Extraordinarily fun blend of lighthearted urban, magical, end-of-world predicaments, with fast paced action, historical fact, and a romantic flush between a quirky Irish demigod and an Irish-descended, shapeshifting witch on training-wheels, set in Cork, Ireland. A Janet Evanovich sort of book on steroids for the fantasy genre
Saint Patrick arrived in Ireland with a magic staff, a mission, some simplification Irish-God-wise, and the magical power of the Catholic Church. He sealed away the Túatha, the Irish Gods, and then he cornered the market on all things magic. Forward centuries and the Catholic Church is dying.
The Prophecy of Fatima that predicted the fall of the church is in play, and some convicted Catholic priests of Ireland are forming a hellfire club to unite and use their collective magic to control the magical market that’s on the loose, because once a priest always a priest. Only these modern practitioners aren’t as skilled as the old ones used to be. With each incompetent summoning, they are leaving rips in the veil.
The Irish Gods see an opportunity unfolding as well. They want control back of magic from the dying church. Working with the Sisters of Our Lady of the Isle and Saint Brigit, they muscle together their leftover magic to send forward an anti-champion, Padraic O’ Duibh. He is the mortal son of the God Ogma. Abandoned to the Gods by his step father at the age of five, he trained with Scáthach on the Isle of Skye. There he killed the Morrigan’s son and the goddess cursed him, but from his father, he controls ogham magic.
The Morrigan pairs him with a Métis, a person of mixed American Indian and Euro-American ancestry. Mealla is in the direct line of the White Witch of Clare, Biddy Early and she also has a shamanic history in her family line on her father’s side. She sells fake shamanic certificates and marked up Wiccan materials on her website as an occupation not as a practitioner.
A Requiem is the Roman Catholic liturgy for the dead for the repose of souls. Priests have been praying for the dead for centuries, and now they are in command of hosts of dead souls, the sluagh, ashrays, and also ancient ghost-monks, the truly skilled practitioners of magic.
Padraic and Mealla are there to oppose the forces of darkness, and they have their work cut out for them.
Q. What inspired you to write this book? Was there a particular moment or event that sparked the idea?
Ans. I wanted to read this book. When I look for fantasy books to read, I have a tough time finding fantasy with humor books that are plotted for fun and adventure with research added in. And of course romance.
Q. What research did you undertake to write this book? Were there any surprising or unexpected findings that you discovered during your research?
Ans. Lots of academic publications on the Irish Gods, their history and interaction with the subsequent Catholic Church in Ireland. Books on Irish Mythology.
Q. What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing this book? How did you overcome it?
Ans. Pacing. I still wonder if I should have slowed it down a bit. The next book will have more character arch.
Q. How did you go about developing the characters in the book? Were any of them based on real people or events?
Ans. My husband is Irish, born and raised. I probably used his family and just having lived in Ireland. I observed the people there.
Q. Can you share any interesting anecdotes or stories related to the writing of this book?
Ans. I ran around Cork City taking picture after picture of plastic 99 icecream cones and the like, store fronts, signs, grated-over holy wells. The people watching me probably thought I was a mad woman.
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