Rain

   It's rained here on and off in north west Crete for the past ten days. The night skies were frequently on fire with electricity created by spears of fork or layers of sheet lightening. The wind howled while leaves and broken branches from the trees swirled around the place. We're happy to have rain at last because we'd begun to long for it as the final dry and hot days of summer drew to a close.
   Outside in the garden there are pools of water to be seen everywhere. And the trees look glorious, green and refreshed. The olive farmers are rejoicing because the rain is good for plumping up the fruit. Bougainvillaea still blooms along our lane and the sheep in surrounding fields munch wet lush grass and herbs.
   Our youngest cat, who was born in the dry season came home this morning drenched and crying loudly. She'd never encountered rain before. When our other cats saw her being dried with an old towel, they lined up to be dried too -- even though they hadn't been outside at all! We called this tiny kitten --( rescued from a thorny ditch) Mini. She was so sweet and so small that it was obvious she was a girl. When the vet told us that Mini is in fact a boy we laughed, she couldn't be, could she? She was and she is. Her revised name is Mini Haw Haw.

My Kindle Book Cover

   An odd thing happened when I first thought about the kind of cover I'd like for my book. I had taken its title,  A Place in the Choir, from the song, 'All God's Creatures Have a Place in The Choir' which I'd heard performed by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.

   I imagined a telephone wire and birds sitting on this. But one bird was hovering -- looking for a place. But for the paperback copy a more Irish Countryside cover seemed appropriate. This picture encapsulated Ellie's carefree life until she made her decision to enter the convent.

   I had to find a new cover for the ebook. With the help of my friends *Carol and Susan we found the perfect answer -- my original birds on a wire -- a musical chord of sorts. In the picture a bird is hovering just as I saw it in my mind. Like this bird Ellie wants to belong.

Meaning for the word Choir:

Within the text of the novel Ellie asks questions about Choir Nuns and their one time superiority in the convent. There were Lay Sisters many years ago who took on the responsibility for household management within the cloister while those professionally trained worked in schools and hospitals. The choir also forms part of a church building or one can belong to a choir of persons who sing together.

A link to the ebook cover happens when Ellie tells us that:

         Winter became spring. Little buds were appearing on the bushes and the birds
         were busily building nests. Mammy was watching for the first swallows which
         came to nest in the eaves of the house and the barn. They wouldn't arrive for many
         weeks but she didn't want to miss them.

Swallows come here to Crete in the Summer. They have gone now and I wonder if some of them are
on their way to Ellie's childhood home in Monabeg.


*Carol's company is called VA Online.
  She can be reached at www.vaonline.co.uk




 

Hello again to those muse with Mawsiemaw

                                      
                                 I must apologise for a long absence but I've been much busier than I expected to be. I was working on the revision of my book A Place in the Choir. This occupied almost eighteen months -- not full time but it was there in my head when I wasn't actually working on it. This sort of project is rather like renovating an old house. One knocks a particular wall only to discover that the roof had partially collapsed. I sat for days studying fragments of my book wondering if I'd ever put it together again. I eventually did this and my work is now available on Amazon Kindle.

I know that many have read the original paperback edition of A Place in the Choir with the beautiful cover painted by the artist Balsam Wood. For the moment this is unavailable although it can still be viewed on the Amazon web site.(with reviews) There is a rather sad history attached to this edition of my book. The publisher was unable to continue providing copies for sale and the book went out of print. Perhaps in the future a discerning publisher will read the Kindle version and become duly smitten by my brilliance and want to publish a new edition!

The Kindle edition of my book features a completely revised chapter 10. This is a pivotal chapter in the story of Ellie Dardis and I always felt it was a little weak and didn't move the story forward. The story of Ellie has puzzled some readers who just wish she would stop dithering and take control of her life.

Ellie represents many young girls who grew up in Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s. She loved the family farm and her memories of the place become a source of inspiration and comfort. Her choice as a young woman to enter a convent raises many questions -- why did she do this and why does she continue to live such a restricted and contradictory life?

In later musings I'll tell you more about Ellie's dilemma and show how in certain instances her sense of humour saves her. I may even mention the sequel to A Place in the Choir and my very interesting new book which is set in Crete and which I plan to have on the shelves in about a year.

 

Blog Hop: The Next Big Thing

A blog hop is a way for readers to discover authors they might not have heard of and whose works they might enjoy. On this stop on the blog hop, you'll find a bit of information about me, my upcoming book and of course links to other authors. Many thanks to Fantasy author Linda Talbot for inviting me to join!

Click the link for more about Linda and her Next Big Thing "The Starflash Opal".

1. What is the working title of your book?  > The working title of my first book is "A Place in the Choir", for the sequel undecided.
2. Where did the idea come from for the book? > From life experiences, observation and discussion about the dangers of power when vested in a few. To keep power in oneself, others must be programmed to become submissive and unquestioning. This applies to book one. The second book examines the damage done within such a scenario to vulnerable and impressionable young people. It traces a journey in which the main character tries to regain some of what has been lost.
3. What genre does your book come under? > Tragicomedy.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? > I really don’t know although I can imagine the Irish actress Tina Kelleher as a wonderful Ellie. She played Sharon in the adaptation for film of Roddy Doyle’s book "The Snapper". I would cast Anthony Hopkins as the predator priest and Richard Gere as Professor Craig. After this flight of presumptuous fancy I may as well go for Tom Cruise as Colin and Julia Roberts as a very plausible Zita.  I’m looking around for a strong, opinionated, sharp tongued and frequently hysterical actor to play Eleanor. Sorry I don’t want to embarrass myself further!!
5. What is a one sentence synopsis of your book? > Ellie, an Irish country girl, mistakenly joins a convent to fulfill her need to belong. (book one)
6. Is your book self published, published by an independent publisher or represented by an agency? > Independently published and being revised for publication as an eBook. A decision has yet to be taken about publication choice for the sequel.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? > Three years for "A Place in the Choir" and I’m now one year on with the sequel.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? > I have not read any book to which I can honestly compare them.
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? > Family, friends and colleagues.
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? > “Are nuns human, after all?”

I'd love to continue this blog hop and hope to hear soon from a few writers I contacted.

If you are a writer who is interested in joining, please comment!

Rust on my Roses

Rust on my roses
And four brand new kittens.

Leaves at the front door and
a load of bird shittins.
Holding a hose filled with water and power,
I got back what I gave
In an unwanted shower.

                            Marie at nine this morning.

Dejected, indoors and dry again I opened my laptop and searched for my friend Linda Talbot to see what this wonderful writer had been doing. I discovered her most recent publication on Smashwords. It’s titled, In the Eye of the Storm. Just what I needed, an inspiring trilogy of poems centered upon aspects of nature, emotions and inspiration generated from living in Greece. Her impressions and thoughts reminded me that my roses are actually far more resilient that we think – nature holds its own secrets. Thank you Linda!

Linda can be found at lindajtalbot.wordpress.com  ( she is also a well known fantasy writer of short stories ).

Supermarket

Last Saturday we went shopping. My husband pushed the trolley while I perused the well stocked shelves. He wandered off and I had to follow him with a bottle of white wine, a package of carrots and a couple of cans of “pretty kitty” cat food in my arms. Our trolley had been abandoned in mid aisle so I put my chosen items in. I waited patiently thinking that some raspberry ripple ice cream would be an ideal addition to our weekend menu.

A robust man strode towards me with petite wife alongside. Peering into “our” trolley he extracted the wine bottle, the blushing carrots and the cans of “pretty kitty” cat food. Holding each aloft he boomed, ‘do we really need these dear? I despise white wine and we don’t even have a cat.’

I retreated hastily almost falling into our trolley which had since our last encounter, been laden with car seat covers, a garden rake and other sinister looking objects. ‘I think we’ve got everything now,’ my husband beamed. ‘No,’ I replied ‘we’ve yet to get wine, carrots “pretty kitty” and I just remembered some raspberry ripple ice cream too!

A Goat of Many Colours

   We’d won a goat. We couldn’t believe it, a real live goat! This awesome event happened at a fund raiser for the local village school. My husband bought several tickets and paid in drachmes which was the currency of the time. Seated with our friends at a table laden with delicious Cretan food we drank red wine while Cretan musicians and dancers entertained the gathering. The young and able bodied danced. The not so able bodied danced too but didn’t try the intricate steps required for high jumps or for balancing on a glass placed on the neck of a bottle.

   Silence fell when the drawing of tickets was about to begin. The master of ceremonies called out numbers which meant a prize for the holder of that ticket. My husband said that he wasn’t lucky, he never won anything. ‘Never say never’ – because he certainly was lucky that night by becoming the proud owner of a goat. Panic overtook him as he was clapped and cheered on the way to claim his prize. Self consciously he asked if perhaps he could swop the goat for a radio, a clock, a picture frame or maybe a bottle of Raki. ‘Not possible,’ he was told but he could have the goat freezer ready if he preferred. This was not an option but what were we to do?

   Advice came from all sides, ‘get a second goat to keep  her company,’ ‘build a nice little shed for her,’ ‘tie her to a post and move her around the garden on the half hour,’ ‘put very high fencing all around your land,’ ‘don’t let her escape because she’ll eat a complete garden in less than an hour,’ ‘keep your clothes line at least a few kilometers away from her,’ ‘set your alarm for four in the morning and milk her at the same time in the evening - she must have a routine.’ Thankfully our Cretan friend Manolis offered to look after our goat. He would do this on condition that the babies would be his. We were delighted and very relieved. We asked him to call her Venus and we promised to visit her from time to time.

   Manolis had reservations about her name but he agreed to call her Venus when the neighbours were not listening. We visited our darling Venus and she was a beautiful little animal. Her coat which was snow white had three brown spots on the back and a brown spot between her ears. She seemed to smile at us and looked really happy with her lot amongst other fine goats. The next time we passed the farm Manolis was at the gate. “My friends’ he beamed ‘you come to see your baby Venus. She’s doing fine. I’ll get her.’ He did but this goat was black and the only white was on the tip of her tail. I tried to say that he had the wrong goat but Manolis looked so proud of this animal and so pleased to show her to us that we stayed quiet.

   ‘Manolis made a mistake’ my husband said when we were driving away. ‘He just got confused and I didn’t want to make a fuss.’ ‘Me neither’ I replied ‘but I didn’t see a white goat there like Venus; did you? Let’s go back next week and we’ll pick her out ourselves.’ We couldn’t wait to reassure ourselves about the welfare of Venus but next time Manolis brought us a brown goat with white splashes across her flank. ‘Oh Venus,’ he said softly, ‘you are the most beautiful goat I’ve ever had on my farm.’ I pointed out that this goat was not our Venus. Our beauty had a white coat with brown spots – where is she, where is our Venus? ‘But this is Venus,’ Manolis insisted. ‘Don’t you know that you have a goat of many colours?’