Over the past three weeks, I’ve been carrying out an immense amount of work on the Dark Dawn/ Camhaoir Fuilsmeartha Project. An experimental work unlike anything I’ve done before, it’s taken up an inordinate amount of time, far more than I’d ever envisaged when I first started it. Over 2020, the non-publishing workloads I’m subject… Read more »
This week I’m recommencing work on Dark Dawn/ Camhaoir Fuilsmeartha, a new kind of Irish adventure which I’m hoping to release in Janurary 2021. At this stage, I can only say that it’ll be quite different to anything I’ve produced so far. Unfortunately, this project dropped by the wayside as a result of the Covid-19… Read more »
Fiachail mac Codhna Fiacail mac Codhna is a swaggering and irrepressible warrior from the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series. Handsome, charming, and shrewdly strategic in battle, Fiacail’s potential for tribal greatness is undermined only by an over-sexed libido and a strong weakness for women, particularly where it relates to Bodhmhall ua Baoiscne – aunt of the… Read more »
I hit the 100,000 word mark on Liath Luachra 3 today and it’s still flowing nicely. The intentionis to release the finalised book cover at the end of September with a view to launching the book itself at the end of November/start of December. There’s a lot of peope waiting for this so I’m… Read more »
A scene from the novel Fionn: Defence of Ráth Bládhma which is set in the isolated settlement of Ráth Bládhma. In this scene, Bearach (a young boy) is talking with his hero, the woman warrior Liath Luachra (The Grey One) who tries to explain to him that being a warrior – gaiscíoch – isn’t… Read more »
On the 27th of each month, I post a few independent reviews for one of my books, essentially letting other people describe their thoughts about that particular book instead of blathering on about it myself (we all dodge a bullet, that way!). Today’s ‘Blather Day’ choice is FIONN: TRAITOR OF DÚN BAOISCNE – the second book… Read more »
This is an interview I had with Finbarr Murray of Capital Irish – the Irish Access Radio channel in Wellington – back in 2016. I actually spent a few years as one of the presenters on this show but had to give it up a year before the interview due to competing time commitments. In… Read more »
An excerpt from Fionn: Defence of Ráth Bládhma. While out hunting, the woman warrior Liath Luachra and her young companion Bearach have discovered tracks of a large war party in the snow. Concerned that the war party might discover their trail and follow them back to the settlement of Ráth Bládhma, they elect instead to… Read more »
One of the problems with writing independently is that it’s hard to do marketing or advertising unless you have the time/energy to commit to it yourself. Given that I usually have neither (and I’m essentially useless at all forms of marketing), I generally let it up to other people to spread word about my books,… Read more »
I was amused the other day to find a Russian-based pirate site offering free downloads of one of my books – “Liath Luachra: The Seeking” – the only copy of which, sits on my desktop, awaiting the last few chapters to be written. Obviously, this was one of the many false ‘pirate’ sites that are… Read more »
Liath Luachra: The Seeking has now passed 80,000 words – essentially the first eight chapters (and I’m currently working on Chapter 9). The book is planned for release later this year. Above is a section of the new cover for this book. Below is the current draft of the back cover blurb. ********* In the… Read more »
It may be hard to see but there’s a lot of work going on in the background at the moment, most of which won’t become evident until later this year (or early next year). The sheer volume of work has significantly impacted on progress with a number of other projects I’m champing at the bit… Read more »
This is an except from the first book I ever published, a kind of Irish De Vinci Code involving an Irish mythological detective (we used to jokingly call it the O’Vinci Code!). It’s the first in a trilogy (although they’re all standalones) and I have yet to complete the second (not to mind the third)… Read more »
To celebrate St Patrick’s Week (apparently it’s no longer a day!), FIONN: Defence of Ráth Bládhma – the first book in the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series – is going to be on sale for 99c/99p until next Saturday. I wrote FIONN: Defence of Ráth Bládhma immediately after I’d finished BEARA: Dark Legends (which probably… Read more »
DRESSING LIATH LUACHRA This is a silly little video I threw together during a moment of whimsy while doing my monthly newsletter. When the updated cover for Fionn 2 (FIONN: Traitor of Dún Baoiscne) was being developed, the artist put together a series of cover versions for the different clothing options he’d come up with… Read more »
A gorgeous image from artist Bryan Mahy for the “Dark Dawn/ Camhaoir Fuilsmeartha Project” I’m currently working on. This was intended to be released this month but delays outside my control mean it probably won’t be available for a little longer. Subject-wise, this is a story about a dying warrior defending the isolated settlement of… Read more »
I received one of those social media reminders today that it’s been six years since I first published FIONN: Defence of Ráth Bládhma, an anniversary that’s triggered some quiet reflection for me. FIONN 1 was actually the second book I ever published (Beara: Dark Legends being the first). It was my first attempt at producing… Read more »
A snippet from Liath Lauchra 3: The Seeking ———————————- Emerging from the cave, the warrior woman found Murchú already mounted and waiting below the yew trees. Swaddled against the cold in his black cloak, he had the lower hem drawn up and held in place beneath his inner thighs. The sight of the Uí Loinge… Read more »
