Brigid's Day - February 1

February 1 is the Feast of Saint Brigid, now a Christian saint, but once the goddess of fire and learning in ancient Ireland. Also known as Imbolc, the feast of Saint Brigid is one of the four major fire festivals on the old Irish pagan calendar. People still light fires on hilltops to celebrate these festivals.

A Brigid's Cross, made from green rushes

Here's a song in Irish that celebrates Brigid's excellent qualities, from the singing of my friend Dáithí Sproule on his CD "A Heart Made of Glass." Hear him singing it here.

Gabhaim Molta Bríghde                           Gabhaim molta Bríghde, Iníon í le hÉireann Iníon le gach tír í, Molaimís go léir í! Lóchrann geal na Laighneach, Soils’ ar feadh na tíre, Ceann ar óigheacht Éireann, Ceann na mban ar míne. Tig an geimhreadh dian dubh, Gearra lena géire, Ach ar lá le Brighde, Gar duinn Earrach Éireann.

We Praise Brigid I sing loudly the praises of Brigid, She who is daughter, Not just of Ireland, But of all the countries of the world. A shining lantern of Leinster, A flame throughout the land, Leader of the women of Ireland, One of the finest women ever. The hard, dark winter comes, Short and sharp, But once Brigid’s Day appears, Ireland’s spring is not far behind.

And here's a video to teach you how to make your own Brigid's cross -- though it's a little hard to find green rushes where I live this time of year. (Still four feet of snow in back yard!)

I especially like the detail that each arm of the cross should be made from seven rushes, to represent the seven days of the week, and the 28 days of the month of February.

ALA | ALA Press Releases

Congratulations to all the winners, and may I say -- it's delightful to be lumped in with the estimable Louise Penny!

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NEWS
For Immediate Release
January 10, 2011
Contact: Elizabeth Markel

Top genre fiction titles named to 2011 RUSA Reading List

SAN DIEGO —The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced its selection for the 2011 Reading List.

The Reading List annually recognizes the best books in eight genres: adrenaline (including suspense, thriller and adventure), fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and women’s fiction. This year’s list includes novels that will please die-hard fans, as well as introduce new readers to the pleasures of genre fiction.

The winning titles were selected by the Reading List Council, whose members include Jacqueline Sasaki, chair, Ann Arbor District Library; Alicia Ahlvers, Kansas City Public Library; Jennifer Baker, Seattle Public Library; Cheryl Bryan, Massachusetts Library System, Waltham, Mass.; Craig Clark, formerly with Cuyahoga County Public Library; Kathleen Collins, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle; Megan McArdle, Berkeley Public Library; Joyce Saricks, Downers Grove, Ill.; Sharron Smith, vice-chair, Kitchener Public Library; Kimberly Wells, Denton Public Library; Neal Wyatt, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va. And Alan Ziebarth, Chicago.

The 2011 winners are:

Mystery

“Bury Your Dead” by Louise Penny, Minotaur (9780312377045)

Troubled by past mistakes, Chief Inspector Gamache, in his sixth outing, retreats to snowy and insular Quebec City, where he becomes embroiled in intertwining investigations both old and new. Penny expertly delivers a layered story that is haunting, moody, and exquisitely drawn.

Read-Alikes:

“A Test of Wills” by Charles Todd

“Haunted Ground” by Erin Hart

“In the Bleak Midwinter”by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Short List:

“Faithful Place” by Tana French, Viking (9780670021871)

“The Taken” by Inger Ash Wolfe, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (9780151013531)

“Think of a Number” by John Verdon, Crown (9780307588920)

“Vermilion Drift” by William Kent Krueger, Simon & Schuster (9781439153840)

More on the ALA site

Sisters in Crime: Method Writing

Sisters in Crime: Method Writing: "by Jude McGee We've all heard of the style of acting taught by the Russian director Konstantin Stanislavsky and the Actor’s Studio -- the k..."

FALSE MERMAID coming soon in French

Good news for Francophones!

Just heard from my wonderful translator, Frédéric Grellier, that the French title for FALSE MERMAID is going to be
la légende de la sirène. The artwork isn't up on bookstore sites yet, but the designers posted an image on their blog... 

What do you think? I absolutely love it. It captures the bleak, beautiful look of Donegal, where the Irish portion of the story is set.

The book will be coming from Payot & Rivages / Payot Suspense in a few months.

Aunt Agatha's Top Ten for 2010

I'm thrilled to have received this glowing review from Robin Agnew at Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Makes all those months (*ahem* years) of tearing one's hair out seem worthwhile!

"If I were pressed, I would have to say this was my favorite book of the year—in my initial review I said that the best books are read with a lump in your throat, thanks to a combination of emotion, narrative and character. The third in Hart's fine Nora Gavin series, this is just such a book. Hart's time off has matured and deepened her writing even more—which is saying a lot. In this one she weaves together myth and metaphor to tell the surface-simple story of Nora returning home to Minnesota from Ireland to find out who was responsible for her sister's five year old murder. Grief and distance have created an estrangement between Nora and her parents; she's coming home to old family entanglements that have to be dealt with as well. Hart is a writer who has many similarities to Elizabeth George, P.D. James, Louise Penny and Deborah Crombie, with a similar skill set of complex character development and a story that accumulates more depth as the book progresses. She also shares some of Penny's poetry.  This is a compelling and well crafted story of grief and attachment, highlighted by lovely writing.  Welcome back to a major talent."

— Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha's Mystery Books

Read all of Robin's Top Ten for 2010 reviews at Aunt Agatha's website.

FALSE MERMAID out in audiobook format

Rosalyn Landor
Photo by Arielle Rudman

FALSE MERMAID is now out in audiobook from Audible.com, and I’m happy to report that it’s read by none other than Rosalyn Landor, who also read the unabridged versions of HAUNTED GROUND and LAKE OF SORROWS (under a different stage name, Jennifer McMahon). 

Roz is an amazing reader, who has also narrated the work of P.D. James, Elizabeth George, Ruth Rendell (AND Barbara Vine!), Henning Mankell, Peter Robinson, Charles Todd, and that’s just in crime fiction — she’s also well-versed in historical fiction, romance, so-called chick-lit, and literature, including A.S. Byatt’s latest, THE CHILDREN’S BOOK. You can see a sampling of Roz's recent narration work at Audible.com.

And in addition to doing audiobook narration, Roz is a multi-talented actress with extensive theater, film, and television credits. Mystery fans might be pleased to know that Roz has appeared in Rumpole of the Bailey and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett. (Roz played Helen Stoner, step-daughter and would-be victim of Dr. Grimesby Roylott in The Speckled Band. And for all you sci-fi geeks, she was also in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation...)

 

The audiobook of FALSE MERMAID was released while I was in Ireland in mid-September, but I haven't yet trumpeted the news to the whole world. (See post below for explanation...)

Falling Down a Mountain

Just after leaving the Hart of Ireland tour group in Galway on September 17, I zipped out to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, with my aunt and uncle. They were staying on an extra week after the tour, and I was to drive them around to some of my favorite places -- bogs, ancient stone forts, holy wells, etc.

Dún Aengus, Inishmore, Aran Islands, Co. Galway

Our first stop was going to be Dún Aengus, an ancient cliff-fort at the edge of the big island of Inishmore. We took a minibus up to the interpretive center, and started to climb to the fort. Ironically, I'd spent a good bit of time warning my wonderful aunt and uncle that the path was rocky (here's an excellent picture of the spot), and that it wasn't exactly a walk in the park -- so it was particularly ironic when I was the one who took a tumble.

Now, I don't recommend breaking a bone on an island with a population of 800. No hospital facilities, only a doctor's dispensary. But the doctor was very nice, and suspecting a fracture, she shipped me off on the 8-seater plan to Inverin, where I got a cab to the University Hospital in Galway.  X-rays there confirmed a fracture of the surgical neck of humerus, in other words, the long bone of the upper arm, right near my shoulder.

Okay, not my bone -- but similar!

All the while, a song kept running through my head...  "The Sick Note" or "Why Paddy's Not At Work Today":

Dear sir, I write this note to you to tell you of my plight
For at the time of writing I am not a pretty sight
My body is all black and blue, my face a deathly grey
And I write this note to say why Paddy's not at work today.

Whilst working on the fourteenth floor, some bricks I had to clear
To throw them down from such a height was not a good idea
The gaffer wasn't very pleased, he was an awful sod
He said I had to cart them down the ladder in my hod.

Now to clear away these bricks by hand, to me seemed very slow
So I hoisted up a barrel and secured the rope below
But in my haste to do the job, I was too blind to see
That a barrel full of building bricks was heavier than me.

Now when I had untied the rope, the barrel fell like lead
Clinging tightly to the rope I started up instead
I shot up like a rocket till to my dismay I found
That half way up I met the bloody barrel coming down.

Well the barrel broke my shoulder, as to the ground it sped
And when I reached the top I banged the pulley with my head
I clung on tightly, numb with shock, from this almighty blow
And the barrel spilled out half the bricks, fourteen floors below.

Now when these bricks had fallen from the barrel to the floor
I then outweighed the barrel and so started down once more
Still clinging tightly to the rope I fell towards the ground
And I landed on the broken bricks the barrel scattered round.

As I lay there moaning on the deck I thought I'd passed the worst
But the barrel hit the pulley wheel, and then the bottom burst
A shower of bricks rained down on me, I hadn't got a hope
And in all of this confusion, I let go the bloody rope.

The barrel then being heavier it started down once more
And landed right across me as I lay upon the floor
It broke three ribs, and my left arm, and I can only say
That I hope you'll understand why Paddy's not at work today.

I even started composing my own (albeit much abbreviated) version:

While climbing up Dún Aengus, I had nearly reached the top
When my foot went out from under me and I did a belly-flop

Chevaux-de-friese outside Dún Aengus (photo by Betty Rogers)

Another view of the chevaux-de-friese (photo by Betty Rogers)

Cliffs at Dún Aengus (photo by Betty Rogers)

Cliffs at Dún Aengus (photo by Betty Rogers)

So the upshot was that I had a whirlwind tour of most of the hospitals, clinics, and x-ray and A&E departments of west Galway, was forced to cancel my Saturday night reading at Portumna Castle (rats!), and had to cut the whole trip short. And I didn't get a lick of research done for Book Four. Very disappointing altogether. I guess I'll just have to make another trip to Ireland in the spring.

It's been just over four weeks now, and I'm on the mend. Fortunately the writing hand is still intact, and I've become quite proficient at putting socks on one-handed.

Minnesota Library Association annual meeting, October 7 in Rochester, Minnesota
(photo by Dáithí Sproule)

The only silver lining is that everything is fodder for a writer. Now everyone is asking whether Nora Gavin is going to break her arm in the next novel. I can't say whether that will happen, but it's likely that someone is going to break something!

So thanks to everyone for the well-wishes. I'll be back in fighting form in no time.