Writing
Someone once demanded I read Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and I’ve never been the same. This author’s books are spiritual, philosophical discussions about the ecstasy of flight and the necessity of crossing boundaries. Jonathan Livingston Seagull also came highly recommended, and illustrates the reward inherent in walking a path of personal integrity, even at the cost of losing family, community, and every moment but this one.
Long ago I read Good Omens (which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett) and was instantly hooked by this man’s writing. His novels are crafted, filled with dark fantasy, and honour the shadow. His plots are unorthodox, conforming to a matrix of his own design. He goes straight for the dark night of the soul, brings to light the flaws within each of his characters, and weaves the strands of their experiences like a web with a crossroads at its core.
A writer of Celtic historical fiction who breathes life into mythology, folklore, and modern history with passion, maturity, and emotional depth. Scholars dislike her for the misinformation contained in her novels because she takes liberties with details as she knits fragments of fact into fiction. Even so, her words awakened in my heart a hidden knowledge and awareness of kinship that has never waned, and for that gift I am forever grateful.
She is a collector of folklore, and re-teller of stories from across the globe. Her adaptations are poetic and engaging and include vocabulary specific to the original tellers of the tales. I have read Favorite Folktales from around the World more times than I can remember. The stories are grouped by theme, illustrating commonalities between cultures. She writes poetry and books for both children and young people, a truly prolific author.
“The Corpus of Electronic Texts is Ireland’s longest running Humanities Computing project. It brings the wealth of Irish literary and historical culture to you on the Internet, for the use and benefit of everyone worldwide.” Texts are captured or published, in most cases translated into English from the original languages, and edited by scholars in Ireland and abroad. I have studied and used many of these documents for research and songwriting purposes.
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