Now Fully Released - A Historical Fiction Trilogy

 It's been in the works for a long time, like since 2015 or 2016. Lots of genealogy research, plus many rewrites. Now I feel I've gotten some of the inspiring true events in my family history expressed as well as I can, expanded into historical fiction to make for more interesting reading.  Even since Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" authors have been into trilogies, though often they grow to more than three books.  I know my "Peaks at the Edge of the World Saga" did. But then, so did C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia."

So here is mine:  Part 1 tells the story of my great-great-grandparents and great-grandparents, who came from Bavaria and Denmark, and how the met in Houston, Texas--of all places.

Part II continues the tale of their descendants, my grandparents and parents. 

Now Germany and Ireland begin crossing paths.

And eventually I make an appearance.

And last but not least, is the story of how some of my great-great-grandparents 

survived the Great Irish Potato Famine of the mid-1800s, and ended up in America.

This one was a Semi-finalist in the Great Reads Awards!

These books can be ordered wherever books are sold,

including online from Amazon and from Ingram Spark.

Will this expand beyond three books?

I don't know yet...

 

Happy Lammas (Only at little late)

 August 1 marks the midway point between the Summer Solstice and the Fall Equinox.  Like the other midway or Fire Feasts (May Day, Halloween, and even Groundhog Day) it had significance in early agrarian societies, especially in ancient Ireland.  But it is the one that's been lost to modern times for the most part. No, it doesn't have anything to with the South American animal, or the seekers of Tibetan Buddhism.

It’s taken me a long time to find information on Aug. 1 or Lammas.  I finally got information in a book on Druids that I ran across at a workshop of Celtic Heritage in America.  I learned, as I suspected, that Lammas is a feast of harvest.  In northern climates, it would be just the early first-fruits.  The word Lammas in Irish is Lughnasadh, and in Scottish Gaelic it’s Lunasad.  Lunasa is Irish for August, too.   

The ancient god Lugh, in Irish myth, is god of all arts and crafts.  He is also considered to be the greatest of the gods, and the name implies he has a large head.  Lugh is found beyond the British Isles, too, being depicted in early art from Sweden to the Punjab. Archeologists have now determined that the ancient Celtic, or Gaelic, culture began in the East, such as present-day India and gradually moved west, culminating in Ireland and other parts of the British Isles and Brittany.

Of course, the Irish added  their own twist, weaving the story that Lugh has now become “Lugh-chromain” which is the Irish word we pronounce as “leprechaun,” certainly a crafty character if ever there was one.