P.M. Terrell
I took a departure from writing contemporary suspense and began an historical series based on real Irish history. I have a series (Black Swamp Mysteries) that centers around CIA operatives but I found in the political climate in Washington - with Russia, the Middle East and our European allies - readers were becoming disillusioned with current events. What is really popular now is escapism books, movies and television. There is something very comforting about reading the past; even if it involves battles, a political game of thrones, adversity and challenges, we know our ancestors made it through. We're here; we survived.
Following in my family's footsteps has been a fascinating adventure for me. Going to Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland and standing on land that once belonged to my ancestors; standing in the family cemetery overlooking their land holdings, learning of their contributions to the surrounding villages - has been an experience like no other. I wanted to take the names out of the boxes on the neatly drawn family tree and find out who they were, what they did, what motivated them, what legacy they left. I wanted to know why, generation after generation, they left their homes, often for countries they had never been to with foreign customs, a different language, where they had to begin all over again.
The first book in my new Checkmate series (http://pmterrell.com/checkmate-clans-...) begins with William Neely, my ancestor that left Wigtownshire, Scotland in 1608 for Ulster. You can read an excerpt at the link above. He landed in Ulster as tensions were heating up between the last Gaelic Irish King, Cahir O'Doherty, and Sir George Paulet, the English Governor of Derry, and he would be caught up in O'Doherty's Rebellion. He would be witness to love and hatred, courage and cowardice, loyalty and treason, and he would be changed - and his descendants changed - forever.
I am now doing research on the second book in the series, involving the aftermath of O'Doherty's Rebellion and the Plantation era in Ulster, Ireland.
You can read more about my experience delving into my family history here: http://pmterrell.blogspot.com/2017/05...
I'd love to know if you have discovered anything about your ancestors, and how it changed you and made you the person you are today.
Following in my family's footsteps has been a fascinating adventure for me. Going to Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland and standing on land that once belonged to my ancestors; standing in the family cemetery overlooking their land holdings, learning of their contributions to the surrounding villages - has been an experience like no other. I wanted to take the names out of the boxes on the neatly drawn family tree and find out who they were, what they did, what motivated them, what legacy they left. I wanted to know why, generation after generation, they left their homes, often for countries they had never been to with foreign customs, a different language, where they had to begin all over again.
The first book in my new Checkmate series (http://pmterrell.com/checkmate-clans-...) begins with William Neely, my ancestor that left Wigtownshire, Scotland in 1608 for Ulster. You can read an excerpt at the link above. He landed in Ulster as tensions were heating up between the last Gaelic Irish King, Cahir O'Doherty, and Sir George Paulet, the English Governor of Derry, and he would be caught up in O'Doherty's Rebellion. He would be witness to love and hatred, courage and cowardice, loyalty and treason, and he would be changed - and his descendants changed - forever.
I am now doing research on the second book in the series, involving the aftermath of O'Doherty's Rebellion and the Plantation era in Ulster, Ireland.
You can read more about my experience delving into my family history here: http://pmterrell.blogspot.com/2017/05...
I'd love to know if you have discovered anything about your ancestors, and how it changed you and made you the person you are today.
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