Christopher Dunbar's Blog: Morrigan's Blog, page 3

‘Halloween’ as Seen by Some of the Characters of the Morrigan’s Brood Series

Welcome to the Cemetery

Last October, Paranormal Haven posted this piece Heather and I (Christopher) had penned that described ‘Halloween’ through the eyes of some of our characters. I use the apostrophes because Halloween as we know it didn’t exist. Each character mentioned (Sitara, Marcus, Maire, and Julien) was from a different time and culture, so each one celebrated a different holiday during this time of year. Well, I thought I would brush the dust off that little bit of writing and re-post it. Now, discover how these four characters celebrated the October through November holidays when they were mortals.





नमस्ते Namastē Hello, I am Sitara, daughter of Nasid, who is Persian, and Devayani, who is Indian, and I am from Shiraz, Persia (565 CE), at least that is where my grandfather lived, although I spent so little time there. I wish to tell you a little about दीपावली Dīpāvalī, the Festival of Lights – part of a month-long festival commemorating the return of Lord Rama, along with Sita and Lakshmana, from his 14-year-long exile and his vanquishing of the demon-king Ravana – which my family and I would celebrate around the middle of October to the middle of November, even when we traveled to sell our wares.
Each day of the festival has its own name… for example, Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdasi, Amavasya, which is when Dīpāvalī occurs, Kartika Shudda Padyami, and Bhai Dooj… and on each day, we would celebrate one of our Gods or Goddesses triumphing over evil. I remember fondly my mother telling me the story on Naraka Chaturdasi of how Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama vanquished the demon Naraka. I miss my mother, my father, my brothers, and my sister. Still, I hold fond memories of our celebrations during Dīpāvalī.
On the night of Dīpāvalī, we would light small clay lamps filled with oil, place them around our tent, and leave them lit all night in order to help cleanse the tent and make the Goddess Lakshimi feel welcome. Mother would also insist that we clean our home each night and wear new clothes. One year, father had bought these strange, small roles of paper with string out one end, which he had procured from a trader far to the east. Sarid, one of my brothers, sneaked one of these… things… from my father and showed it to me. I urged him to put it back, but he insisted on trying to look inside it. So, Sarid held the object close to one of the lamps to see what the paper contained, but then the object caught fire. He tossed it away from the tent, and then it exploded in a burst of light and sound. My father and mother rushed over to see what had happened, but neither Sarid nor I were injured. My mother then took the remaining objects and soaked them in the water basin. Father never bought such trinkets again. The following Bhai Dooj, Sarid apologized for scaring me, and I forgave him.


Salve, I am Marcus Galerius Primus Helvetticus, ex Praetor of Gaul and ex general of the VII Legion under Gaius Julius Caesar during the end of the Roman Republic. While my senatorial-class family did not celebrate the holy days of the common plebs and slaves, as a tribunus laticlavius in the legions, I became fond of the Ludi Victoriae Sullanae, or the Victory Games of Sulla, in honor of the Goddess Victoria. The presiding legatus legionis would hold games where senior officers, centurions, and the lower ranks could fight one another in unarmed combat without fear of reprisal due to rank. Many of my men would challenge me, but most of those men would call pax, or truce, after a good fight. However, a few primi ordines managed to defeat me, and as a reward, I promoted them to primus pilus, or first-spear centurion.
I celebrated my favorite Ludi Victoriae Sullanae following the defeat of the Suebi in the Year of the Consulship of Piso and Gabinius (58 BCE), which is when Caesar himself promoted me to Praetor and bestowed upon me the victory agnomina of “Helvetticus” for my many victories against the Helvetti and the Suebi. He even chose me to fight him in single combat on the field of Victory… what a great honor. Of course, I let him win, but we fought like bulls over a cow in heat, until I lowered my guard a little, allowing him to strike my face. Still, it was a glorious day… one of my fondest memories from my mortal life.


Fó Día. I am Máire Ní Conghal, formerly chieftain of Béal Átha an Fheadha, and I would like to tell you about a special time of year for me and for others who follow the old ways… before the Roman Church came and told my ancestors they had to be Christians. My father the chieftain, before he was killed, my aunt Sive, my uncle Fergus, and many others had to practice our beliefs in secret, since the Church sought to “save” us from ourselves.
Between the end of Deirdreadh Fómhair (October) and the beginning of Mí na Samhna (November), we would sneak off to a druid grove, usually my aunt and uncle’s, to celebrate Samain (Samhain), the end of the harvest and of the lighter half of the year. We would camp out around the grove for several days and celebrate, day and night, or at least until we dropped from exhaustion or drink. We would light a bonfire in the middle of the grove and then dance around it to cleanse us, and the grove, of evil. We would also bring our cattle into the circle, walking them around the bonfire to rid them of maladies and evil spirits, and then cast the bones of slaughtered livestock into the flames.
Samain is a wonderful and magical time of year when the veil between this world and the Tir Na Nóg grows thin. We would invite our ancestors, the Tuatha de Danann, and the fae to join in our celebration. During one of these nights (551 CE), which I remember well, Seanán, a boy my father fostered, played a trick on me that caused me great embarrassment, but it turned out to be the spark to our relationship. At the ripe age of twelve winters, I was fast approaching the age where I could marry, but all of the boys were afraid of me. I was the girl who had not been kissed, since any boy who tried to kiss me against my will found himself with a bruised nose or bloody lip. You see, my father taught me to fight like a boy, and I would not let a boy kiss me who I felt unworthy… and none seemed worthy enough to me.
So, during this particular Samain night, Seanán said he saw a fae run into the woods, and he bade me to follow him, so I did. The trees were so thick that I could not see stars or the light of the moon, and I began to suspect that Seanán couldn’t see well either. Soon, however, I lost sight of him. When I turned around, I could not see my path back to the grove. The wind blew strong that night, and so the sounds of the celebration circled around, making it difficult for me to follow them home. So, here I stood, alone in a dark wood, when I felt something furry push me. At first, I thought it was a bear and I screamed, but I then turned to face the furry entity and realized it was Seanán, who wore fur mitts. I felt safe with him near me, so I hugged him. Then, without realizing it, I kissed him… or he kissed me… well, the moment was so breathtaking that who kissed who was but a trivial matter.
Anyhow, all would have been well with that evening, but then Seanán just had to tickle me. Little did I know that the adults by this point were already heading our way after my scream, so when Seanán started tickling me, he caused me to cackle and snort uncontrollably. When the adults arrived, Aidan of the Uí Briúin, one of the boys I beat up for trying to kiss me, accompanied them. Aidan pointed at me and yelled Banbh, which means little piglet, and started to laugh. Many of the adults laughed as well. Thus, it was a night of great embarrassment… the night I earned the nickname I have long tried to quash, but Marcus still manages to brave calling me that. However, despite the embarrassment, I fell in love with Seanán on that fateful Samain night, and Aidan lost another tooth to my fists.


Salve. I am Julien de Divio. As a mortal, I was formerly a homme d’armes of the gens d’armes (gendarme) and later Inspector General of the Gendarme of his Imperial Majesty Karl der Große (801 CE). Of course, long before that, I was the third son in a noble family, and I lived in our house in Vézelay with my brothers Reginald and Aldabert, my mother Heloise, and my twin sister Lirienne. My father died before I was born, so my eldest brother, Reginald, assumed the role of head of the household, although mother truly ran the home.
As adults, Reginald, the soldier, and Aldabert, the scholarly priest, would often leave from the spring through the end of autumn to serve their duties to Kingdom and Church, leaving mother, Lirienne, and I home alone with our servants for months on end. Of course, neither Reginald nor Aldabert were aware of our mother’s heretical beliefs, and their absence gave her the opportunity to hold Pagan ceremonies with other women of nobility.
For most ceremonies, mother forbade me from coming outside while the group of women, their daughters, and my sister performed rituals, but afterwards, mother always held a private ceremony with me, teaching me about my ancestors and those who once dwelled in these lands, as well as the beliefs both held. However, for Samonios, which occurs around the end of October through the beginning of November, mother would invite me to celebrate with them. It was not a celebration of my Frankish ancestors, but mother seemed to favor the beliefs of the Gauls over the conquering Franks. When I grew older, I understood why. This was their land, and they, the Gauls… or perhaps their ancestors… had built the grove and the circle of small stones within. Mother once confided in me that she had talked my… father… Gundovald into building a house here, near the grove and away from town, after she had discovered the overgrown grove on one of her forays into the countryside surrounding Vézelay. Ah, but I digress.
Returning to the subject of, Samonios, for three days and nights in the grove, we would drink, dance around a bonfire, and call to the spirit realm for them to join us. We would invite the Gods and Goddesses of the Gauls, the unseen creatures, and our ancestors to join us in our celebration. Mother had explained once that Samonios was very similar to what the ancient Irish celebrated… Samain, I believe, but it too became largely pushed out by the conquering Romans and their Church.
One Samain, my brothers came home unexpectedly and were shocked to see my mother, along with a group of women, girls, and me, dancing naked in the grove around the bonfire. While the women and girls dashed for their clothes and began hastily dressing, Aldabert wailed that all of us were inviting damnation on the Kingdom and that Satan held a special place for women who cavorted in the nude. Reginald launched into a tirade of how this embarrassment may cause the King to strip the family of its holdings for hosting such a blasphemous gathering. Mother asked everyone to wait while she calmly dragged Reginald and Aldabert to the house. After a few minutes, mother came back and told us to continue the ceremony… that everything had been taken care of.
Neither my brothers nor my mother ever spoke of this event to anyone… not even to me. While I do not know what she said, my mother must have put the fear of many Gods and Goddesses into their hearts, overwhelming their one.
We hope you enjoyed them. Happy Halloween!

Tagged: celebrations, celtic, Celtic Mythology, Divali, Frankish, Halloween, Holiday, Indian, Irish, Mythology, November, October, Persian, Roman Mythology, Samhain, Victoria, Victory

The What-if Loop

Librarian Seeking …

‘Dear Hiring Manager’… it’s how most of my cover letters start.

I (Heather) did my morning job search again.  For those who don’t know, I’m a librarian.  It’s what helps me get to the nitty-gritty of history and culture that Chris and I write about.  I do love delving into research.  It doesn’t always matter what it’s about most of the time.  I can say without reserve that I’m a great researcher.  I love the challenge of it.  I love helping other people with it.



I’ve done it ‘professionally’ since 2007.  Yet, I’ve done it for fun and paper-writing since I was maybe 8 or 9.  Since the first time the teachers at School of the Woods taught us to research and use the Chicago citation style.  It was a way of showing what I’d read and comprehended.  It was heady, like a taste of honey.  I thought that this would allow others to see that there was more to me than freckles, weird hair, and glasses.  The librarians seemed to be all-knowing goddesses (and gods as well) of wisdom that went through cards sometimes to find topics.  Other times, they’d just pause for a moment and lead me to the reference non-fic shelves and explain that what the numbers on the book stickers meant.  They simply memorized where things were.  We all have done it.

Anyways, it was a joy that I forgot about for years during high school and college.

I chose poorly for that first career, but sometimes mistakes have to be made.

In the meantime, I found a passion for storytelling.  I took jobs, found others, left jobs, felt frustrated, and found someone who enjoyed a good yarn, like I did.

I realized how much time I spent in libraries, got mistaken for a librarian umpty jillion times, and took it to be a sign that I needed to become one.  So, I went to grad school, got the masters, found a part-time research job, and started applying for another job… a full-time one that would have ‘librarian’ somewhere in the title.

I took a job at a city library system and worked there for four and a half years.  Sometimes, the job was satisfying.  Other times it was simply frustrating and stinky.  I got a new job and felt much more satisfied there.  I was the only librarian and handled everything for the ‘branch’.  I shelved, I checked out, I budgeted, I bought.  I did everything that I learned in my grad. program and more.

Now, my workplace is closing.  I have been told it will be a certain date next year, but who knows… it could be sooner.  In the meantime, the search begins anew, and there are many librarians in the city, searching for opportunities like me.

I’m consumed by what-if’s these days.  What if we close early?  What if I can’t find a job?  What if I’m not what such and such employer wants, what if, what if.

So, there you have it.  I’m stuck in a what-if loop.

I will keep writing… that’s not an option, but I do need to make money, somehow.

As usual, the job search is frustrating.  I see postings for various jobs and feel nervous seeing that they are for aspects of librarianship that I don’t enjoy.  I’m not a cataloger (sure I do it at work, but it’s not the hardcore classification people that these jobs are seeking)…   I also see suggestions for job-searchers and find that the job-search terms are inaccurate and horrible.  Do a specific search for something the ALA suggests like ‘research lead’ and you will come up with thousands of jobs that have nothing to do with librarianship.  Yet, the all-knowing powers that be in librarianship insist that there are plenty of opportunities there.  Yeah… sure.

So for the first time in awhile, I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.  I’m a great researcher, but that’s a small part of the job for many of these openings.  I can handle instructing people on how to research and all that sort of ballyhoo… but I feel like a librarian failure because I am not a classification guru, a marketing / programming master, a children’s librarian, and so forth.  Nor do I seem to have the inclination towards any of these.  Classification scatters my brain, sometimes, marketing and being ‘on’ is difficult for introverts at times, not to mention that I hate dealing with children.  A small group is okay, but I’m not a jump up and down with a big smile type.  I’m a ‘here’s the picture books and there’s the fiction and non-fiction books’ kind of librarian.  I’m okay with the teenagers who want to read and write, as I can see the old me in them.

Plus, I’m a teensy bit limited in that I’m not willing to relocate, at this time.  Texas may be awfully hot and sort of backwards sometimes, but it has a lot of festivals and events in the state.  We need to stay here so we can continue going to events.

There are some job possibilities.  One possibility is 40 miles away, and I did that schtick for four years.  I’m not wanting to make an 80 mile round trip again.  I’d love to do it if I could be the research assistance available by phone / IM/ email, but that drive is a killer.

So, I’m not sure what to do.  I can job search and interview, yet part of me wants to write a script or two.  Not sure when  / how / what, but why not?  Yet, part of me feels like I’m giving up if I don’t keep searching and then what if I can’t find anything.  It takes most librarians a year or two to find work in their community.  Last time, it took me almost two years to find another job, while I was working, which makes me feel that my worth as a librarian is nil.  I’m sure many people who are out of work feel this way, which makes me feel worse.  I’m sad because I may not have a job soon, and there are other people who have it way worse than I who manage to be okay and handle the change better than I am.

~~~~~

New Cat-Baby

Now lets leave the whine-fest behind.

There is a new katbaby in the house.  Her name is Brigid, and she’s adorable.  The boys still seem to miss Empress Ophelia, but Clyde and Brigid love to play and wrassle.  They even groom each other.  Lucius, while preferring human companionship to kitty, is still protective of her.

We’ll have to post some pictures of her soon.  She’s very talkative and loves attention.

So there’s that bit of hope.  Brigid has settled in well.  I still cry for Ophie, every once in awhile.  After crying every day for over a week, I went to see the chiropractor, who helped a little with an adjustment and some supplements. He also told me that I had every right to cry and be sad.

I guess I need to allow myself time to deal with the possibility of uncertainty.

Yet, there is some good news.  Book four is almost done in the editing process.

Soon… gentle reader…soon.

Book Signing this Weekend!

For those wishing to venture out towards Bastrop, Texas, Sherwood Forest Faire is hosting their annual Celtic Music Festival. Christopher will be performing a reading at the stone circle, and both Chris and I will be there to sign books. We have a new banner to display, so stop on by. For more information about the Sherwood Forest Celtic Music Festival, click on the link I just typed.

Tagged: book signing, Brigid, career, cats, Hope, Job, librarian, library, opportunity, research, Sherwood Forest Celtic Music Festival, strong women

Free Giveaway Winners and Upcoming Events

Selling books to a Dalek

This Week So Far…

… has been difficult thus far, as anyone who has read our previous blog post can attest, but life must go on. In that spirit, I (Christopher) would like to announce the winners of two recent free giveaways. As I mentioned before, we are still going to award books to winners from the Comicpalooza giveaway… it just took us several weeks to announce the winners. Now, with Space City Con, our delay has been a few days, but that is due to our recent tragedy. In addition, I would like to advise our readers of our remaining 2013 appearances, as well as our budding 2014 calendar.

Free Giveaway Winners
Comicpalooza

The winners from Comicpalooza are:

Alexandra C. from Pasadena, Texas
Theresa Chandler from League City, Texas

Space City Con

The winners from Space City Con are:

Andrea Montgomery from Houston, Texas
Abe Raichanan (sp?) from Houston, Texas

Upcoming Events

Well, our 2014 calendar is starting to be built, and we still have some up-coming appearances this year to keep us busy. Starting Saturday, September 21st, Heather and I will be signing books at the Sherwood Forest Celtic Music Festival. Now, depending on timing and budget, we also plan to attend the Salado Scottish Festival and Highland Games in Salado, Texas. Also, this year, we might have a few retail book-signings and other events coming up.

The 2014 schedule is already starting to blossom, with the confirmation of our return to Space City Con, but this one is in the winter time. The organizers of Space City Con are now doing two events a year. What fun! And we will be there! Other early events next year that we plan to host book signings at include the Rory Miggins Memorial Irish Stew Cook-Off, the North Texas Irish Festival, and AggieCon. For a full list of our events (if you don’t see it yet in 2014, look at 2013), visit our website.

Ophelia Reluctantly Poses

 

Closing Thoughts

I am still pretty broken up about losing one of my beloved cat-kids… my girly girl… my defacto daughter of the last thirteen years. I really appreciate the outpouring of support our fans, friends, and family have shown us in our time of crisis. Though to many, Ophelia was merely a cat, all of you who have responded know that she was a dear part of our family, and that her loss is keenly felt. Thank you all for your love and kind words, for they help us heal.

Tagged: appearances, book giveaway, book signing, Celtic Mythology, events, Fantasy, free book, free giveaways, Vampire

How to start this…regarding Ophelia

The hardest thing about letting animals into your life is knowing that eventually, someday, you will have to let them go.

I was surprised one day when Chris called me from the pet store when we needed some cat litter and food for Lucius, and told me he had found a kitten who chose him and needed a home.  I think I packed up Lu-lu in the carrier and dashed out to see the kitten with Chris at petsmart (or was it petco, I can’t remember).

Anyways, I saw her and my heart melted.  Lucius grumbled in the carrier but I figured we’d sweat out the sibling rivalry and separate the two kitties for a few days.

A couple of hours later we brought home our little girl and she immediately became Queen of the house.  Lucius opened the door to the room where Ophie was and they had a pleasant conversation without growling.

My father commented that she was too little for the name Ophelia.  He always called her ‘Ophie’ or ‘Ophie Sue’ after a coworker of his that I also worked with in the early to mid nineties.  I always thought it was funny that a dedicated cat hater like my dad would come up with a nickname for a cat he claimed to dislike.

I thought Lu-lu would harass Ophelia, but it always seemed the opposite.  Ophelia had a major Napoleon complex and would trick Lucius into doing things like jump up to the top of the kitchen cabinets (7 feet above) and then Lucius would get stuck and start bellowing for help.  Then I’d see a sly smirk on Ophie’s face and she’d leave the kitchen… her job done.

The two katkids were friendly, but didn’t share a sleeping space unless we were gone for a day or two.  Then they’d get up and scoot away from each other (nope, you didn’t see that!  We HATE each other).

I remember both of the cats loved having Chris or I at home.  Ophelia would sleep on my grad school books and study me as I typed papers about things like ‘the digital divide’ or ‘genre denial’.  Sometimes she’d move in closer when I typed up notes for our books.

When I wrote about the goddess Brigid in our series, I came across legends and stories about Brigid and her association with cats.  Brigid took on Ophelia’s golden and green eyes and charmed mortal, Deargh Du, and even other deities.

A few years ago, Ophelia had a cancer scare and it was the first time we had to deal with the idea that the cats were not immortal.    It was scary and I’m not sure why I avoided that thought for so long.  She would gain and then lose weight and each year she seemed to be less happy and healthy.  We tried different foods, medicines, supplements, etc.  The vet told us to prepare for hard decisions, but I just decided to take it one day at a time.

She would still demand crunchy things to eat though and she loved sleeping on our new bed and my pillow.  She wasn’t as friendly as she used to be, but she still purred when Chris and I held her and she would nuzzle my hair.  Which is why when somebody proclaimed her to be mean or a bitch, I’d get pissed off and just say nothing, while fuming.  Honestly, what right did they have to make such a judgment?  She was our mean bitch and they didn’t even know her.  Generally they didn’t know her when she was young, spry, full of energy, and liked everybody.  I don’t know why this meant so much to me, because I don’t care if people like me or don’t.  I am happy with who I am, but I also believe in if you don’t have anything nice to say, why bother hurting people?  Don’t knock my katkids.  They aren’t perfect, but I love them and they give me and Chris unconditional love.

I’m not perfect at this rule of staying silent instead of hurting someone, but I do try to keep my thoughts to myself most of the time.  I guess this way of thinking is just not done today.  I remember so many hurtful things shouted at me at my last job.

Anyways, back to lil’ missy.

Ophie and the other cats still played and wrassled with each other, but now she was slower and wanted to rest more.  I figured that was her due.  She still cuddled with us and loved the ‘spot’ on the top of my la-z-boy recliner for her to settle in.

Sometimes her paws would droop and I’d play with them… ‘these feets are mine!’  Silly I know…

A few weekends ago, I bought some toys at Space City Con.

We got Tentacle Kitty who reminds me of a younger Ophelia in a way (if Ophie were pink) and Stitches from lilwickidz.  Maybe I just knew that something would happen soon.  I dunno.

On friday my allergies went into hyperdrive and I took an allergy pill around 8.  At about 9, I gave up and went to bed.  Lucius joined me I think.

Around midnight, Chris woke me up in a panic and told me that Ophelia had fallen from the counter after he tried to get her to take her supplements.  Ophelia looked dazed and her right hip seemed to be dislocated.

We panicked and drove her to the emergency room.  The doctor wanted nearly $800 to get some fluids into her and take some x-rays.  That wouldn’t even include the surgery.  The vet said she was underweight and I felt as if I were judged a neglectful catparent.  We spent years trying to get Ophelia back up to nine pounds.  Chris and I looked at each other and looked at Ophelia.  For a cat that hated traveling and seeing the v-e-t, she seemed very quiet and peaceful.

We decided to take her home and bring her to her vet on saturday morning.  Ophelia got out of her carrier at home, drank some water, ate some food, and then went to sleep.  Clyde and Lucius went to check on her, during the night I watched Clyde groom her.  Something normally that Ophelia didn’t care for, but she remained quiet and seemed grateful for the bath.

We fed her the next morning and I watched her eat and knew that I had to face it that she probably would never get over this.  The vet said he could fix her hip and the surgery was a reasonable price, but he also said… she would probably be back next month and that we would probably have to put her down because she only weighed five pounds now and we had done all we could for her.

Our once healthy kitten was just skin and bones and I felt again like a horrible selfish person who couldn’t let anyone go for my own selfish needs.

We cried, we held her.  She grumbled about being stuck at the vet’s when there were windows to sit in at home.  Then after all the decisions were made, we let them take her.  At first I wanted to hold her as she left us, then I thought what a horrible thing for her to see, Chris and I sobbing in a panic for her as she passed on, into unconsciousness and then peace where there would be no more pain, where she could frolic and have fun and trick other cats again.

We let her go and burst into tears.  We gathered her carrier and left the vet’s and went home to the boys, cried more, ate breakfast, then went and took a nap.  The boys joined us.

The next few days moved by…I’m still upset and crying, but I guess I needed to type this.  Lucius sat down in Ophie’s spot in the hallway and took her place next to the shelves in the living room sometimes.  Both of the boys would sit on my lap and then meander over to Chris.  Chris said one of the fans turned off… who knows maybe Ophie got chilly.

We held hands a lot over the weekend and cried.  We picked up some pictures that we got framed a few weeks ago.  We even had one that sort of resembled Ophelia… it was a print by Dirk Strangely called ‘Cats Hate the Dead’ 

We contemplated going to the movies, but opted instead for watching Wreck-It Ralph and other stuff that would lighten the mood.

Sunday, I felt something touch my hair and my head.  I got up, fully expecting my cranky catboss to inform me that she wanted her breakfast, damnit (nowmeowmeowmeowmeow)!  I then remembered she was gone and felt a little better for a moment or two.

I didn’t want to go to work this morning, but I did…  I’m not sure how I’ll spend the rest of the day, but that’s okay.

Ophelia, we miss you and love you, but I won’t miss chasing you while you were racing through the house, chewing on plastic!  I won’t miss that part at all.

Tagged: cats, death, epitaph, mourning

2013 Space City Con, Free Giveaways, and Other News

New booth lighting at the 2013 Space City Con in Houston, Texas

Welcome Newcomers and All of Our Readers!

For those who recently discovered us at Space City Con, welcome! Sorry for the late post, but as a border-line introvert, it sometimes takes me days to recover from such an extroverted event. Now that my mind is at peace, I can give you, our readers, a reflection of the weekend, a look ahead of events to come, and give our readers, new and old, a chance to win some things… books and… wait… now I remember, a Kindle Fire. Want more information? Well, dive in!

WOW! WHAT A CON!
The Experience

I (Christopher) experienced loads of fun at the 2013 Space City Con in Houston, Texas this past weekend… Wow! I couldn’t believe the numbers of people in line to get tickets Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday! The event had lots to offer, including actors, artists, authors, writers, and other creative types from the big and little screens, comic books, novels, video games, and the burgeoning on-line media storm. Instead of describing all of the features of the convention, I’ll just direct our readers to their website. Still, as I said, Heather and excelled at fun, and we even sold lots of books! What’s more, I hope many of you who checked us out over the weekend will give us a shout. Read further in this blog for more fun things going on with us. Do I hear the words, “free giveaway”?

Our Booth

Drizzt Do’Urden and Me

Womaning the booth with me were my co-author and wife Heather Poinsett Dunbar, our dear friend Trinette Flanagan, and our dear friend and fellow author Cornelia Amiri, author of Celtic-themed romance novels, among other genres, who signed books alongside us. For this event, I set up our 10×3.33 lighting and signage frame within our 12×6 space, since we reserved two tables. In addition to the two table banners, the Triscelle Publishing banner on the frame, and the two cover banners on the easels in the background, I hung another 10×1 banner, “Authors of the Morrigan’s Brood Series” banner ten feet above the frame. I also deployed the same lighting I had used for Comicpalooza, but this time, I used more blue bulbs and substituted the green ones with black bulbs. The effect was pretty cool, wouldn’t you say? Oh, and we had lasers… and blazers… and tazers… and phasers… and… OK, we just had lasers. I love how the books glowed, and everyone who walked by looked so cool… especially that dalek I tried to sell a book to. “Daleks have currency,” I was told.

Selling books to a Dalek

The Celebrities

I did get to meet lots of actors there as well, and I got a few things signed. Let’s see… Gil Gerard signed a picture with him as Buck Rogers and Erin Grey as Wilma (Gil and I kept crossing paths, and the entire time, he remembered my name. It was like… “Hey Gil!” and then “Hey Christopher!” Cool.), John De Lancie signed a book he wrote, I had a hilarious chat with Jason Carter, and I bumped into Tori Higginson a few times and got to finally talk with her at her booth. I also saw Jewel Staite, Denise Crosby, Walter Koenig, and some of the other celebrities there. One of these nights, I will have to take a picture of my ill-gotten signed stuff.

(This is Heather taking over) Chris forgot to mention my Robert Picardo encounter. I was on my way downstairs on Thursday night and heard the *bing* of the elevator and walked in and found him standing there with a bell-cart. He offered to let me ride downstairs on it, but I was too shy to agree. Damn, I really should have taken the ride down to the dealers room. Oh well… next time, I’ll demand a ride.

(Chris is back!)

Free Giveways

Heather and Tentacle Kitty

Free Books

For those of you who attended Comicpalooza and entered our free giveaway, well, one week turned into one month. Sorry for the delay, but we will still hold that drawing. For those who entered during Space City Con, we will hold a separate drawing this coming Monday. If you missed the opportunity to enter at the con, just send me an email and ask to be entered into the drawing.

Free Kindle Fire

If you want more than just a book, help us out on Facebook to get the Triscelle Publishing Facebook page more likes. As of this moment, we are at 163, but I know we can do better. When we get to 200, we will pull a random winner from all of the likers at that moment, and the winner will receive a free Kindle Fire. In addition, we ask that you also like the pages for each of the books, which don’t seem to get a lot of traffic. Here are their links:

Morrigan’s Brood Series
Morrigan’s Brood: Morrigan’s Brood Book I
Crone of War: Morrigan’s Brood Book II
Madness & Reckoning: Stories of the Morrigan’s Brood Series
Dark Alliance: Morrigan’s Brood Book III
Curse of Venus: Morrigan’s Brood Book IV

Curse of Venus: Morrigan’s Brood Book IV

I am still polishing it up. It has taken longer than anticipated; full-time jobs tend to do that. However, maybe I might release a couple of chapters in an ebook format sometime this month… If you like that idea, please let me know… otherwise, I will forget.

Thanks to all of our fans, friends, and family for your support!

Tagged: book giveaway, book signing, Celtic Mythology, Fantasy, free book, free giveaways, historical fantasy, Space City Con, strong women, Vampire

Updates and Giveaway Winners

I don’t remember the last time I (Christopher) posted, but it has been a while. It’s funny, because we have been to a plethora of events these last few weeks, with more events this weekend and next weekend. I guess work (my day job), getting ready for upcoming events, and recovering from prior events, are my biggest excuses. Well, here I am, blogging. So, what shall I blog about? How about free giveaway winners from the Houston Celtic Festival? First, however, I would like to welcome all of the people we spoke with at our booth during the festival. Thanks especially to the folks who attended our readings. Despite the volume of rain dropped on us that Saturday, the event in 2010 caused rivers to flow through the arena, so this wasn’t so bad.

Free Giveaway Winners

Well, I wish to first apologize for announcing the winners to our latest giveaway a week late, but those following us probably have detected a pattern. Anyway, due to the huge number of folks who filled out tickets, Heather and I decided to award three winners for the event. The winners are…

JoBeth Smith
Fiona MacDonnell
Janet Tabares

We (likely I) will notify the winners early this week.

New Booth Displays

For those who have had the opportunity to visit us at AggieCon or the Houston Indie Book Fest this year got to see our new indoor booth arrangement. If you have seen us anywhere, you will see that I like lights and colorful signs. For the past few years, I have used 10×10 tent frames to display lighting and signage. This year, however, the opportunity presented itself to design a narrower frame, of comparable height, to use at smaller indoor or outdoor festivals where a 10×10 frame is not practical. While I had been toying with the idea of constructing some kind of frame for smaller events using steel conduit or heavy-gauge PVC pipe, nothing I envisioned seemed practical. Then one day, a tent I ordered arrived broken, and the replacement was incorrect and broken, and its replacement was incorrect, and finally I got the right replacement. From these four tent frames, I got to keep three… two good ones and one broken one.

Since the only broken parts were cosmetic, I decided to take it apart and use it to create my lighting frame for smaller events. Each 10×10 tent frame is composed of a dome assembly, four height-adjustable posts, and four sets of three scissor trusses. I took off the trusses completely from two opposite sides and removed two of the three scissor pieces from the other opposite sides. After grinding the sharp edges of some heavy gauge 6 foot long L-brackets and spray painting them, I constructed a bolt-together frame that adjusts from 6×3 feet to 11×3 feet. This way, I can tuck the frame behind the table at a normal event, where we might have one or two 6 foot to 10 foot tables and not enough room for the 10×10 frame. So far, we put the design to good use at both AggieCon and Houston Indie Book Fest, so hopefully these next two events, one of which is Comicpalooza / GalactiCon, will be successful and eye-catching.

Check out our Events and Appearances page to see where authors Heather Poinsett Dunbar and Christopher Dunbar will be next!
Thanks to all of our friends, fans, and family.

Tagged: book giveaway, book signing, celtic festival, Celtic Mythology, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, free book, free giveaways, historical fantasy, Historical Fiction, Houston Celtic Festival, Irish, Morrigan's Brood, outdoor festivals, strong women, supernatural, Vampire, winner

And Now Our Winners!!!! (update from Heather)

Yes, it’s been a loooong time since we posted. Yes, we’re horrible that way. However, we’re trying to keep moving forward on Curse of Venus, and that’s really why we are so horrible on blogging.

Anyways…. at long last here are the winners of a free book from the authors of the Morrigan’s Brood Series!

1. Patrick McKeever

2. Arleen Haas

3. Amanda Ganall

4. Spencer Ames

Congrats to our winners! We will contact you tomorrow about shipping and all that!

Have a great night!

Thanks again to the great folks at Aggiecon for a wonderful time! Sometimes I miss Aggieland! This weekend reminded me that it is a great place.

Now I have to deal with a very needy kitty.

A New Year, New Events… and a New Book

What… no picture? Shhh…. that comes later. For now, you will have to contend with text… boring text. Hey, there needs to be some motivation for you to click the More button… right? So, why should you read this boring text and THEN click More? Well, I (author Christopher Dunbar) will tell you… new cover art for Curse of Venus: Morrigan’s Brood Book IV by the lovely and talented Khanada Taylor, that’s why!

Oh, and some news about new events, a new year, and… you guessed it… a new book. OK, now click More and read More. [Unless of course you went directly to this post and didn't navigate from the main page.]

Cover by Khanada Taylor

Cover Art for Curse of Venus

My co-author, Heather Poinsett Dunbar, and I have known Khanada Taylor for quite a few years, and we have had the pleasure of working with her on book covers for our first four novels (and of course the derivatives used for the covers of Madness & Reckoning and the Chapter Book), as well as on other projects. Khanada is one of the few people who has read the entire Morrigan’s Brood Series… up to book 5… and what are we on… book 3? Well, she still hasn’t read books 6, 7, or 8, but those are coming… Anyway, Khanada has an excellent gift of being able to convert the printed word into visualization… into shapes, colors, and textures that capture the emotions and the depth of the text (not that there is too much depth in our text…).

Like our prior covers, this one is in the form of a tarot card… the Empress. The figure wearing the ornately embroidered, royal purple dressing gown is the Empress Irene, a characterization of Irene of Athens, or Irene Sarantapechain, who reigned as empress regent in Byzantium from 797 CE to 802 CE (thank you Wikipedia for the quick reference). She is seated at a beautifully carved wooden dressing table, staring into an ornate, bronze mirror. Yet, something is different about this mirror… While her face is beautiful and healthy, her reflection seems somewhat diseased and old. Why is that, you might wonder? I might save that for another post… or I could just ask you to read the book when it comes out.

You may also notice a green-eyed, black cat crouched under the mirror. Those who remember the cover art from Dark Alliance: Morrigan’s Brood Book III may remember a black cat rubbing against Charlemagne’s throne. You don’t? Well, here is the picture again…

Cover by Khanada Taylor

See the black cat now? Who is this black cat, you might ask… Well, I’m not gonna tell you…. ha ha ha haaa haaaaaa. However, Madness & Reckoning introduced the character, but the ethereal black cat never gave its name to Mandubratius. The cat’s name, as well as it’s true purpose, will be revealed… later in the series.

2013 Events Calendar

We have made a few changes to our 2013 calendar, so come visit our appearances on our events page. Our first event coming up, February 9th, is the Rory Miggins Memorial Irish Stew Cook-off, which benefits the Houston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Lots of other events will follow… and there may be further changes, so view this site periodically.

Release of Curse of Venus: Morrigan’s Brood Book IV

Well, the publisher is targeting June for Curse of Venus, and Heather and I are working feverishly to make sure our part is done on-time. Depending on several factors out of our control, it may be pushed to July, but it is definitely our top priority. We have heard from our readers, and you want book 4 now… now now now now Now! Ok ok ok okokok… working on it.

Until then, here is the new back-cover text:

The Strigoi, the Cursed of Venus, have spread through the Holy Roman Empire and parts beyond like a plague. In response, Pope Leo III takes advantage of the scourge to settle an old score with the man he placed on the throne: Charlemagne. The pope leads the papal army into the heart of the empire and demands sovereignty over what he believes is an ecumenical matter.

Charlemagne disagrees, and soon papal and imperial forces stand face-to-face across the field of battle. Will their leaders’ bitter rivalry send the Empire further into chaos and destruction, or will their Deargh Du “angels” save them from themselves, and from Venus’ Cursed?

Continue the journey… the fourth in a series of stories revolving around the Deargh Du through the ages.

Oh… did Father Ted fans catch the Father Jack reference in the back cover text? If you didn’t… pfffffffth… More news to come later…

Thank you for your continued support!

Tagged: book cover, book signing, books, celtic, Celtic Mythology, cover art, Irene, new release, strong female characters, strong women

Interviews and More Interviews

Heather and I (Christopher) have been interviewed again, and I thought I should provide links so all of our wonderful fans don’t have to go hunting for them. We have also been working on our 2013 calendar of appearances.

Salado Scottish Festival and Highland Games

Just a few weekends ago we attended the Salado Scottish Festival and Highland Games in Salado, Texas. What a time we had… As we were unpacking our truck to set up our tent at the fair grounds, Heather and I noticed that our tent frame had broken in transit, and without parts it was irreparable. With no tent frame, we rushed to the Walmart in Belton and then the Academy in Temple, before we found a tent we thought would work. After driving all the way back to Salado, we soon realized that this tent would never hold up to any sort of rain or wind (the roof came in layers, you see, with big openings where one layer overlayed another). This would not do… so we rushed back to Temple’s Academy and exchanged the tent. This one also, we found out, was not rated for wind or rain (you don’t learn these things unless you open the box and look at the directions inside… neither the website nor the box mentioned these important facts.) So, we used the roof and sides from the other tent (the broken one).

Heavy winds buffeted us as we set up, so we took extra precautions tying it down for the night. Thankfully, when we got there Saturday morning to set up everything inside the tent, it was still there. However, not everyone was so fortunate to have tents that had not been chewed up by 40 to 50 MPH wind gusts through the night. Even during the day, winds gusted up to between 30 MPH and 40 MPH, with 20 to 25 MPH being the normal range. Though rain threatened, we stayed dry. Lots of folks, family, friends, and new fans alike, stopped by our tent, and many left with a copy of at least one of our works… some bought all four books (and got the chapter book as well). Still, rumors of possible thunderstorms late that night and most of the next day spread, and the hourly report on the NWS website furthered speculation that the next day would be replete with thunder, lightning, rain, and more wind. With a tent that didn’t meet our needs (and one that we would later return), we decided to pack the tent early (so it wouldn’t get wet or… destroyed… before we had a chance to return it). Several other vendors packed up, as well as a few clan tents. However, we learned that the event still went on Sunday, but soon after we left, it started to rain. We would have still been open for business, and we would have packed up a wet tent. Not the first time we have done that, but I wanted to turn the tent in as pristine as possible.

All in all, we had fun, and it was great seeing family and friends there. We will definitely be making the trek back there next year. This was our last appearance this year, but we will be at Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, Texas this year, though as patrons and not authors.

Check out the Triscelle Publishing Events / Appearances page for our 2013 appearances.

Interviews

Now, where was I going with this? Oh yes… interviews.

Site

Link

Description

No Wasted Link

Link

An interview, by Wendy Van Camp, of author Christopher Dunbar, featuring Heather’s and Chris’ pending release, Curse of Venus: Morrigan’s Brood Book IV. The interview is to be released December 19, 2012. The book is to be released June 1, 2012.

No Wasted Link

Link

An interview, by Wendy Van Camp, of author Heather Poinsett Dunbar, featuring her writing space and tools.

Paranormal Haven

Link

An interview of Heather and Christopher, focusing on their latest release, Dark Alliance: Morrigan’s Brood Book III

Paranormal Haven

Link

A guest post by authors Heather Poinsett Dunbar and Christopher Dunbar about how some of their characters, as mortals, may have celebrated what we know as Halloween today.

Morrigan’s Blog

Link

A blog-hoppping interview written in conjunction with other authors Heather and Christopher know. This interview features Curse of Venus: Morrigan’s Brood Book IV.

There will be more to follow.

Thanks to our family, friends, and fans for your continued support!

Tagged: author, celtic, Fantasy, Fiction, Folklore, historical fantasy, interview, Ireland, Irish, Mythology, strong women, Vampire

Blog Hop: THE NEXT BIG THING

Welcome to the Cemetery

Welcome to our blog this weekend after Halloween 2012! We had a wonder Halloween… how about you? Please feel free to comment. If you have found Heather’s or my Facebook profile, we will be posting pictures from our Halloween.

Blog Hop

Well, Heather and I (Christopher) decided to join a blog hop with other authors we know across the USA. We each have been answering the same questions about our latest book, and I will provide links to our fellow authors’ posts here:

Author

Author

Ruth Davis Hayes

Kara Hash

Tracy Angelina Evans

Well, here we go…

WHAT IS THE WORKING TITLE OF YOUR BOOK?

Curse of Venus: Morrigan’s Brood Book IV

WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM FOR THE BOOK?

Heather and I (Christopher) researched several periods in history following 564 CE, the year our second novel ends, seeking interesting an period in world history when we might want to set the novels of our series. The ninth century seemed like a pivotal moment for European, Nordic, and Far Eastern societies, so we chose to set novels III, IV, and V in that period. We wrote all three of those novels as a single 1400 page manuscript, knowing we would break up the manuscript into a trilogy, and so book IV is the middle of the trilogy. We chose to focus on Charlemagne and his reign as the impetus of the story because we wanted to get to know him better as a man and to show a side of him that is seldom written about. What if you were the newly crowned Imperator Romanorum and you recently found out mythological beings existed, challenging your beliefs?

UNDER WHAT GENRE DOES YOUR BOOK FALL?

Historical Fantasy is the main genre, with elements of Epic Fantasy, Fantasy Adventure, and Dark Fantasy woven in.

WHICH ACTORS WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO PLAY YOUR CHARACTERS IN A MOVIE RENDITION?

From early on in our profiling of characters, we have considered what actors of the day we fell possessed the dramatic and comedic range to play our characters, but sometimes suggesting a particular actor feels like it limits the reader’s ability to see someone in a character. I guess there are a few people we see when we write. Marcus and Mandubratius have always been Clive Owen and James Purefoy, respectively, but Máire… well, we haven’t found her yet. There are some others we see, but readers sometimes tell me who they see in the roles, and their suggestions have been intriguing. Other than those two, Chris always saw a younger Brian Blessed as Mac Alpin, where Heather saw a younger Billy Connelly. So, even we have differing opinions on characters and actors.

WHAT IS THE ONE-SENTENCE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR BOOK?

Will the bitter rivalry between Emperor Charles and the man who crowned him Imperator Romanorum, Pope Leo III, send the Empire further into chaos and destruction, or will their Deargh Du “angels” save them from themselves and from the Strigoi, Venus’ Cursed?

WILL YOUR BOOK BE SELF-PUBLISHED OR REPRESENTED BY AN AGENCY?

The books of the Morrigan’s Brood Series are published by Triscelle Publishing.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT?

The 1400 page manuscript took us about three to six months to write the first draft… rewrites took another year.

WHAT OTHER BOOKS WOULD YOU COMPARE THIS STORY TO WITHIN YOUR GENRE?

These snippets are from a review posted on GoodReads by a reader.

Alecia writes, “…it reminded me of the depth a Tolkien novel would have…” and “…for someone into the fantasy style of say Salvatore…”.

Chris’ response was, “Cool.”

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK?

I (Heather) would say our international travels inspired our writing. There is just so much history and a variety of cultures in our world. Also, I would say that the mythology I learned in school and from friends, neighbors, and people all over the world inspired me. I can’t deny that I love the ancient stories that are the basis of our tales.

WHAT ELSE ABOUT YOUR BOOK MIGHT PIQUE THE READER’S INTEREST?

I think that it’s a change of pace from the usual vampire books out there. It’s an adventure tale with blood-drinkers, and I hope that people will find it entertaining, and I hope our works will inspire our readers to research these legends and myths from our world’s past.

Thanks to our family, friends, and fans for your continued support!

Tagged: author, blog hop, books, celtic, Celtic Mythology, Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy Adventure, historical fantasy, Historical Fiction, interview, Vampire