Shelli Rosewarne

Hi all,

Well, it may be a wee bit early for St Paddy’s Day, but let’s face it the ‘true’ Irish will be making a full weekend of it 🙂 I’m happy to be joining in the Breathless Press Lucky in Love Blog Hop, where the theme is St Patrick, Irish and luck. It was a toughie to know what to talk about within that, but I thought I would go along with the general Irish view. I’ve never been to Irish, perhaps that’s inexcusable with it being so close and it’s definitely somewhere I would love to take a trip to. Even since I was a child I was fascinated with Irish and Celtic myths and legends, and since I have been recently researching Scottish myths (many of which are very similar) for a book I’m writing then it’s only increased my interest.

Ireland has always seemed to be a land of myth and magic. You think of Ireland and you think of lepruchans, fairies, standing stones and druid ceremonies. You think of selkies and mermaids in the seas, and brownies on the hearths. Great heroes of the Fianna and the Ulaid (again with Scottish connections!) and the Seeelie and Unseelie courts of the fae. Or is that just me? 🙂 Either way, those myths and legends are a huge source of inspiration to me as a writer,  and with in mind I thought would share a few paragraphs from one of my WIP’s with a definite mythological influence! Hope you enjoy.

A tiny creature was perched on the kitchen worktop washing dishes. They made a clattering noise as he stacked them on the draining board. The last one finished he drained the water and started putting them away, darting round opening cupboards with astonishing speed. Aislynn shrank back in case she was spotted but presently it all went quiet. She peeped round again to see that he was perched on the kitchen table, delicately drinking from a saucer of milk.

Now he was still she could get a better look at him and she almost had to pinch herself – she’d never seen a stranger creature. He was tiny, maybe only a foot tall, and a deep bark-coloured brown all over. His arms and legs were spindly and gnarled and the only clothing he wore was a dirty looking loincloth. His face was narrow and pointed, but his eyes were huge. She was reminded of pictures she’d seen in National Geographic of jungle creatures. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed huddled behind the door watching the tiny thing, while the cold crept into her bones, but suddenly a sharp cramp shot up her leg making her flinch. Immediately the creature froze, staring straight at her with its enormous eyes. If possible they seemed to widen even more, almost as if in recognition, and he squeaked in a high pitched voice.

“Mistress!”

Aislynn gaped at him. “What?”

He flinched and turned away as if to leave.

“Wait, please, who are you? What are you?”

He glanced back at her, puzzlement across his face, and then just like that he disappeared.

Hope you have a fab weekend and a great St Paddy’s Day – and don’t forget to check out the other stops on the BP hop – Click here , there’s some fab authors involved and I can’t wait to see what their thoughts are.