Interview with Whispering Bookworms

  1. What inspired you to start writing?

    I was always going to be a writer. I began writing seriously in my teens and finished my first full manuscript in my early twenties. It was a tome of some 200k+ words for which I received countless rejections. At the time I was quite hurt, and I shelved the book and vowed never again to lift my pen in anger. It was many years later when I found an old dusty copy of the manuscript in the attic of our family home. I dusted it off and sat down to read. Suffice it to say, I still can’t believe just how awful the book was. In the end it was fate (and redundancy) that got me back to the keyboard. After being laid off in 2016 I found it impossible to get another job.

  2. What was the hardest part about writing this book?

    For me, the hardest part of writing any book is the editing. I find the actual story creation and the writing to be fairly straightforward. I suppose 35 years as a professional writer and editor in the IT world gives me a good base from which to work, in that I find a blank page less daunting than I otherwise would. Because I spent so long in that disciplined world of technical writing, planning is an essential part of my process, which also eases the writing aspect of being a novelist, at least for me. Despite being an editor for the latter part of my career, I find editing my own work nigh impossible. Of course, another professional editor is a must, but I like to submit an MS that is as near perfect as I can get it. I know my editor likes it that way too.

  3. Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

    All of my characters have a special place in my heart. Aren’t we told our characters are our babies? As such it would be unjust to show favouritism. But seriously, a good deal of work goes into creating the characters, and I am not sure showing preference would be a good idea. Putting that extra effort into one over the other is likely to cause an imbalance, and today’s readers are totally unforgiving in my experience.

  4. If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?

    I always picture Angelina Jolie in The Bone Collector when I am imagining Rachel in the book scenes. I think, aside from her looks, it is that determined quality she exudes that fits the part of Rachel so well. For Boccone, I like to picture Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer in season 8 of 24. He would need to be of a darker complexion and with darker hair, but it is his cruel streak and leaning towards a sociopathic character after his love interest is murdered, which draws me to him.

  5. What do you hope your readers take away from this book?

    Does a book need a message? I know many literature experts who would say it does, but I am not a great fan of moralising. Messages can be so one sided – don’t do that because of this, and probably belongs firmly in the Literary Fiction genre (now there’s a misnomer – aren’t all books literary?). Some of the novels I’ve enjoyed the most are those without any real message, like Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher book. As such, I want my readers to immerse themselves in the story and enjoy it for what it is: a tale about life with the odd murder, corrupt officialdom, and solid characters (good and bad) thrown in for good measure. Mostly, what I want them to take from The Alcoholic Mercenary is about 350 pages of distraction and a sense of satisfaction at the end. When I read reviews that say, “that’s X number of hours I will never get back” or similar, I cringe and hope I never see such a review for one of my books.

Whitehead

Whitehead is the Captain of Neit’s Maidens, a two-thousand strong army of Tuatha warriors. When there is a scourge, the Maidens do battle with the Demon Horde and force them back into exile in Tech Duinn.

Whitehead has been named because of her hair. Her true name is Bairrfind, which few remember. 

As a Tuatha woman, Whitehead is known for her jealousy and petty vendettas. She dislikes the main character, Bee, immensely because of a perception that Bee outranks her.

Bechuille

Bechuille is the High Priestess of the Tuatha God Dagda. As High Priestess, she leads the coven of witches (male as well as female) who protect the army responsible for defeating the Demon Horde whenever they escape their prison (the Scourges). Also known as Bee, the priestess is unsure why she has an affinity with the demons she fights each time there is a new Scourge. She feels their pain and wants to see an end to the ritualistic cycle of escape, war, defeat, and return.

Bee is a good looking Fae woman, despite the scar on her chin, which she got during the last Scourge. 

In Search of Lia Fáil

I was asked recently what inspired me to write a Portal Fantasy. The easy answer is I love the genre. I loved the Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist and the Empire series written in collaboration with Janny Wurts. I loved the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen Donaldson. As a child, I even loved The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I am known for writing pseudo-historical fiction novels based on prehistoric Irish mythology, so why not combine the two?

Lia Fail, or the Stone of Fal, is one of the four treasures of the Tuatha De Danann, Danu’s People, the others being the Claíomh Solais or Sword of Light, the Sleá Bua or Lugh’s Spear, and the Coire Dagdae or The Dagda’s Cauldron. There are several conflicting legends about how the stone arrived in Ireland. The Lebor Gabála Érenn, written in the eleventh century, claims that the stone was brought to the country by the Tuatha Dé Danann, who brought many skills and magic from four mythical northern cities: Falias, Gorias, Murias, and Findias, when they invaded. Together with these skills, they brought a treasure from each city. Lia Fáil came from Falia.

There are many myths surrounding the magical powers of the stone. For example, when the rightful High King put his feet on it, the stone was said to cry out in joy. The stone is also said to rejuvenate the King and grant him a long reign. According to Lebor Gabála Érenn, Cú Chulainn split it with his sword when it failed to cry out at the coronation of High King Lugaid, which you can read about in my novel, A Prelude to War Book One, if so minded. After Cu Chulainn split the stone, it didn’t cry out again until Conn of the Hundred Battles touched it and at the coronation of Brian Boru.

There is also a good deal of mythology around the Tuatha.

When the Milesians (or the Celts) invaded Ireland, they forced Danu’s people into a parallel universe where they live to this day. Of course, this is just one of the legends behind the arrival of the Celts. There are many theories about how and when they arrived. Whether it was by invasion, as the Book of Invasions claims, or by migration, as many scholars believe today. However, what hooked me was how the Fae Realm is accessed through portals.

I wouldn’t be the first to use the Irish Mythology premise. David Gemmell often had his characters popping in and out of worlds, and Celtic mythology shines out of his novels like beacons on dark and stormy nights. So, if there are so many, why would I want to write another? Let me just say that I might have a slightly different approach to the origin stories in the Lebor Gabála Érenn. My idea is pure fantasy, but is the Book of Invasions any better?

According to mythology, the Milesians forced Danu’s people into a parallel plane, but what if it were to happen the other way around? What if Danu’s people forced the Milesians out of the Fae Realm (or another plane) into Ireland? Wouldn’t that be an excellent premise for a portal fantasy?

Micheál