nice O. Henry twist at the end. Enjoy!

The sheriff was polite enough but didn’t seem to think that a five-year veteran of the CPD had the right stuff to patrol the roads of Munsonville. What was his problem? Black, female, being by the book …or did he hold suspect her roommate; which of those was the real reason? He deployed her as temporary but insisted on riding with her every shift. It had been nearly a week and not one peep out of the overnight dispatcher. At the end of her last shift, Marsha heard Sheriff Matt telling someone that tonight likely would be her last.

              “Home invasion in progress,” came over the radio.

              She drove hot; Matt knew the place and person. Dome lights, police cam, action – but Sheriff Matt wasn’t about body cams. Anyway, they were at the disturbance inspecting the entrances.

              “No evidence of break in,” she told him.

              That pompous sheriff seemed awfully relaxed.

              “Break down the door?” But smartass lifted the doormat and pulled a key.

              “Go first. Show me what you got.”

              Two minutes later, they were back in the cruiser and Marsha was fuming. The perpetrator was still in the house, and Matt looked like he found the flaw he’d been looking for all along.

              “What!” she snapped.

              “Could have done worse, but you could have done better.”

              “Did you know that a brownie was washing dishes?” she fumed.

              “Yeah,” the sheriff allowed. “Ramon cleans old man Daven’s place every Saturday. Do you think we shouldn’t have responded?”

              “Of course not,” Marsha conceded. “It’s just…”

              “That a brownie was doing the cleaning? The first thing you did right, by the way, is seeing a brownie and not a dangerous burglar. You didn’t shoot him when he didn’t freeze or mix it up with him when he told you to find your own old man to clean for. Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of mythical creatures that are dangerous. That’s why we came out this way. Could have been a ghost, werewolf, or vampire that just so happen to terrorize the old man the same night Ramon cleans…dementia, get it?”

              “You should have told me. What if I did shoot?”

              “Ramon would have fixed the bullet holes. He doesn’t believe in revolvers. You believe in brownies.”

              Marsha sighed and spilled.

              “My wife is an old world farmer,” she said. “That’s why I quit Chicago for a place we could raise food and our two baby boys.”

              “Still want the job?”

              “That depends on what I did wrong,” Marsha responded suspiciously.

              “Not too much. You could have showed more respect to Ramon. He takes care of the old man because we humans don’t. It might have helped if you’d picked up a dry cloth and started drying the dishes while you talked to him. Brownies are good friends to cops looking for bad elves and fairies.”

              She got it.

              “So what do we write in our report?” Marsha asked.

              “Nobody hears about this but our own DMC.”

              “Detroit Medical Center?”

              “Department of Mythical Creators…I’ll introduce you tomorrow.”

            

The Banshee's Cry, The Irish Rovers

Clurichauns

 A number of characters from Irish mythology appear in the third book (Staked!) in the BryonySeries "drop of blood" vampire trilogy.

One such character is the clurichaun, which is often confused with a leprechaun, possibly because they share similar traits.

Here is a brief post that succinctly gives a quick overview.

The illustration of a clurichaun is from a nineteenth century book: Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland by T. C. Croker.

The Magic Apple

"Support indie" are buzzwords often heard today, and people live that out in ways ranging from not at all to promoting their friends' work or their favorite artists on social media.

But this isn't a post of how you should support indie, or how I support indie (except as an aside) or that you should support me (although I'd be thrilled if you did).

Instead, it is a story about Celtic mythology, my imagination, homemade tropes, and how I use those in a small way to promote indie artists I do not know, and how they're work has enriched my life, although they will never know it, either.

In concise terms, this means that, ever since I have figured out Twitter basics, few years ago (I've had the BryonySeries account over a decade; I just didn't know how to use it), I post a combination of my own content and curated content, all underscoring BryonySeries themes.

One of those posts is always for product on Etsy.

It's a fun, creative exercise of searching the platform by a BryonySeries theme (or item or trope) and then sharing a description and photo of the item on Twitter, along with a link, so anyone who is interested can buy it.

Has it led to sales? I have no idea because, with the except of Holly Coop's greeting cards, I don't know any of the vendors; I find them and their products through searching by topic.

But I stick with Etsy almost exclusively because most of the vendors are indie artists from all over the world.

Now recently, this has led to some gifts from my children to me.

The latest is this golden apple, which I am wearing for the first time. The reason why it's important is slightly because of Ed Calkins, whom I was supposed to meet for lunch today to discuss his progress on Ruthless (hoping "lunch" still happens via phone call).

Without going into too much backstory, I've legally fictionalized the "real" Ed Calkins, which led to the subtle incorporation of Celtic mythology into parts of the BryonySeries, especially in Staked!.

In this third book of the young adult "drop of blood" vampire trilogy are frequent allusions to a magic apple. These allusions refer back to a story Ed Calkins supposedly tell the protagonist, John-Peter, which John-Peter tells his young nieces one Thanksgiving Day as they prepare apples for a pie.

           “How come you like apples so much, John-Peter?”

            He reached for another. “Hoping for a magic one.”

            Deanna lifted her chin in disdain and shook her head. “There’s no such thing as magic, and you know it.”

            Fawn ran back into the room, waving her dripping hands. John-Peter handed her a napkin, tossed the cores into the garbage, and began working on another apple.

            “Surely you’ve heard what happened to Connla the Fair. Ellie, watch your nose.”

            Ellie moved her face away from the apple. “What 'fair?'”

             “'Fair' means he had a light complexion and was very handsome. He was the son of Conn, the Hundred-Fighter.”

             “He’s making it up,” Deanna said.

             Ellie stuck her tongue out at Deanna. “Well, I want to hear John-Peter’s story.”

            John-Peter handed Deanna the peeled apple.

            “One day, when Connla the Fair was sitting with his father on the Hill of Uisneach.”

            “A pretend place,” Deanna scooped the slices into her hands and set them before Ellie.

            “Tell that to the ancient Druids. They considered it to be the very center of Ireland, the ancient seat of the Kings of Meath.”

             “What’s a doo-rid?” Ellie said.

            “A very wise man.”

            “I still think you’re making it up,” Deanna said.

             “There is a huge limestone there that resembles a cat watching a mouse. Someday, I’ll show you the picture.”

            Fawn looked at John-Peter with large, round eyes. “Tell the story, John-Peter.”

            John-Peter watched as Fawn laid the slices onto the pie crust. She began to pop her fingers into her mouth, looked at Deanna, and grabbed a napkin instead.

            “While Connla the Fair was sitting with his father and his father’s druid, a beautiful woman appeared and said, "I belong to a race of people called the Sidhe…'"

             “What’s shee?”

            “Fairies, Ellie.”

            “Oh.” She stuck her face close to the paring knife.   

             “Ellie!”

            “Sorry.” She edged away.

             “The woman said to Connla, ‘We dwell in a land of peace where death does not exist. Connla, if you follow me, you will always remain young and fair.’”

             Ellie scooted closer to John-Peter as he cored another apple, and he nudged her away with his elbow.

            “Now Conn could not hear the woman’s voice, but the druid did. He noticed how she bewitched Connla so he uttered magical words--yes, Deanna, real magical words-- against the power of her voice. She vanished, but not before tossing an apple to Connla.”

             “Where'd she get the apple?” Fawn asked.

            “Be quiet, Fawn,” Deanna said, curiosity overtaking her superiority, as she sliced her apple.

             John-Peter set down his knife, smiled, and continued.

            “For the next month, Connla refused all nourishment except the woman’s apple, yet the apple never diminished in size or in its ability to satisfy him. At the end of the month, the woman returned in a crystal boat and once again extended her invitation for him. Although Connla loved his people, he loved the enchanting woman more.

            “Did he go with her?” An apple slice slipped from Ellie’s hand and splashed lemon juice onto the table.

            “He did,” John-Peter said and bit into the last apple. “No one ever saw him again.”

Buy this golden apple HERE.

And then check out these stunning vintage earrings very "Bryony," which I will share on Twitter on Monday. These earrings are from the same vendor. They make me wish I wore earrings.

Timothy also bought me this wonderful piece of changeling art, which is almost exactly the way I picture the changeling in that trilogy. The post has a link where you can buy that one, too.

Of course, this all started because Timothy is helping with the BryonySeries website, and he had no idea all this was happening on Twitter. And he decided to gift me with some of these items.

Yet Rebekah really gets to claim "firstie" with this one. She bought me a great Nosferatu coffee mug a couple years ago, after I shared it on the BryonySeries Twitter account.

However, if this item is still available on Etsy (or anythere), I can't find it, not even with a deep search.

Nevertheless, I've gotten some great comments when I've shared it on Twitter.

What is a Merrow?

I brought up this question in a post in 2016 because it's referenced is Staked!

A slight, quick movement and a splash caught his eyes, as he skirted around Quixotic Pond; probably a merrow, the first of the elusive creature he almost saw since returning home. ("Staked!" Chapter 25: Steward of Tara).

A merrow is an Irish mermaid (or merman).

Read on:

http://www.irishcelticjewels.com/celtic-wedding/2010/09/irish-mythology-the-merrow-sea-fairies/

Meet the Real Ed Calkins on Feb. 13

If you've read the BryonySeries, you've met Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, first (and only) Irish vampire, who ruthlessly insults his victims via bad limericks instead of, well, you know, the usual way vampires terrorize victims.

What many people don't know is that Ed Calkins is a real person (although not a real vampire).

He really wrote my pretend Irish genealogy in 2011, which will really be available in a very short nonsensical chapter book on Feb. 13, the real Calkins Day (which is not a real holiday. It's real in Ed's mind. Even in the BryonySeries).

Ed and I will be hanging out from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Book and Bean cafe in Joliet, greeting anyone who stops in to meet him and signing a few books (whether or not anyone buys some).

Confused? Then do come out Feb. 13. You'll be even more confused.

If You Wished John-Peter Would Have Expounded...

Then wish no more.

Below are two sites on Irish mythology with concise information.

The first has the story of Nuada of the Silver Hand, which John-Peter told his nieces. It also tells the story of Lugh, the name the Steward of Tara had considered for his rebellious creation.

http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/danann.html

The second tells the story of Connla the Fair, the magic apple, and the fairy that came to claim him. John-Peter also told this story to his nieces, but, deeper than that, it was the metaphor the boy used to describe the true love he knew was waiting for him.

http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/Myths/Kings-Queens/Connla-the-Fair/Connla.htm