Musings and Myths
When I was a little girl I read everything. I mean, everything. My parents gave their permission for the library to allow me to check books out from the adult section of the library and I was like a – you should excuse the expression – kid in a candy store. What caught my fancy the most, however, were fairytales, especially Irish fairytales. So it was that at a tender age I fell in love with Irish stories, poems and music and this colored not only my writing and my musical life, but my life in general.
The first major collection of Irish fairytales I read was collected by William Butler Yeats, “Irish Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry”. Over eighty tales ranging from gods and goddesses to 
leprachauns and banshees and merrow (merfolk) and the pooka. And of course, Tir-nan-Og – the land of everlasting youth. The stories ran from the scary to the romantic; from satirical to sacred; from short to long. I devoured them. And read even more including the wondrous poetry that Irish authors of the late 19th and early 20th century created. And the songs – the Gaelic songs in particular. I loved and love them all.
And every one of my stories, even those not overtly Irish, has some Irish connection albeit only in a character name or the name of a place or object.
All of my books at Liquid Silver are inspired by Irish myths, fairytales or music. “A Song of the Sidhe” grew out of a Gaelic song about a hunchback named Donal who hears fairies in the woods singing the same phrase over and over. He completes the phrase and, in gratitude, they take away his hump. Well, it was a bit more complicated and quite a bit more 
sexy in my story, but the initial impetus was the same. It remains one of my favorite stories.
My other LSB books, “The Shimmering Flame” and “A Perfect Symmetry” are set in the world of the Terran Realm, along with works by LSB authors, Keira Ramsey, Bonnie Dee and Rae Morgan. The inhabitants of the Terran Realm jump-started my contribution of Irish Terrans and their stories and powers are off-shoots of Celtic gods and goddesses. Even the land of Tir-nan-Og appears in my take on the Terran Realm. The Terran Realm is such a vast and rich world, there was room for my Celtic loves and “The Shimmering Flame” and “A Perfect Symmetry” take place in both Ireland and the US.
If you’d like to read the stories of the Terran Realm, LSB is having a fantastic sale. The collected seven books for only $7.50!
Will I always write stories with an “Irish accent”? As long as there are more tales to tell…
I’m a native New Yorker, born and bred in Brooklyn, married for forty-odd years to my high school sweetheart. We’ve had some rough times the last couple of years, so I’m happy to say my day job consists of relaxing with my hubby and volunteering at the library and the local food bank.
I play guitar and sing professionally folk music to Grand Opera in ten languages including Gaelic and Hebrew. My love of all things Irish and Israeli color much of my writing of other worldly realms.
Visit Jeanne Here.
