March 2006

is officially here. The weather is showing signs of spring, the sun is shining and we have a forecasted high of 78 degrees! It’s almost time to pull the bathing suit out of the box, hop down to the store and pick up the tanning oil and spend the days sitting outside on the deck reading my reference books and writing stories long hand in a notebook, (maybe my hubby will take pity on me and the Easter Bunny will leave me a laptop this year? Yeah and maybe it’ll snow in June…)

This month of green beer and “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” buttons I think between my Greek and Roman Pantheon Did You Know’s I’m going to include some Irish myths and facts. From a place called “Ireland Now” I’ve found some lovely pictures of the Emerald Isle and some interesting stories.

They have a page about Faerie Kings and I particularly like Finnbheara. So the Did You Know for today is a little about this particular king

Did You Know
Finnbheara makes his home in Cnoc Meadhe a hill in County Galway. This king was quite fond of earthly women and he would often entice young maidens to his palace for an entire night of dancing and in the morning they’d be found sleeping in their own beds with memories of fantastic dreams.

However there was one woman, the bride of nobleman that spent more than one night in the palace. Finnbheara lured her away and while she was there, the fairies filled in the hole and she couldn’t escape. The man dug the opening and was able to rescue her, but that night she was taken again and once more the hole was filled. Upset, he asked her old nurse how he might secure her freedom and she said to sprinkle the opening with salt and place a line of burning sod around the opening, as the pixies couldn’t by pass that. He did and the following morning his wife was found safely in her bed.

Another reason I like him is, like me, he is extremely fond of horses and is believed to ride a pitch-black horse with red flaring nostrils.


In writing news, Maryna’s story is clicking along nicely, flowing like water one could say…but I’ve also submitted a short story to my publisher. This story is an inspirational showing that not matter how low you think you’ve fallen, God is always there to lift you up if only you ask Him. It’s not a full-length novel but would be released in By Grace’s Short and Sweet line. If it’s picked up, I’ll let you all know when the release date will be.

I was excited to see that on Fictionwise, a larger ebook “warehouse” on the By Grace Publishing page “Dante’s Duty” is the number one best selling book. I really am excited about that and so appreciate everyone who purchased the book. Also on the list, my book “Seeing the Light” is number seven. To have a look at my books and check out other By Grace authors you can go to fictionwise.

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I’ll see you all soon!
Huggles,
Donica