Tradition

Leave a comment Posted on Book Publishing, Dreams, indie publishing, Life, publishing, Story, Tradition, writing, Writing Challenges

All The Little Pieces

So, I released another book… yup, All The Little Pieces – Book Two In The Omega Security series released on 19th July 2018.  Hadn’t heard? Well that’s no surprise really because I didn’t tell anyone!

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In keeping with my reverse marketing approach, I hit the publish button and that was it. This wasn’t intentional and as a matter of fact I had a totally different release strategy planned for this book (yes, I had an actual plan this time). However, my impulsive nature got the better of me (again…) and I changed the plan about three quarters of the way through and decided to set up a pre-order on Amazon. Unfortunately, when I did this, I didn’t realise it would then lock me in to the date I had set for publication – the 19th of July.

Then, of course, life decided to kick my ass and things other than writing had to take priority, so it was all I could do to just meet the publishing deadline.  Marketing and promotion efforts went out the window and things became quite manic!

Throughout it all I had my lovely editor – the wonderful Sheryl Lee – waiting patiently for the finished product. I thank heavens for her incredible understanding and patience!

Shery Lee

The lovely and ever so patient Sheryl Lee!

In keeping with tradition, I asked her to give her editorial opinion of All The Little Pieces on release day.  It’s a bit late but here it is.

“Nobody writes a book about damaged people finding their way better than Roisin.

From the very beginning your heart bleeds for Ruby and you’re in her corner, willing her to let out her pain so she can heal.

Ruby and Snake are two people with troubled pasts. Ruby is a complex person, a person who can’t allow herself to face her demons and overcome them. She is pretending she has put her terrifying experience at the hands of terrorists behind her, but inside she is a broken mess.
Snake could have followed a very different, dark path in his life, but instead he chose the
higher, perhaps more difficult way. He is strong, protective, caring, and perceptive. He sees through Ruby’s façade into her broken heart and he wants to help her to heal.
The situation is complicated, there are secrets on both sides, and Ruby has a long, long way to go before she can be part of a couple. Snake is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her safe and help all her little pieces become whole again.
Roisin writes from the heart. Her characters are not perfect, they are three dimensional, real people. Ruby and Snake come off the pages and into your heart, and you won’t forget them for a long, long time. Fortunately, you don’t have to as there are more books to come in this series, and Roisin has given us a tantalising glimpse into the direction the series is headed, and it’s a cracker.”
So there you have it! All The Little Pieces  – Book Two In The Omega Security Series is available at all good digital retail outlets a click away from you and in paperback on Amazon.
It’s currently on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and ibooks and will be on Kobo soon. Just click the links below.
3D Mockup of All The Little Pieces
Leave a comment Posted on Childhood, Dreams, Fall, Fear, Halloween, Tradition

The Other Side Of The Window

It’s that time of year again when the old Celtic festival of Samhain gets celebrated in its more modern incarnation – Halloween – in various parts of the globe. This mostly takes the form of donning costumes, making lanterns out of  pumpkins and letting one part terrified and 99 parts hyper children loose on our streets, chanting the well worn mantra, “trick or treat.”

I happened to be out walking with my own children at dusk the other evening and I asked them what did they want to do this year for Halloween.

“Nothing,” the little fella replied.

I was somewhat surprised as he usually has a plan regarding his costume, for the big night, a few weeks in advance.

“Huh?” I asked, “nothing?”

“Nope, nothing,” he confirmed.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because of those creepy clowns,” he said in a voice that tapered off towards the end of his sentence as his eyes scanned the shadows, “they’re everywhere.”

“Yes, they’re everywhere!” His sister concurred in that all knowing voice reserved solely for use by big sisters.

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A bloody Creepy Clown!

I stopped walking.  I was a little bit on the concerned side at this point.  I don’t want a bunch of fools with nothing better to do than dress up as clowns and go around creeping people out turning my kids into a pair of agoraphobes.

“Hey guys,” I said, “come on, we’ve got to get this into perspective.  Those creepy clowns are nothing but a bunch of idiots with nothing better to do. And it’s not like there’s been any spotted around here.”

My children stood there in the half light, the looks on their faces telling me they remained unconvinced.

I soldiered on.

“Hey, those fools have more to fear from the people they’re trying to scare than the other way around,” I assured them.  “A few of them have been punched and beaten with baseball bats.”

The little fella seemed pleased with this news.

“Really?” he asked with a smile.

“Really,” I confirmed.

“Cool,” he announced, “I’m going to bring my baseball bat with me when I go trick or treating, that’ll send them a message.”

With that he walked on, quite happy now he had a plan to deal with the creepy clowns.

His sister looked at me.  “I’m not so sure the creepy clowns have too much to worry about from Baseball Bat Boy but I’ll think about it.”

“Okay,” I said as I fell in beside her as we resumed our walk.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.  I stopped to get it out.  My daughter walked on.  The night was nearly fully upon us.

Thirty seconds later I practically bumped into my daughter as I put my phone back in my pocket.  She was standing on a patch of grass looking at an old house.

“Creepy,” she whispered.

I looked at the house.  It’s one I am familiar with as its on one of my walking routes.  I’ve only ever seen it in the day time and it’s definitely on the creepy side.  However, here in the near dark of the night it looked positively sinister.

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The House

“There’s someone watching us,” my daughter said, her voice hushed.

I looked at the house, in particular at the windows in the centre of its structure.  I’d initially thought it was abandoned but every time I walk past it I feel like someone is watching me. However, I wasn’t about to mention this to my daughter!

“Oh, I think there’s been too much creepy talk tonight,” I laughed nervously.

She looked at the house and then she looked back at me.

“No, there’s something in there,” she said, quite certain, “on the other side of that window.”

Silence fell between us.  I don’t believe in dismissing my children’s feelings on things. I’ve never uttered the words, “don’t be silly” when it comes  to situations where they feel uncertain.  I want them to develop and hone their instincts so that they learn to trust them, thereby following them and staying as safe as possible in an increasingly unsafe world. On the other hand I don’t believe in them scaring the shit out of themselves either! There’s a fine line that needs to be tread here and I was grappling to find my way along it in the Brisbane moonlight the other night.

Thankfully, Baseball Bat Boy saved my ass.

“Hey!” He shouted from down the street, “what are you two doing?  I’m getting creeped out here all by myself!”

“Okay!” I hollered back, “we’re coming!”

I placed my hand in the small of my daughter’s back and gently nudged her along.  There was no hesitation on her part but she was still looking up at the window.  The very same window I always feel there is someone on the other side of  – looking at me as I pass.

Later that night I dreamed of a house from my own childhood, a house I was terrified of. It was a beautiful old property surrounded by ancient trees and it had a huge, shiny green door with an enormous brass knocker.  However, to my ten year old’s mind, it always seemed dark.  Even on the brightest of days you could never see through its dark windows. I never saw a living soul at that house but always felt like someone was watching me as I walked by.  Other kids used to take a shortcut through its grounds or climb its trees on their way home but me, never.  I never set foot within its domain.

Was there something sinister there or was my fear of this house a result of my exceptionally overactive childhood imagination – something my daughter has in common with me.  I don’t know but I do know this: whenever I’ve trusted my instincts in my life, they’ve never, absolutely never, been wrong.

And on that note I would like to wish you a safe and not too scary Samhain.

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Leave a comment Posted on Autumn, Fall, Halloween, Holidays, Tradition

Happy Halloween

It’s that time of year again where children of the western world dress up in an array of costumes and go out, under cover of darkness, to knock on doors, whereupon they trot out the words, “trick or treat” to whoever answers the aforementioned door before sticking a bag under their nose into which they expect to receive all manner of sweets and treats.  Ah yes, Halloween, the great American festival of carved pumpkins and children hopped up on sugar and additives.  Except it isn’t.

Photo of a pumpkin with a smiley face for halloween

A Classic Halloween Pumpkin

I was shocked to see a number of posts across social media in the last few days where people clearly believed Halloween started in America.  Okay, perhaps its current incarnation of pumpkins and candies has more to do with popular American culture than anything else but the tradition of Halloween is thousands of years old and has its origins in Celtic culture and many of the activities associated with this night of chaos and mischief come from Ireland.

The ancient Celts celebrated Samhain, which signified the end of summer and the beginning of winter. It was believed on this night the barriers between the worlds of the living and the dead became unstable and the souls of the dead could come back to earth.  Candles were lit to guide the paths of loved ones and a place would be set for them at the table, where food would be left for them (treats). Of course not all the returning souls were good ones and just as the barriers between the living and the dead of the human world were less stable on this night so were the barriers between the human world and the “other” world, the world of supernatural creatures such as fairies, puca and banshees. All manner of magical creatures were believed to roam the earth on the night of Samhain, so precautions were taken such as leaving food outside the house in the hope the hungry creatures from the otherworld would take it and pass by your door.  People also dressed themselves in costumes and disguises in order to trick the souls of the dead and the creatures who may wish to take them back to their worlds.

Photo of old cloth mask in display cabinet

Old Halloween Mask From Ireland

Due to the increased presence of mystical creatures on the night of Samhain it was believed the human world was richer in magic than at any other point in the year and that this aided the druids in making their predictions for the year ahead.  Therefore, Samhain also became associated with divination.  One of my favourite childhood memories is of the barnbreac, a traditional Irish fruitbread. On Oiche Shamhna (Halloween) the breac would be baked with a tiny piece of cloth, a ring, a pea and a coin.  If you found the piece of cloth in your slice then this would signify hard financial times for the year ahead.  The pea signified ill health if it was black, the coin meant prosperity and the ring meant your were going to meet the love of your life or become betrothed.  It was always great fun to see who got the ring!

Photo of a fruit cake

Barnbreac – Traditional Cake Eaten On Halloween In Ireland

All sorts of divination formed part of the traditional celebrations but sadly very few of them have survived to this day, even in Ireland.  As the centuries passed the Celtic festival of Samhain became intertwined with the Roman feast of Pomona – celebration of the harvest and then of course the Catholics came along and hijacked the event altogether with Pope Boniface in the seventh century declaring November first, All Souls Day.  The night before became known as All Hallow’s Eve from which we get Halloween.

It’s still a big night in Ireland even though we no longer have bonfires or fireworks. Barnbreacs still get eaten with big mugs of tea around blazing fires but only the ring has survived as part of the Samhain fun.  Nowadays, the celebration is more likely to resemble the American version of carved pumpkins and children going from house to house looking for treats but I like to think that underneath it all our ancient Celtic heart still beats.

Black and white representation of the banshee

Cover Your Ears If You Hear the Call Of The Banshee Or Your Death Will Surely Follow!