There’s a lot of fantasy out there when it comes to women warriors, particularly where it relates to characters mentioned in Irish/Celtic mythology. To be fair, the subject’s hardly a new one. Writers and readers have been enamoured by tales of fighting women since people first started telling stories (particularly Herodotus with his notes on… Read more »
For me, one of the real pleasures of independent publishing is having the opportunity to work with some incredibly talented artists and graphic designers. As someone who’s always wanted to draw or sketch (but had no talent for it), I’ve always been fascinated and a little bit envious of those people who could not only… Read more »
That made you sit up. I suppose I should start by saying I really don’t particularly enjoy writing sex scenes. Writing protracted sexual encounters always seems to lead into pornographic territory or, even worse, purple prose. Then of course there’s always the thought of your mother peering over your shoulder, shaking her head and tutting… Read more »
I’ve never really been a Bob Dylan fan. That’s not because he particularly annoys me or anything, it’s simply because I never actually got around to listening to his music. Growing up in Ireland, we had a significant number of local and national musical influences that competed strongly with the international acts in demanding our… Read more »
It’s always the little things that get you. Wandering in from the yard back in Cork yesterday, this cluster of wooden sentinels triggered a twinge of emotion as I recalled playing hurling myself as a kid. I was never a particularly gifted player but there really is no sport like it in the world (in… Read more »
In September 2015, we initiated our inaugural Celtic Mythology Short Story Competition. At the time, the plan was to publish a compilation that included the best of the submitted stories but also some explanatory commentary (in terms of the mythology/folklore aspects covered in the stories). This was, we figured, an effective means, not only of… Read more »
Like many other Western countries, poets, politicians and artists in Ireland also fell into the trap of trying to personify their nation, that is, trying to characterise the concept of the country as a person, usually a beautiful young woman. Such personifications are mostly restricted to the western world and were most popular in the… Read more »
In ancient Ireland there were patches of grass called ‘Hungry Grass’ that leapt off the ground to swallow you whole, digest you down and spit you out like a … Actually, er … No, wait .. Hang on. Oh, yeah! Hungry Grass was actually a patch of grass that was completely indistinguishable from other… Read more »
It’s with some pride and some relief that we released the first in our proposed set of Irish Imbas: Celtic Mythology Collection books this week. For those of you not familiar with the intent, this is an anthology of fiction and non-fiction writing that collates winning submissions from the Celtic Mythology Short Story Competition, all… Read more »
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost two years since Fionn: Defence of Rath Bladhma was first published (by accident, incidentally – we really were new at this whole publishing stuff at the time!). Personally, I certainly never imagined it would be so many people’s favourite book or go on to spawn two sequels… Read more »
Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí Praise youth and it will blossom (or literally, “praise youth and it will go!”). Last week I attended a powhiri (a Maori welcoming ceremony) up in Fielding for the uptake of new Maori students joining Manukura, a Maori kaupapa-based school/sports academy. It was a two-hour drive up from Wellington… Read more »
When you mention the word ‘prehistoric’ to people, most of them immediately conjure up images of Neanderthals walking around, scratching their arses and dragging huge heavy clubs on the ground behind them. What ‘prehistoric’ actually refers to though, is that period of time before which historical records were maintained. In a sense, you can think… Read more »
