A-Z Blogging Challenge - U is for Uncle

Not the easiest letter, mainly because I can’t find any names or places beginning with U in my novels. However, with a bit of lateral thinking, I finally found a sub-plot concerning an uncle and nephew!

In Irish Shadows, all Rose Finlay knows is that her great-grandfather fell out with his cousins because of something that happened during the Irish Civil War in the 1920s.

Seemingly unconnected (to begin with) is a family story told by Tom Keating (see yesterday’s post) about how his grandfather Michael Keating and another man planned to blow up a railway bridge not far from Clifden in 1922. However, a few hours before the intended act of sabotage, Michael was arrested, and later claimed he had been betrayed by someone called Joe.

Rose discovers her great-grandfather was Joseph O’Malley, and is shocked to discover from a report dating from November 1922 that “Captain Edward Andrews said he had received information from Private Joseph O’Malley, which implicated Michael Keating in a plot to blow up the railway bridge at Athry Lough on the night of the 20th.”

More research shows her that Joseph O’Malley was, in fact, the son of Michael Keating’s sister. In other words, Joseph had betrayed his own uncle, who as a result was jailed in Galway for six months.

In the words of one of the Keating family: “The rest of the family never forgave Joe O’Malley for squealing to the authorities about his Uncle Michael.” Another member of the family also says: “If anyone showed up now saying they were related to Joseph O’Malley, I doubt they’d get a very friendly reception from us.”

But did Joe O’Malley betray his uncle – or did he save his life?

You’ll have to read Irish Shadows to find out! 

All my books are available from 

Amazon  or from Tirgearr Publishing 

A-Z Blogging Challenge - T is for Tom

Tom Keating is another ‘recurring’ character in my Mist Na Mara novels, and features in nearly all of them.

In Irish Inheritance, Jenna and Guy have inherited a house near Clifden in Connemara from a woman named Helena Keating, who had been born in County Galway in 1920. They discover that Mist Na Mara house was left to Helena by her father William Keating. This leads them to visit Tom Keating, an elderly man living in Clifden, who gives them more clues about William and the Keating family.

Tom also gets a mention in Irish Intrigue when he takes his dog to the veterinary clinic, but he has a bigger role in Irish Deceptions. When Finny (see my F post) stops attending school, and it becomes apparent he and his mother have left the house where they were living, Ellie discovers he is still walking Tom’s dog every morning. She arranges to visit Tom early one morning, but Finny runs off when he sees her there, so she is no wiser about where he and his mother have moved to.

In Irish Shadows, Tom has another significant role to play when he puts an end to a family feud which began during the Irish Civil War in the 1920s. Last but not least, in Irish Echoes, it turns out that Tom’s ancestor, Padraig Keating, originally came from Kilcreggan, one of the villages which was abandoned during the Potato Famine in the 1840s and whose location has remained unknown until Elliot finally manages to trace it.

Little did I realise when Tom Keating first appeared in Irish Inheritance that he would insist on appearing in my other novels!

All my books are available from 

Amazon  or from Tirgearr Publishing 

A-Z Blogging Challenge - S is for Skelleen

 Skelleen is a village in Connemara, County Galway. Well, no, actually, it isn’t – because I invented it, originally for my Irish Intrigue story, although it also had a few mentions in Irish Secrets and Irish Shadows.

However, it wasn’t a complete invention. In fact, it’s an amalgam of a couple of Irish villages. Although I knew where I wanted Skelleen to be situated, I needed it to be somewhat larger than the village in that position which has a population of only about 200. So I ‘combined’ it with another larger village (actually in County Mayo).

The advantage of doing this, of course, is that you can ‘move’ buildings around to suit your story! By the time I finished Irish Intrigue, I had a clear picture in my mind of ‘my’ village, even though it was drawn from two different sources. The pub (Connolly’s) in my story came from the Galway village, the church from the other. The ‘Now and Forever’ house in the story was a figment of my own imagination – but the idea came from The Quiet Man cottage in the Mayo village, where we saw Maureen O’Hara’s signature in the guest book (and if you’ve read Irish Intrigue, you’ll understand the significance of that!).

Blending factual places with your own imagination can be useful because you have carte blanche to add/delete whatever you wish. For instance, I added a children’s playground at one end of the village, and the children’s school wasn’t anything like the schools in either of the villages. But there was a bridge spanning the point where a small river reaches the head of the lough, which I called Skelleen Lough.

All my books are available from 

Amazon  or from Tirgearr Publishing 

A-Z Blogging Challenge - R is for Ross

Here’s my imaginary interview with Ross McAllister, the archaeologist hero of my novel, ‘Her Only Option’, set in Egypt.

Professor McAllister, can you tell us more about the work you’re doing in the Valley of the Kings?

We’re exploring a tunnel leading from the tomb of Senhotep the First. It leads from the burial chamber and was first discovered about forty years ago, but after they’d opened up about a hundred metres, they couldn’t get any further.

Why not?

They were heading in the wrong direction.

What makes you think you’re heading in the right direction?

We weren’t sure until we found 52 steps leading into a lower part of the tunnel. We’ve also unearthed some funerary figures and a stone fragment with Senhotep’s name.

What are you hoping to find at the end of the tunnel?

We know the sarcophagus in the burial chamber was empty, but we have no idea where the Pharaoh’s remains are. The tunnel may have been intended to fool the tomb robbers, or it may lead to another chamber, or it may simply represent the king’s route through the underworld. We won’t know until we reach the end. If we reach the end.

I understand you have some problems with financing your work, since Stephen Lingard withdrew his funding. Can you tell us why?

I’m sure you’ve read the gossip columns. Stephen’s daughter, Sophie, and I ended our engagement a few weeks ago. A mutual decision, I assure you, but unfortunately her father blamed me and said I’d publicly humiliated his daughter.

And you have no alternative source of funding?

We’re putting out various feelers at present, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

In the meantime, you’re about to take a trip up the Nile on one of the cruise ships. Why?

Why not? (Hollow laugh from Ross). Actually, this trip was supposed to be part of my honeymoon. I could have cancelled it, but I’ve given my team two weeks’ leave, and I haven’t had any break in the last three months, so I thought I might as well spend a relaxing week on the Lady Amirah.

Maybe you’ll meet someone else with a rich daddy who can finance your work?

Oh no, I’ve absolutely no intention of getting involved with another woman, end of story.

 

Could those be ‘famous last words’ for our hero – and the beginning of a new romance for him?

"I couldn't put this book down. The knowledge and research shown by the author made you feel as if you really were sailing down the Nile and visiting the Valley of the Kings. Paula paints a vivid picture of the place and with her well-drawn characters. There was romance, intrigue, mystery, and enough twists in the story to keep you guessing until the end."

All my books are available from 

Amazon  or from Tirgearr Publishing 

A-Z Blogging Challenge - Q is for Quinn

Quinn, as in Elliot Quinn, is the only place or person name I’ve been able to find in my novels which begins with Q.

Elliot is the ‘hero’ of Irish Echoes, but in fact he started off in a completely different story. Originally, he was a medieval historian, researching the 15th century and, in particular, what happened to Francis Lovell, one of Richard III’s closest friends. Maybe one day I will continue that story, but after writing about three chapters, I changed course and decided to make Elliot the hero of my 6th Mist Na Mara novel. That meant relocating Elliot to Ireland, and giving him a different area of expertise. Thus he became a history professor at Trinity College in Dublin, and an acknowledged expert in the history of the ‘Great Hunger’, particularly in the western counties of Galway and Mayo.

Here’s the introduction to the story:

Rachel Pearse and Elliot Quinn had been deeply in love—until Rachel made a huge error of judgement which deprived Elliot of the acclaim for discovering a long-lost famine village in Ireland. Elliot denounced this as a deliberate attempt to betray him and ended their relationship.

Seven years later, they meet unexpectedly when Elliot turns up at Mist Na Mara Arts Centre in the west of Ireland for a week-long conference which Rachel has agreed to manage as a favour to a friend.

New tensions mount when it becomes apparent Elliot isn’t prepared to forgive and forget, even though they are both aware of the revival of their feelings for each other.

Surrounded by the echoes of their own past as well as those of Ireland’s Great Hunger, how will Rachel and Elliot resolve their problems and find their way back together?

And here, seven years after the disastrous break-up of their relationship, is their first meeting at a wedding reception,:

As Rachel reached the swing door, she was about to push it when it was pulled open from the other side. She would have toppled forward and landed in a heap on the floor if two firm hands hadn’t grasped her arms.

‘I’m so sorry,’ a man said. ‘Are you okay?’

She looked up, straight into Elliot Quinn’s clear blue eyes. A fire of embarrassment rushed to her cheeks. In the same moment, he jerked his hands from her arms, almost as if they had been red-hot to touch.

‘Yes, I—’ Her tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of her mouth. ‘Yes. Yes, I’m grand, thanks.’

She didn’t know where to look, but Elliot stepped sideways and held the door open. ‘After you.’

‘Thank you.’

And that was it.

She walked past him and he went out of the room. No smile, no nothing. They could have been total strangers.

 

Needless to say, they will meet up again – very soon!

All my books are available from 

Amazon  or from Tirgearr Publishing 

A-Z Blogging Challenge - P is for Peter Stones

I wonder how many of readers recognise that name? Peter Stones is a ‘recurring’ minor, but often significant, character in five of my novels. In a sense, he is similar to the local policeman or postman in soap operas, who appear from time to time. In my stories, he is a director of stage and TV dramas.

Peter’s first appearance was actually in ‘Fragrance of Violets’ (published in 2011 but currently no longer available), when he was directing a West End production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and asked the heroine of the story to step in when one of the other actors had an accident.

In Irish Inheritance, Jenna is an out-of-work actor who auditions for a part in a TV adaptation of ‘Jane Eyre’. The auditioning panel consisted of the casting director, his assistant, and the director. Without even thinking about, I decided the director was Peter Stones, and then had to check back to remind myself of his appearance - a man with receding dark hair and black-rimmed glasses. After asking Jenna some difficult questions, he shows an interest in Jenna’s ancestor, a Victorian actress who disappeared without trace in the 1890s. At the end of the novel, Jenna informs her friend Charley that Peter Stones wants to make a 2-hour biopic about the actress, which would be filmed at Mist Na Mara.

Three years later, in Irish Intrigue, Charley returns reluctantly to Ireland to complete the filming of a 1930s drama at Waterside Hall. The director, of course, is Peter Stones.

In my fourth ‘Mist Na Mara novel, Irish Deceptions, the hero is Dan Nicholas, an actor who shot to stardom (and whose dark eyes enthralled millions of women) in ‘The Whelans at War’, a TV drama set during the Irish Civil War. The director was – yes, you’ve guessed it – Peter Stones. He also makes a brief appearance at the end of the story with some amazing news for Finny (see my ‘F’ blog!)

Peter even manages to sneak in (briefly) in Irish Shadows.

Now I’m wondering if, when, and how he will find his way into any of my future novels!

All my books are available from 

Amazon  or from Tirgearr Publishing 

A-Z Blogging Challenge - O is for O' Irish Names

Surnames beginning with O’ are fairly common in Ireland. The O’ derives from the Gaelic Ua, meaning grandson or descendant of.

The ‘hero’ of Irish Secrets was Ryan O’Neill. His surname means descendant of Néill, a male name derived from the old Irish word niadh, meaning warrior or champion. Since Ryan was an undercover police officer, masquerading as a taxi driver while he tried to find evidence of a stolen goods racket in Connemara, he could be considered as a champion of law and order!

A variation of O’Neill is O’Neal, and this name appeared in Irish Intrigue with Rory O’Neal, the owner of an Equestrian Centre where Charley, the heroine of the story is enchanted to watch a foal being born.

I’ve also used the name O’Brien twice. It comes from the Irish Ua Briain, descendant of Brian. One theory is that the name is based on ‘bre’ meaning hill and thus means ‘eminence’ or 'exalted one'. In Irish Secrets, Sister Gabriel reveals that her name is actually Bernadette O’Brien, and in Irish Echoes, Patrick O’Brien is the owner of the Irish Historical Review. He eventually has to apologise to the novel’s hero, Elliot, for publishing an article that had been stolen from Elliot.

In Irish Shadows, Rose’s assistant and friend is Caitlyn O’Connor. Her surname comes from O’Conchobhair, which possibly derives from a legendary 10th century king of Connacht. Also in the same novel, Rose discovers that her great-great-grandfather was Joseph O’Malley. The origin of this name is obscure but may come from the Gaelic word maglios meaning prince or chief. Rose, however, is embarrassed and ashamed to find out that Joseph betrayed his uncle during the Irish Civil War in the 1920s.

Last but not least, Brendan O’Casey is a minor character in Irish Inheritance who comes to Mist Na Mara to value a painting. His surname is a variant of Cathasaigh, meaning vigilant, but in this case, it’s Guy and Jenna who need to be vigilant when it appears Mr. O’Casey is not all he claims to be.

All my books are available from 

Amazon  or from Tirgearr Publishing